I need to move my wordpress blog to another host. The last time I did this, I downloaded all files by ftp and did an export for the posts. What I lost was all the settings for the plugins such as adsense manager, popular posts, etc etc. How can I migrate all the plugin settings automatically?
Have you tried to take whole backup (home directory) + DB backup from old server and then restore it to new server ? This way you can transfer it as it is IMO. DON.
If I understand, I do take a whole backup using FTP. How do you do a DB Backup? I've always just done an export from WP and that is probably why I lose my plugin settings.
A database backup isn't too hard. If you have cPanel, navigate your way to phpMyAdmin, select your database and export it (make sure to click save as file) and then just go into your new hosting and import it from phpMyAdmin