Forgive me for the noob question, but when Cataclysm comes out, will I be able to transfer my character from WOTLK?
I wouldn’t like to start a new character, I’d rather play WOTLK and transfer to Cata as the beta characters will be deleted
Your character - and indeed all characters - will automatically be advanced to Cata once the server progresses 
No mercy given and no choice to remain in Wrath.
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Your server will convert over to Cata, there’s no transfer.
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I know this is a little older now, but are you sure about that? I’ve done pretty much all I can on the original WOW Classic, so downloaded and installed Cataclysm, but none of my characters are there, my only option is to start fresh with a new character.
Are you sure your realm was not “emptied” into another one? Some realms were force-merged … consolidated was the word, and some characters were lost in transition - even if it sounds strange that all of yours should have gone missing.
And to answer your question: Yes I am sure, All characters on the then Wrath servers are now in Cata.
I have not logged into any of mine ever since in the vain hope that a “back-copying” migth be allowed sometimes down the timeline.
Which characters are you missing? And can you maybe make someomne log into the relevant server and try to add them to their friends list to see if they exist in-game? I would, but cannot, as I am an EU player and would have to pay a US sub as well in order to do this
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Also, check to make sure you are launching the client from the correct profile.
Next to the option to launch from BattleNet, you can choose which profile to launch from. It might have defaulted to a generic profile that you don’t use.
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Make sure you understand the difference between Classic, Classic Era, Classic Anniversary, and SOD.
Classic is currently on Cataclysm
Classic Era is permanently on classic only
Classic Anniversary is currently on classic, but may progress to TBC and beyond eventually
SOD is classic only, with lots of changes
Which one you are on depends entirely on which server type you made your character on. You cannot transfer between these in any way.
It sounds like you may have made your character(s) on Classic Era, in which case, yes you will need to start over if you want to play Classic Cataclysm. The good news is the XP is boosted quite a bit compared to vanilla there, so it shouldn’t take too long.