How to Backup Your WordPress Site by Database – Step by Step Guide
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in use today, and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down. WordPress is frequently updated with new features and enhancements to continue improving the user experience for its millions of active monthly users around the world. If you’re looking for an open-source CMS that offers a lot of flexibility and reliability, then you might want to consider WordPress.
However, one of the major drawbacks of WordPress is that it’s quite easy to accidentally delete your website or blog content when taking a backup. This can cause major problems if you’re not careful. That’s why it’s so important to create a backup of your WordPress site regularly, especially if you’re the type of person who likes to experiment with different content and theme combinations.
Why Should You Back Up Your WordPress Site?
Accidental deletions are one of the biggest fears of any webmaster, blogger, or business owner who uses WordPress. After all, if you delete a WordPress post by accident, it’s gone forever. Even worse, some WordPress users have reported that deleting posts also caused lost customers and revenue due to content being featured on other websites with thousands of monthly visits. This is why you should always make sure to back up your WordPress site before making any significant changes. Even if you think you know what you’re doing, mistakes happen. There’s no point risking your website getting derailed by a simple error.
How Do You Back Up Your WordPress Site?
If you’re worried about the reliability and security of your WordPress site, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll cover the best way to backup your WordPress site by database, avoiding common pitfalls and reducing the risk of data loss. We’ll also cover a few other items of interest regarding this topic so you can be sure you’re making the right choice for your needs. To begin, you’ll need to decide whether you want to do this regularly or on a one-time basis. If you’re regularly backing up your site, then there’s no reason not to do it frequently. On the other hand, if this is a one-time event due to a server crash or other crises, then you’ll want to do your best to avoid losing any data. The choice is entirely up you.
Step 1: Identify the Necessary Data
The very first thing you’ll want to do is identify the necessary data for your WordPress site. Data includes things like posts, pages, comments, login details, and more. Many websites and blogs use the same general layout for their posts and pages, so this data is usually the same for both. You’ll want to make sure you back this up regularly so you don’t lose any of it. Luckily, this data is usually quite easy to identify as it’ll be similar for every website or blog. You don’t need to go overboard either, simply make sure you have a rough idea of what data you need for your site. Once you have this, you can start the next step.
Step 2: Choose The Right Location For The Backup
When choosing a location for your backups, you need to keep a couple of things in mind. First, make sure you have the necessary space for the backup. If you’re using an external hard drive, you’ll want to make sure you have at least 2 GB of free space. You don’t want to end up with a corrupted backup due to lack of space. Another thing to keep in mind is the speed of the connection. Obviously, you don’t want to waste your time on a painfully slow connection, so make sure you’re plugged into a fast and reliable network. One more thing to keep in mind is the accessibility of the drive from the computer you’re using. If you have a specific machine or a computer lab full of machines, then it might not be the most convenient location to reach. If you have a local storage facility that’s nearby, then that’s usually the best option. Using a networked drive from home could be risky as it’s quite possible that some data could be corrupted while traveling due to slow connections or other errors. This is why most website and blog owners prefer to use a local storage facility for backups.
Step 3: Create A User-Friendly Name For The Backup
Once you have the location for the backup set, you can start thinking about a user-friendly name for it. If you have a specific reason for the name you choose, then it’s usually a good idea to go with that. If you just want to use the default names that come with your operating system, then that’s usually a good choice. It’s important to keep in mind that if you have a lot of backups, then you’ll most likely end up with many folders with the same name. It’s quite easy to lose track of which one is which when there’s a lot of them. If you use the same username and password for multiple sites, then it’ll be quite easy for someone else to access your personal information, including your WordPress site. For this reason, it’s usually a good idea to give the backup folder a unique name that’ll help you keep track of which one is which. If you have a lot of site backups, then it’s important to give each one a unique name so you can keep track of which one is which.
Step 4: Back Up Your WordPress Site On A Regular Basis
Once you’ve created a user-friendly name for the backup folder, you can start backing up your WordPress site on a regular basis. The frequency with which you back up your site depends on you. If you use the same password and username for multiple sites, then it’ll be quite easy for someone else to access your personal information, including your WordPress site. To avoid any security breaches or data loss, you should back up your site at least once a week. Some experts suggest you may want to do this every couple of hours to be on the safe side. It’s important to note that while doing this, you should never overwrite an existing file. This could result in corrupted data which is quite difficult to repair. Always verify the backup by comparing the dates on the file or by looking at the file itself before starting any work on it.
Why Is A Weekly Back Up Essential?
A weekly backup is essential because it ensures that you have a recent backup available should anything happen to your site. This could include anything from a server crash to a hacker attack. It’s quite possible that any one of these situations could cause significant data loss if you don’t have an older backup available. For this reason, it’s usually a good idea to have at least one copy of your website’s data stored away in case something happens. Having a backup available more than a few weeks back won’t make much difference in the event of a major data loss, but it’ll certainly help you out a lot should the need arise.
Other than backups, it’s also important to make sure that your site is up-to-date with the necessary security patches and updates. This way, you’ll be sure that your site is as safe and secure as possible. Experts have stated that leaving your site vulnerable to hackers is tantamount to losing your entire digital existence. Sadly, too many website and blog owners ignore this fact and put their trust in software updates and patching alone. While this may seem like a reasonable choice at first, it’s often the exact opposite. Regularly reviewing your site’s documentation and visiting security-related blogs to keep abreast of the latest news ensures that you’re always a step ahead of the game and that your site is as safe as possible.
Step 5: Test The Backup By Deleting Posts And Trials
Once you’ve started regularly backing up your WordPress site, you can start testing the backup by deleting posts and trials. When you delete content, it won’t exist anymore in the event of a future backup. This means you’ll have no idea what happened to that content in the past. Sometimes, content that doesn’t exist anymore can still appear in a WordPress backup. This can be quite disheartening if you want to restore a previous state of your site. In these cases, you may have to re-create the content or find a way to work around it. This is why it’s important to test your backups by trying out new things. Sometimes, errors or glitches in the software or hardware can cause data loss even when backups are intact. By trying out new things, you may discover that some content or functionality is corrupted or lost. In this case, you’ll either have to find a way to work around it or re-create the content.
Whether you decide to do this on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis depends on you. Just make sure you do it regularly so you can feel confident that you’re protecting your site from any potential data loss. Remember, it’s always better to be over-proactive than under-proactive when it comes to backups. This will inevitably save you a lot of stress and heartache when something goes wrong.