Text Widgets missing after move?

Tutorials, WordPress    Comments December 13, 2012

Here is the solution if you’ve ever come across the problem that you exported the WordPress database, made all the modifications to the SQL file (search/replaced domain strings) for uploading it to a new domain / server / deploy the site / and found that now all your TEXT WIDGETS have gone missing :

1. Do the DB dump (e.g. using phpMyAdmin) of the existing WP site
2. Import the dump as-is and without any modifications! to your new location/database
3. Download and unzip the following script :
   http://spectacu.la/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/
4. Upload that script into your new WP home folder – it’s not a plugin.
5. Run the script on your new site by pointing your browser to it, for example
   http://new-website.url/searchreplacedb.php
6. Follow the directions.
7. Delete the script from your new site after being done.

If you have WordPress installed into /home/wordpress/ and you run your blog from /home/wordpress/index.php you’d put the script into /wordpress/ and if you run the site from the root – such as from /home/index.php you can upload the script into home.

Source: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/widgets-missing-after-move-to-new-domain#post-2066187