How to Backup Your Blog Automatically

lockeddata.jpgWe keep hearing about attacks on blogs, posts being wiped out, comments destroyed — and this is from people who aren’t even upgrading to the latest version of WordPress!

Yes, I’m talking about getting your blog hacked. It can happen to anyone, and in fact it has happened to many already. If the hackers do get access to your database, either through the front door (i.e. through your blog admin pages) or directly through some back door, you risk losing everything. That’s why it is so important to back everything up.

But how? I talked about it a little bit in a recent post dedicated to helping people move their WordPress blog from one server to another. But there is an easier way, and best of all it’s automatic!

I’m talking about Austin Matzko “WordPress Database Backup” plugin (version 2.2.1). This nifty plugin automates everything for you. I have it set so that a backup is emailed directly to my inbox every week, so that if I do get hacked, I will only lose a week of data at most. But you can set it up for daily, weekly, even hourly backups. It also allows you to manually save your database to your server or your own hard drive.

Now I’m sold on this one, but if you have another that you use, let us know by leaving a comment below! And I’m always up for new plugins and gadgets, so if you have a favourite, leave that here too…

~Graham

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2 Responses to “ How to Backup Your Blog Automatically ”

Cath Lawson (19 comments.) says:

Thank you Graham. I must confess, I suck at backing up, but I do know I should be doing it. But I tried to do it the other day and couldn’t remember how, so I’ll definitely be downloading this plugin. Thank you.

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Graham says:

Hi Cath,

Yes, backing up can be a pain. Not only do you have to remember to do it every so often, but you also have to sort of stop everything and go through a bunch of monotonous steps — not the most creative thing I do in my days…

Now not only do I avoid all that messiness, but the best part is that I don’t have to think about it at all. And I can get back to more fun, more creative things…

~Graham

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