Online Backup for WordPress

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If you haven’t yet, I prompt you to read my previous post about Joomla! and Drupal. I need some feedback, you know? I’d like to know your opinion, and in case you have used those two CMSs before, your tips and tricks too.

This entry is about WordPress online backup tools instead. In particular, it’s about a plugin I’ve grown an attachment to since the days of Nolimitshost and the crap it brought into my online life. Online Backup for WordPress is the name of the plugin, easily findable in the WP repositories. Yes, just as simple as that, no shiny names. But guys, it works like a charm!

The screenshot above comes from the Dashboard of my fictional blog ToyHeart.com (run by Buzz Lightyear ). In the following screencaps, I will show you how to configure Online Backup for WordPress to let you receive regular WP backups in your email inbox! What I will NOT explain is how to save backups to the plugin site’s online vault, because I don’t use such a service. However, if you think you may need this option, read the plugin documentation.

The snapshot above shows you the plugin admin panel, reachable by clicking on the “View Status” link you can see under the plugin name in the first screenshot. Out of the two main config buttons, choose Change Schedule. You can skip Change Settings, as it’s only useful in case you want to try the online backup service.

Now, let’s consider the options inside Change Schedule:

All of these options are to be configured in order for your backup to be successfully emailed to your inbox.

Specify the schedule for the backup: I suggest setting this option on “Weekly”, but you could feel safer with a “Daily” setting instead. It’s totally up to you.

The day to perform the backup on: simply choose the day of the week you will receive your backup email

The hour to perform the backup on: if you wish, you may set up an hour for the backup too.

The minute to perform the backup on: this is a little excessive in my opinion, but to each their own! ^^

Email scheduled backups? Check this option to get your backup emails.

Email address to send to: of course, you need to input your email address here. I suggest getting a Gmail account if your current email does not allow for several MB attachments.

Send the backup to the online vault? Do NOT check this option if you don’t want to use the online vault.

When you’re done with the configuration, simply push the Apply Schedule button. Your blog entries are now safe.

NOTE: This plugin saves your WP backup as a MySQL database file, so you will need to restore it using the Import tool on phpMyAdmin. Unfortunately, no plugin has been written yet that saves your backups as regular XML files for WP imports.