How-To Backup Your WordPress Site
Learning how-to backup your WordPress site doesn’t have to be difficult. These methods can be used easily and best of all, for free!
The three most popular ways of backing up your site are:
1) Through your WordPress Dashboard,
2) Your Web Host,
3) Using a Backup plugin.
You can also use a combination of the three, if you truly want to be on the “safe side”. In this post, we are going to go over how to back up your WordPress site using these methods so you can implement them right away.
Backing Up Your Site Manually Through the WordPress Dashboard
How-to backup your WordPress site manually through your Dashboard – Step-by-step instructions:
Step 1. Go to your WordPress Dashboard’s far right column. Click “Tools”, then click “Export”.
Step 2. Under “Choose what to export”, click “All content”.
Step 3. Finally, click “Download Export File”.
WordPress will then create an XML file for you to save to your computer.
This format, which is called “WordPress eXtended RSS or WXR”, will contain your posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, and tags. Once you’ve saved the download file, you can use the Import function in another WordPress installation to import the content from this site.
*Please note that this method will not backup images or any other media, except of course your embeds, like YouTube videos, etc. This backup is a WordPress eXtended RSS file generated by WordPress as an export of your site. It contains information about your site’s posts, pages, comments, categories, and other content.
You may use this file to transfer that content from one site to another as well. Again, this file is not intended to serve as a complete backup of your site.
To import this information into a WordPress site follow these steps:
- Log in to that site as an administrator.
- Go to Tools: Import in the WordPress admin panel.
- Install the “WordPress” importer from the list.
- Activate & Run Importer.
- Upload this file using the form provided on that page.
- You will first be asked to map the authors in this export file to users on the site. For each author, you may choose to map to an existing user on the site or to create a new user.
- WordPress will then import each of the posts, pages, comments, categories, etc. contained in this file into your site.
Want us to take care of all your backups so you never have to worry about it?
Daily backups are included in all our hosting plans!
How-To Backup Your Site Using WordPress Plugins
There are many free, high-quality backup and migration plugins available in the WordPress plugin directory. Here are some popular WordPress plugins you can use to backup your site. These plugins have both free and premium features.
Duplicator – This plugin allows WordPress users to clone, backup and move their WordPress sites between locations, or to store the backup files simply as a precautionary measure.
UpdraftPlus – If you want to create regular backups of your WordPress site and easily store them in Google Drive, Dropbox or Rackspace, this is the plugin for you. It also provides manual and scheduled backup options.
WP STAGING – This plugin not only allows for easy backups, but also is a great tool if you need to clone your website for staging purposes as you continue development on your WordPress site.
All-in-One WP Migration – This WordPress plugin specializes in backups specifically for migrating your site. It has a one-click feature that makes the process fast and easy.
Like most WordPress plugins, these backup plugins also have premium (paid) versions as well, which offer more features and convenience.
The backup plugins above are just a few of the most popular ones. If you’d like to check out more, visit WordPress Backup Plugins.
Want us to take care of all your backups so you never have to worry about it?
Daily backups are included in all our hosting plans!
How-To Backup Your WordPress Site in cPanel
cPanel is equipped with an area referred to as Backup Wizard. You will need to login to your cPanel through your hosting provider, and access the Backup Wizard section, create a full backup of your site, after which you will be able to download it for safekeeping.
Step 1. Go into your cPanel and under “Files” click “Backup Wizard”.
Step 2. Click “Back up”.
Step 3. Click “Full Backup”.
Step 4. The “Backup Wizard” will then generate a Backup of your WordPress website.
This may take up to a few days depending on the size of your site, the amount of files, etc. When the Backup is complete, you should get an email notifying you that the Backup was completed.
Then simply go back into the Backup Wizard. Under “Backups Available for Download:” click the latest Backup File and it will download that onto your local computer.
Please note: You will not be able to restore the entire “Full Backup” of your WordPress website through cPanel. For this you will need to contact your Web Host for their assistance.
Want us to take care of all your backups so you never have to worry about it?
Daily backups are included in all our hosting plans!
Whether you’re just getting started with WordPress or looking to update your site, it’s important that you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your business.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post on how to backup your WordPress site. In order for a website to be successful, it needs an online presence that is always available and accessible from any device at any time.
Unfortunately, with the modern world of hacking being what it is, we have more reasons than ever before to worry about our data’s safety and security.
Cybercriminals are constantly looking for new ways into networks or computers in order to steal identities or just cause havoc by infiltrating a system without permission.
That’s why one of the most important things you can do as a webmaster is to make sure everything has been backed up properly. So if disaster strikes, there will still be copies of all those files sitting safely somewhere. This will make it much easier to get your site back up and running again in no time!
Let’s get started working together!
