Backing up your WordPress Website
You know, that task you always keep putting off, and off? Yes, backing up your website should really go without saying, however backing up data (not just your Wordpress site) on a regular basis is very important, unless you like getting burned. Although all of the hosts on our list offer very reliable free backup solutions, it is still up to you to make sure that you have a copy. If something catastrophic does happen, and you lose your website, what then? You’ve lost countless hours of blood, sweat and tears! I’ll go over some techniques in backing and saving your WordPress site locally in this tutorial. If you want peace of mind, read on!
Full Backup Compared to a Database Backup
As you may know your WordPress website runs on a database, more specifically a MySQL database. All your blog posts, pages, links and settings are stored in this database. This is the most important part of your website that needs to be backed up on a regular basis. A full backup on the other hand, includes backing up the before mentioned databse, plus every single file in your website. These files include the WordPress core files, themes, plugins, and other media, such as images you have uploaded.
Backing up the Database Manually
This is the more technically inclined way of backing up your WordPress website. It involves you logging into your web hosts control panel, and using a tool such a phpMyAdmin to access your database. Once you’ve logged into phpMyAdmin, navigate to the export tab, scroll down and check the “save as file” box, and click go. This will prompt your browser to download the file. This file is called a database dump, please note, this will only backup the database, you still need to backup your images and other media to do a full backup.
Manual Backup using an FTP Client
Now that you have the one half of the WordPress website backed up, the database. You now need to backup everything else so that you can have a complete website backup. In the majority of cases, all you need to backup is the wp-content directory. This directory has all your plugins, and themes for your website. It also includes any uploads you may have done. Otherwise if you have extensively customized your WordPress website, it may be a better idea to backup every file in your website.
In your web hosting control panel, it may give you the option to make a backup of everything you need, and allow you to download it in one easy to manage file. If you don’t have this option, you will need to download an FTP client such as FileZilla, CuteFTP. Login with your web hosting credentials, navigate to the folder you want to backup, and download it to the local directory on your website.
WordPress Backup Plugins
One great feature for novices especially if you are uncomfortable about using phpMyAdmin or the control panel, is that there are WordPress plugins that will do all the work for you! These plugins can also be scheduled to do the backups for you and store them in a safe location or have them conveniently emailed to you as an attachment
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