How to Back Up Your Website in WordPress?
Have you ever lost a blog post because of a hard drive crash, hacker attack or other unforeseen circumstances? If yes, then you know how important it is to make regular back ups of your data. You’re also probably wondering how to back up your website in WordPress. We’ll tell you exactly what you need to do, step-by-step.
Use A Free App
If you’ve ever tried to create a back up archive of a WordPress site, you’ll know that it’s not as easy as it might seem. The main problem is that most free back up apps don’t support FTP connections, the most common way to import or export data on a site. This means that you either need to use a web host’s built-in tool or find a third-party software that supports FTP.
Use A Web Host’s Tool
The best and the most commonly used way to back up a WordPress is to use a web host’s built-in tool. These tools can usually be accessed via your dashboard, so you don’t need to go anywhere else to make the required changes. The best web hosts will have a backup tool that is simple to use even for beginners. For instance, the popular WordPress platform, offers a simple to use backup tool that makes it easy to create archives of your site’s content. These archives can be exported using FTP or directly downloaded as a zip file.
One of the best things about this tool is that it keeps your data safe in case something happens to your website, whether it’s a server malfunction or cyber attack. The other major advantage is that it allows you to create incremental backups, which are smaller in size than the full backups. This makes them much more convenient to store and to restore. The disadvantage is, of course, that you need to rely on the good will of the web host to provide you with a safe and stable platform.
Use A Third-Party Software
If you don’t want to use a web host’s tool or you just prefer to handle all the technical details of your backup independently, you can always look for a third party software that supports FTP connections. Several programs exist that can do this, like Transmit by Panic and FileZilla. These programs make it much easier to set up direct connections with your FTP server so you can begin importing or exporting your data without any hindrances. The only downside is that you’ll need to find and install a separate application for each platform you use (i.e. Windows, Mac, and Linux).
Create An Archive Of Your Data
Once you’ve imported or exported your data using either of the aforementioned methods, you need to create an archive of the whole thing. You can use the built-in WordPress backup tool to do this, but you can also use third-party software like Archivematic to create an.ars archive, which is an open-source format. The main advantage of this format is that it’s easy to use and understand. Furthermore, it’s commonly accepted and supported by many archiving and backing up applications. The only downside is that it’s not as secure as other formats like.zip or.7z.
Restore Your Data From An Archive
When restoring your data, you need to go through each file one-by-one and replace the original files on your hard drive with the backup versions. This is usually a tedious task, but it’s worth it in case something happens to your primary copy of the data. The other option is to use tools like ARS, which allow you to restore your data easily and securely from almost any platform. With large files like images and videos, it’s usually faster to restore them from the archive than to download them from the web.
Make Sure You Back Up Critical Data
It’s very important to make sure you back up your critical data, which includes your database, website source code, and plugin files. This way, you’ll be able to restore your site, in its entirety, in case something happens to any of these items. If you’re not sure where to start, make sure you contact your web host or an IT specialist. They should be able to help you get started with the appropriate backups.
Regular Backups Aren’t Enough
Even though you might want to save everything you have on your site as a backup, this won’t do you any good if you don’t save it frequently enough. For this reason, you should be making regular backups, at least once a week and preferably once or twice a day. This will help ensure that you always have a recent backup, in case any of your data is lost due to a crash or hack attempt.
Use Different Versions Of Your Data
If you’re a blogger who updates your content regularly, you’ll be needing a way to keep track of the changes you make to your site, without having to look at old versions of your content. This is where the usefulness of Archivematic and its support for versions comes in. You can create daily, weekly, or monthly versions of your data using this application. This way, you can review the changes made to your site over the past few months, without having to look at old versions of your content.
Backups aren’t just for protecting your data against the elements; they can also provide you with a point in time for recovering from technical errors or hacks. For this reason, they are extremely important and you should make sure you have at least one, even if you think you don’t need it.
With all these tips in mind, taking a few minutes to set up a dedicated archive for your website is an easy way to ensure that you’re always protected. From there, it’s just a matter of regularly making backups and restoring them in case something happens to your site. This will also help prevent you from having to rebuild your site from scratch, should the content become unusable.