S2F-8 Backing up your site

There are many plugins you can use to back up your site, Some free and some paid.

You can also backup your site the long way, but I am not going to show you that here. ( This involves getting into your data base and downloading a copy of the database, then backup up all your files etc with in the site directory structure. A long hard drawn out task, and for those that have never done it, very daunting)

I can going to tell up about a FREE plugin I use, but by all means explore what else is out there and use them if you prefer.

Duplicator for WordPress Plugin

I always use a plugin called Duplicator and find it very easy to use.

And yes I have also had to take one of these back ups and put a site ( several) back to what it was when I took the backup.

Why? I hear you ask.

There have been a number of reasons why.
Some are because I have taken a site from one hosting to another, and wanted an exact copy of that site on the old host to be put on the new host.
Another is because I ( or the owner of the site) have crashed a site. Yes it can and will happen.
Crashing a site can happen in many ways, like an update failing or because (like me) you might start to change some code on the site and can not fix it..

So I found Duplicator one day as was very impressed with it, however it has to be run manually ( well the Free version does anyway)

So find and Add Duplicator https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/ and install it on your site.

I only activate this plugin when I want to use it.. then once the backup files have been downloaded to my computer for safe keeping) I then delete the copies help on the site then Deactivate it.

This is to stop any hackers etc from guessing the url that can make a backup of my site when it is activated.

Activate the plugin and find the Duplicator Menu on the left Admin bar.

The link above has a video on it that will guide you through the process of backup up etc.

There are other popular backup programs out there, like Backup Buddy etc.

You will need to choose which is the best for you and your needs.

The paid versions of most backup plugins will allow you to run automated backups and have them stored ‘Away’ from your site.

Yes I said away, that is because it is rather silly to store them with your site, because what happens if your site gets hacked or even worse, deleted.

Yep you guessed it, the backup could be hacked and or deleted as well..

I know so many people who don’t have ANY backups of their computers Or websites.
Don’t let me hear you say that you didn’t either.