Backing up your blog
Yesterday I talked about the WordPress announcing a release candidate for version 2.9. That caused a couple of questions and mis understandings.
First if the release candidate goes smoothly they will release 2.9 towards the end of the week. As they get it in more hands if they find problems then it will be delayed. So the release candidate is only for people that want to test it in advance of the release.
Second there were a few questions about backing up your blog.
This is something that you should be doing regularly and there are two different things you need to back up.
- The actual data base
- The files on the server
Data base backup
The data base is the backup that seems to be the most troubling for people. It does not need to be. If you are comfortable using phpMyAdmin then you just log in and export the data base. I won’t go through the steps because there is an easier way for nay that sweat at the mere mention of phpMyAdmin.
Add the WordPress Data Base Backup plugin to your blog. This will allow you to back up your data base from inside the dashboard of your blog.
You can have it email you a backup on a time table that you set. I do this and set up a special Gmail account that receives these but…
It still needs to be checked regularly to make sure that the backups are being set.
One of the settings is to save it to the server but what is the point if your server crashes? Do not recommend that.
Server Files
You do not need all of the files that run your blog but you will need any that you have edited.
The must haves are
- wp-config.php (so you have access to the data base connection information
- Theme files if you have edited them or changed images etc.
- all of the media files you have uploaded.
If you have those and the latest data base it is easy to get your blog back to what it was if you ever have a critical problem.
I will be adding the backup and upgrade video whenever WordPress does the final release on WordPress 2.9.
Got more questions on WordPress? Leave a comment and let me know so I can address them.
About the author
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Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps |
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5 comments
Brett McEllhiney on December 17, 2009 at 11:53 am
Thanks for the tip on the WordPress Data Base Backup plug-in. That looks to be just the thing that I need.
Unfortunately, I am not that good at getting myself on a good backup schedule when doing it manually.
Going to go and download this plug-in right now and give it a shot!
Thanks again
Brett McEllhiney´s last blog ..Who Wants Quality PLR Content for Their Niche Blog or Ezine?
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Lonnie Minton on December 17, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Mike, Thanks for these guidelines on backing up your blog. I knew you needed to back up the database and the blog files. Was not sure which ones I needed, I have been copying the entire blog files to my hard drive. That takes a lot of time and a lot of space. Now I won’t need to copy it all.
I think a good future post for you would be to show how to get you blog back up if you have the latest data base and the files you mentioned in this post.
Lonnie Minton´s last blog ..Your List Is Your Affiliate Marketing
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Richard Perkins on December 17, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Yet another great post that informed me a little more. I am not afraid of phpMyAdmin, in fact in my opinion it is the easiest way out there to manage your database compared to mySQLTools and others I have seen but, like Brett said above, I am also not good at a manual schedule of backing up my websites. It has bit me a couple times too and I always end up regretting not backing the server up in the long run and end up doing hours and hours or even days and days of getting it back to where you want it.
Thanks for the file run down too. I had also been backing up the whole site to my hard disk and depending on the amount of plugins, themes and media it does get quite big. And like Mike says above don;t just save it to your server. If your server crashes you lose the site and the backup. Make sure you keep your backup in a safe place that will not be effected by an entire system melt down, it happens believe me.
So I am off to go download the plugin and backing up my blogs, now is as good a time as any!
Richard Perkins´s last blog ..#2 Cited Standard in 2009 for Surface Non-Metal Mines
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Joe Brochin on December 19, 2009 at 4:17 am
Great post Mike. I regularly backup all my hosting accounts at least once a week, databases and all.
Looks like the upgrade to 2.9 does have some problems. Seems so far simple tags does not work with it and creates problems with some themes and how widgets are displayed.
Joe Brochin´s last blog ..The Press and One Last Wish
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Kai on January 17, 2010 at 5:50 pm
One of my friend’s blog got hacked recently. He didn’t backup his blog! That is a lesson learned for him.
-Kai
Kai´s last blog ..Keywords That Sell
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