Easy WordPress Backup with a PlugIn + Filezilla
Posted by Lillea Woodlyns in Business Website Basics, Security, WordPress & BloggingSpecial Notice: I highly recommend: WordPress for Internet Marketers by the ‘WP Queen’ Leanne King. My full review is here: Wordpress-for-Internet-Marketers-Review
You probably know it’s important to regularly back up the files in your computer in case something goes screwy and you lose your data.
For the same reason, it’s equally important to backup your WordPress files!
Technical wackiness can happen online too. Wouldn’t it be awful if you lost all of your posts and settings? But don’t worry, if something dreadful happens and your files go belly-up, a recent backup – say, a week old at most – will definitely help a lot.
If you post a lot on your blog, it’s wise to backup your WordPress blog database frequently - perhaps daily.
I use the WordPress Database Back Up PlugIn for exactly that.
After the PlugIn is installed and configured (not hard to do!) it can be set to automatically back up your blog’s database whenever you like. Mine is set to backup daily. Every day the backup file is sent to an e-mail address of my choice.
Very easy!
It’s also best to do a FULL backup of ALL of your WordPress files – perhaps weekly.
I save the full backup files in a folder in my computer.
I have used the FREE FTP program Filezilla to upload files to this blog. It turns out that you can also use it to for the full backup of your WordPress blog. Filezilla works on both PCs and Macs.
After connecting to your site with Filezilla, it’s very easy to download your WordPress blog files to your computer for safekeeping.
7 Easy Steps to Follow to Create a FULL WordPress Backup
1. Download and install Filezilla on your computer.
2. Create a new folder on your computer desktop to store your blog’s backup files. Name it something appropriate and exact like ‘Full Blog Backup Jan 1 2010′.
3. Using Filezilla, connect to the site that your WordPress blog is installed on. For information on how to configure Filezilla, read the directions at http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_FileZilla
4. In the Right Pane of Filezilla double click on WWW. Click on the ‘blog’ folder. Or, if you have more than one site, find the site for the blog you’re backing up and look for it’s blog folder. In the Right Bottom Pane of Filezilla you’ll see these folders:
wp-admin
wp-content
wp-includes
Those are the folders for your WordPress blog. You’re going to copy them into the folder that you created on your computer desktop.
5. In the Left Pane of Filezilla click on the folder that you created on your desktop for your backup.
6. In the Right Bottom Pane of Filezilla highlight the wp-admin folder. Right click on it and select download. This will download the folder to the folder on your desktop. When the download is finished do the same thing with the folders wp-content and wp-includes.
This process may take a while if there are lots of files to download inside the folders. Be patient. 
7. Do you see the files right under the wp-includes folder? Select all of them, right click, and then select download to download them to the folder on your desktop.
You’re done!
Remember, if you upgrade to a new version of WordPress, you should do a full backup beforehand!
~ Lillea Woodlyns
Tags: Leanne King, Leanne King WordPress, upgrading WordPress, WordPress for Internet Marketers, wordpress security tips
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What a good advice. I’ve lost my money making blog a couple of weeks ago because I neglected back up.
The first thing I did for my new blog was adding this plugin.
Franck
Hi Franck,
I’m glad that you’re protected now. It’s great that this PlugIn exists!
Lillea
I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR YOUR BLOG. I DIDN’T KNOW I COULD DO THAT AND I HAVE ALREADY GONE THROUGH THIS ISSUE. I HOPE I HAD KOWN EARLIER BUT STILL IS BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. THANKS FOR YOUR LESSON.
You’re welcome! I agree that it’s better late than never. I’m about to do a full backup now myself so it’s very timely to read your reply. Thank you for visiting.
I dont really know much about computers, but I really enjoy reading this blog.
I’m really glad! Please come back and visit any time.
You can also follow me on Twitter if you like: http://twitter.com/LilleaWoodlyns
There are many ways to backup all the wordpress but I like that plugin which takes the backup and send it in email daily. Although my databases and files are low in size but I’ll keep it up even with higher size. Filezilla is my favorite FTP and it has no alternative.
Hi Roger. The plugin is great. I feel far more secure knowing that every day (which is what I set it to) I have a new backup.
Filezilla is also great, but I wish it had a file editor.
This is a good tip. It would be horrible to lose your data if there is a problem with the program.
Thank you.
Yes, I’ve read about people who have had this happen and it’s definitely horrible!
If the company that hosts your site is a good one, there is a better chance that they’ll be able to restore your data, but it isn’t good to rely on that. So even though the hosting company for this site, Hostgator, is fantastic I still do backups because you never know.
That is some really good advice. You don’t think you need a back up, until you actually do and then its too late.
Oh yes. The more I improve this blog with the recommendations in the resource I mentioned at the top of the post, the more I want to make sure I have a copy of the whole blog if anything goes wrong.
This is good to know! I have a friend who is actually into the whole wordpress thing right now so I will definitely pass this info on to her.
Thanks Payday Loans,
If she’d like to write to me with questions, I’d be happy to try to answer them.
I just love WordPress for Marketers – I highly recommend it. It makes things much easier. I hope to have a full review out soon.
Thanks for the good info should really help me with my paper
Well said. Backup is key. This is great info for everyone.
“Those kind of plugins are always helpful, especially in wordpress. Wordpress is a great blogging platform and if you don’t know css and html, plugins are a must. Thanks for sharing”
Great work! I also have my own blog I just find it hard to write quality content like this.
I guess I really don’t have the time.
Thanks ‘things to do in seattle’! I put a lot of care into these blog posts.
I have more time than most people but wish I was a faster
writer!
Perhaps you can find free articles on Ezine.com to use on your blog?
good information i will use it and let you know.
Once you have backed up your Wordpress blog a time or two, it will not seem so complicated…
I didnt ever think you needed to backup your wp files; i thought they all get stored online somewhere.
-Jack
Hi Jack,
Yes, sometimes there’s a backup online, but not always a full one, and often it’s older than ideal.
Lots of horror stories from people who didn’t backup.
~ Lillea
Great post Lillea
The db back up plugin is totally under used imo. Use it to back up your blogs but also use it to clone your sites as well.
The only thing that I would add is about storage of your back ups. It’s great to have a local copy on your computer and I use some fancy pants software for that but experience (ie a robbery where my computer and accessories were stolen) means that it is important to have your back ups off site as well. For that I use the automatic back up and straight to Amazon S3 plugin (yes it’s paid but it’s quite cheap). This means that I have a copy on Amazon S3 if anything ever goes janky with my local copy and I can also save space on my hard drive. I should add that I have a ton of sites so I need all the space that I can get on my local drive (and yes I have a few portable drives as well ….) too much stuff!
All the best
Leanne
Thank you Leanne!
Those are awesome tips! I’ll look into the Amazon S3 plugin right away – that is a great method!
I know some people who store their back up drive in a bank vault. I’d be concerned about how often I have to go to the bank to update the file! lol
Lillea
Yes, sometimes there’s a backup online, but not always a full one, and often it’s older than ideal.
[...] Easy Wordpress Backup [...]
Hi Lillea,
thank you for the great advice and clear instructions, I have one question though..
how often should we back up our word press files?
Hi Ricky-jay! Nice to see you outside of the SFR forum!
How often you backup might depend on how often you make changes to your WordPress blog, like installing new plugins and themes, or making changes to your themes, and adding images to posts. I backup daily with the database plugin I mention in the article to take care of the written part of the posts I write, but I do a full backup after every 3-4 posts as a general rule because that takes care of everything else.
I feel more secure doing the daily database backup, but if your blog is hacked and you lose everything, access to a full backup is needed so you can restore ALL of your blog files.
I hope that answers your question.
[...] To learn how to backup your database and all of your WordPress files see: Easy WordPress Backup [...]