Wordpress backup

[SantaFeAnde]

How can I backup my wordpress blog? I know it used to be through a plugin.....

[deepsand]

That depends on how/where it is hosted, and where you want the back-up files to be stored.

[SantaFeAnde]

It's hosted through wordpress I guess. Or is it not necessary to back it up then?

[deepsand]

It's hosted through wordpress I guess.
Not necessarily the case. What is your complete URL? (Copy/paste or type it here, and replace any "period" with (dot).


Or is it not necessary to back it up then?
You should always have back-ups of everything on your site that is your own content, regardless of how/where it is hosted. How many back-up copies, and where they are stored, depends on individual circumstances.

[SantaFeAnde]

It is satanandavoyages(dot)com

[deepsand]

Registered through Automattic, the company that owns wordpress.com, who is your hosting company, as evidenced by your Domain servers being NS1.WORDPRESS.COM and NS2.WORDPRESS.COM.

Given that you've marked your site "Private," I'm not able to get an idea of how large it is, in terms of either no. of files or files sizes.

If you have FTP access to your site, you can simply use that to copy your site's files to your local computer(s).

[SantaFeAnde]

The site will launch next week or so that's why it is private. It has a lot of pages and photos, not too many posts, its for a small travel business I am starting.
I don't have FTP access, at least I can't figure it out. It sounds like wordpress is not offering a widget then for backup?

[deepsand]

See wordpress.org: wordpress Backups (http://codex.wordpress.org/wordpress_Backups) for various options and instructions.

And, as you really should get FTP access, for ease of both uploading and downloading files to and from your site, also see wordpress.org: FTP Clients (http://codex.wordpress.org/FTP_Clients).

[SantaFeAnde]

Thanks a lot. Will look into both!

[deepsand]

Thanks a lot. Will look into both!
My pleasure.

[Sweet Tooth #3]

Thanks SanteFeAnde for starting this thread. I really need to learn how to back up my WP blogs.

Deepsand, I have C Panel hosting. What is the easiest way to do this...in dummy speak?

I mean it, really dumbed down. :) I'm technically challenged.

Thanks in advance

[deepsand]

How many back-up copies to you want to have? And, what are the different places where you want to store each copy?

[Sweet Tooth #3]

How many back-up copies to you want to have? And, what are the different places where you want to store each copy?

That's a good question. :lol:

I just want to get everything back to normal if something bad happens.

[deepsand]

Well, then, let's begin with what storage resources are required, and what you have available.

How many files are involved, what is the size of the largest, and what is the total of all sizes?

How much available space are you able to commit on your own local machine(s)?

How much free space do you have available on your host?

[Sweet Tooth #3]

Well, then, let's begin with what storage resources are required, and what you have available.

How many files are involved, what is the size of the largest, and what is the total of all sizes?

How much available space are you able to commit on your own local machine(s)?

How much free space do you have available on your host?

My host offers 5 GB of disc space, I only use a tiny fraction of that.

My computer has...Well...I forget how much. But I know it's a lot of memory. And I don't have a lot of stuff stored on it. I bought it 2 years ago and it had more memory than the vast majority of laptops.

As far as my sites, they're just barebones wordpress blogs.

I don't know how that relates to files. But I have 5 money sites.

Thanks

[deepsand]

At the bare minimum, you'll need to find our how much space your blogs' files are using, and how much free space you have on your local machine's hard drive(s).

Finding out the size(s) and amount of free space on your local HD(s) is quickly and easily done. If you don't know how to do that, tell me what Operating System and version you're using, and I'll guide you through the process.

Additional places for storing back-ups that might work for you are CDs, USB thumb-drives, and external portable HDs. Good practice here is to have 2 or 3 copies of a back-up, in different formats and different physical places, so that if one is corrupted, lost or destroyed you'll still have a fall-back.

As for finding out how much space your blogs' files take up, that is available via the Control Panel of your hosted account(s). If you aren't sure how to find that information, best to ask your host, as they can best assist with the particular CP that they provide.

[Talks_44]

Once you've done what deepsand said, by checking availability and requirements, etc... cPanel generally has an easy method of backing up everything. Files and databases. In the newer versions of cPanel, there is an option called "Backup Wizard" if you see that in your cPanel, you can click it and it will take you to a screen that lets you choose between a backing up and restoring. Click "Backup". Then you can either choose "Full Backup" or on the side are 3 options, "Home Directory"; "MySQL Databases"; and "Email Forwarders & Filters". Just click "Full Backup" and you can generate an archive. Or select which piece you want to download if you don't want the full thing.

[Sweet Tooth #3]

Checking now. Thanks guys! ;)

You're awesome!

And yes Talks 44, I do have Backup Wizard on my cPanel.