Search-replace alters unrelated data and breaks live sites
Search-replace rewrites strings across the whole database, including unrelated content and live sites that were not meant to change.
Tier II · Emerging Problems that are still building up.
3 public reports · first reported 22 February 2026 · last reported 17 September 2026
What's going wrong
Site owners moving or renaming WordPress sites report that running a database search-replace changed far more than they intended.
AI-assisted: written with the help of AI from the reports. The idea report has the full summary.
In the idea report
- The full summary.
- The products the 3 reports are about, and how many came each month.
- Related problems.
No business has been found with this problem yet, so the report has no contacts. All sales are final — no refunds. Pricing.