Backing up your Wordpress blog
It might seem like an obvious suggestion to backup your Wordpress blog, but countless users do not have a regular backup schedule, use redundant plugins, or update their wordpress install without backing up before hand. Bad idea…
How many times have you read horror stories about hacked blogs or failed updates? To reiterate, backing up your blog on a regular basis is extremely important!
So you have a choice between a database backup, or a full backup. Both options are important, but more relevant depending on the type of blog you own, and the options offered to you by your web host. A database backup will run on the MYSQL database that hosts all of the blog content, images, links and settings, so is particularly important if you regularly publish content on your blog, but are not as concerned about downloading and applying themes again. A full backup will consist of your database, as well as all your plugins, themes, and dashboard settings; this is usually preferred by media heavy blogs. Generally database backups are more common as they are easier to perform, either through using the export tool built into the Wordpress dashboard, or a free service offered by a web host.
Users wanting to perform a full site backup using a WP plugin are entering a minefield. Some WP plugins don’t actually offer a full site backup , and are merely a simpler way of backing up the WP database, however the backup will be stored along side the blog, so if compromised by hackers, the backup files will be accessible as well. Not an ideal solution. Other plugins are not updated regularly, leading to compatibility issues with new releases of Wordpress, leaving the user thinking they have a schedule in place, when in reality it is not performing correctly. Due to the large number of plugins available, there’s also the issue of testing different options to find the best solution for you, a time consuming task that, when considering the other options available, is unnecessary.
CatN has developed a solution for simple, supported back up scheduling, that is browser based and requires no plugins to be installed. Essentially, we are reducing the margin for error and taking the hassle and risk involved, when scheduling backups, out of the equation, enabling the user to do what they do best… blog! We have found common ground between the database backup and the full backup by securing all content, site structure, images and a list of users, but not video, or themes (yet), which through good practice should be recorded by the user.
We called it the Genie, and it does more than just backup your blog. It offers blog restore points that are time stamped, allowing the user to make clear decisions when dealing with the worst case scenario, and better yet, the backup is stored in our secure Datacentre, so if your whole system is compromised your WP blog is nice and safe with us. Genie also includes a one click migration tool, to simplify the process of moving to our WP vCluster hosting platform in a disaster recovery scenario. Have a look at the Genie page for more information, and if you’re unsure of the backup process there are plenty of intuitive step by step guides in the support section, as well as live chat with our tech team if you have any questions.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, this service is free. We’re so proud of our backup solution that we want to show it to as many people as possible. Prouct available from 2/2/2010.
Still not convinced you need to backup your blog? Have a look at these:
http://scobleizer.com/2009/09/05/i-dont-feel-safe-with-wordpress-hackers-broke-in-and-took-things/
http://www.softwarebyrob.com/2007/10/05/a-tale-of-moving-blog-engines-community-server-to-wordpress/
