The next thing to do after you have finished configuring your WordPress or posting some articles is WordPress backup. Regular WordPress backup is the wise thing to do and you have to make sure you put it in your to-do list. Once a month or twice a month is a reasonable schedule for WordPress backup. I always do WordPress backup on the 15th and 30th — twice a month. And to save some space I only keep the last 5 backup files.
Why WordPress backup?
Why do we need to do a WordPress backup? Well, some of you probably ask that question. In my previous articles I always say “backup early, backup regularly” and you never know when things go wrong. You may or may not know what happened last time to my blog — all data was gone in a second because of a security breach at my ex-hosting provider. All data was gone, no recent backup, no trace and unrecoverable. And believe me, you don’t want that to happen. So regular WordPress backup is an assurance for your blog’s future.
How to do WordPress backup
I separate WordPress backup into 2 sections: database backup and files backup. To do a WordPress database backup all you need is a plugin called WP-DBManager. Just install it and back up your WordPress database with one click. You can also schedule WordPress database backup and have it sent to your email. I like this plugin.
For WordPress files backup, all you need to do is pack the wp-content folder and put it somewhere safe. The best plugin to do this is WP Time Machine. With this plugin you can back up your wp-content and upload it to Dropbox. You can get 2GB of space for free in Dropbox — that is enough to save 2-3 copies of your wp-content folder. And you can schedule with cron jobs to back up regularly.
So what we learn today is that doing a WordPress backup is not hard anymore. You don’t have to know programming or be a geek. With just 2 great plugins you can schedule regular WordPress backups. And please keep in mind to do your WordPress backup regularly — you don’t know when things can go wrong.