While WordPress is undeniably a wonderful program it has the inherent problem of being a program. In yesterday’s post I explained some of the things that can happen. While I certainly hope nothing goes wrong with your blog, it is always good to have a back up. Today’s post will teach you how to backup WordPress with Gmail!
Would you like an automatic backup?
Forgetting to backup WordPress is a common problem. Plus it is not like you plan for your blog of 2 years with hundreds of posts to suddenly become unstable. Then sometimes a server becomes unstable, so a backup to your server will not help. This is where the plugin WordPress Database Backup (WP DB Backup) will save you.
Why WordPress Database Backup?
Set it and forget it is a great reason to get it. After you set it up, you can have it automatically back up your blog, after every post, hourly, daily or weekly. Then as added security rather than send to your server you can send it to your email account.
Why did you recommend Gmail?
You want to use an account that has plenty of storage. It is also a free email service and you could set up an account just for your backup. You can also filter the backups into a folder. You can save all, or some or just two of your latest back ups.
How do I set it up?
The simplest way is to go to Plugins on your WordPress Dashboard. Click “Add New” then type “WP DB Backup” in the search. Austin Matazko is the creator of this plugin so you want to make certain that is the one you get. Click install then again in the pop up. You want to make certain it is activated.
How do I configure it?
Now visit tools and backup. In the first box with some options on things to save, which depend on your website needs. The next box allows you to save right now. This is a great thing to do when you first install it. But the last box is the most important. Here you can set a back up schedule. If you have many comments per day, you might want twice daily. For 365 Online Tips, we post daily so we back up daily. If you post once a week, you could have it save weekly. Add your email address for backups then click schedule.
What happens now?
You now have the comfort of knowing you are automatically backed up. If you are planning on doing a lot of work or moving your blog then you would want to use the export and import, which is tomorrow’s post. However for an emergency this is a great worry free solution.
ROCK ON!!!
~ MJ Schrader
Hi MJ,Excellent tip! It's so important to back up WordPress. Many people find out the hard way!Deb