If you’ve ever had a hosting company shut down or shut you down then you know that sinking feeling that you may have just lost countless hours of work. If you have ever been the victim of a heartless hacker you’ve been there too. I have had both happen. I had a hosting company that ‘took the money and ran’ to never return again. That was several years ago. I’ve been hacked a few times too.
Starting over can be a terrible ordeal but if you have recent backups of your site files and databases you can quickly be up and running again. Below are a few options to consider.
FTP client
When you first start your blog it’s very important to keep a copy locally on your computer. Use the exact folder structure on your computer that you do on your site. When you add plugins, new themes or anything else to your site always put it in the correct folder and the FTP it to your server. I recommend weekly FTP backups if you make updates and changes regularly. It’s good to get in the habit of making these backups the same time each week. Set aside half an hour or so dedicated to blog backups each week. I recommend database backups daily but more on that below.
Want more on using FTP? Watch the video at: Just Ask Someone – FTP Question
cPanel® Backup Option:
If you are a technical person cPanel has their own manual that includes backups.
Wordpress Plugin:
Austin Matzko offers a very popular WordPress plug-in that can be setup for automatic database backups. I use WordPress Database Backup on all of my blogs. I have them setup to email me daily backups.
Blogger Blogs:
Alex Chitu @ Google Operating System Blog shows an easy way of backing up Blogger blogs using a Firefox extension. How to Backup a Blogger Blog
phpMyAdmin Backup:
Daniel @ Daily Blog Tips shows how to use your phpMyAdmin to export your tables and database in his post Backup Your Blog Regularly
Here’s a tutorial from SiteGround.com Inc.: MySQL Tutorial
Remote Data Backup Service:
Using an online third party backup service may be another option. I had a list of sites for you but then I found this review of online backup
services by Gadgetadvisor.com Evaluating Online Backup Services
CP Site Saver:
CP Site Saver is a program that can automatically backup all your cPanel websites to your
computer. I haven’t used this program but it’s very popular. I may give it a try myself.
Related posts:
Backing it up is important (hypothetically speaking) just the thought of losing all that information, data or blog posts make me cringe in pain.
I took your advice and is now using the WordPress Database Backup plugin to make sure my blog is being backed up.
Hi Pheak, hopefully you will never have to use it but if something happens at least you wont have to start over. Thanks for stopping by my new site. I need to get more traffic here.
Hmm, very cognitive post.
Is this theme good unough for the Digg?
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Hello Brian, I am using the WordPress Database Backup plugin, it emails me everyday also!
I think I am more safe with that.
Absolutely Hesham, one less thing to remember.
Hi Brian, thanks for the great advice. I know a lot of people out there who need to be reminded of this very important practice of backing up your blog. I have been attacked by hackers a couple of times and lost a lot of data on my blog. Thats why I use the WP database backup plugin. I don’t even have to think about backing up my blog manually as the plugin remembers for me. It’s a pretty good tool.
Absolutely Gary, I use WordPress Database Backup too. It’s installed on every one of my blogs.