The wordpress importer / exporter should work for this task (maintaining post dates and comments), but it’s better to test it before deleting the online blog. My advice is to create first a fresh install in a folder (so you’ll can temporary reach your new installation at www.yoursite/folder/ ) and test if everything works fine … Read more
I agree that this is a good step to take in hardening the site. I would not recommend interfering directly with the files from WordPress for the exact reason your describe: updates will overwrite it. Two options I would recommend: Use a hardening plug-in to help you do this Add a rule to .htaccess to … Read more
wp-cli fails on installing to subdomain
WordPress database error on (fresh) reinstall
Other than WP-CLI, is there a way to install WordPress via the command-line?
cURL to install theme
Create a multisite network for an existing installation
Smells like an .htaccess thing. Have you replaced the contents of .htaccess with the ones provided by WordPress? Also, according to the Codex, you may need to add Options FollowSymlinks at the start of the file.
You need to add your subdirectory name to the Banned names in your Network admin. Look to this screenshot. Then you should convert your site to Multisite, see this codex article.
I would rename the plugins page (via FTP or your hosting file manager) to disable all plugins and then try to access. You could also rename any non-‘twenty’ theme folders to disable those, so it would default to one of the ‘twenty’ themes. Then look at other files in the site root, sorting by date … Read more