How to Backup Your WordPress Blog

Wordpress Tips

Wordpress Tips

You have put hours and hours of effort into perfecting every inch of your WordPress Blog.  Theme design, permalinks, plugins, pictures, podcasts, and most importantly post content.  Then one day you log on to find that your entire website is gone! Did you backup your data? Now that you have the thought in your head, I bet you will from now on. Worried that it is too difficult to do? Not to worry, It is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. From within your WordPress Dashboard, select “Export” from within the “Tools” panel.

2. Select the authors you would like to export. Exporting is the process used to download and save the file that contains the content of your blog.  I select “All Authors”.

3. Click the “Download Export File” button.

It’s that easy.  Once you have downloaded your file, be sure to save it in a location that is safe. I save a copy on my hard drive in a folder titled “Blog Backups”.  Set up another layer of redundancy by saving a copy to an external hard disk, or include the backup files as a part of your overall computer backup plan.

To take the safety of your content one step further, save your content off site.  I do this by importing my backup file into my WordPress.com blog.  Doing this not only adds another layer of protection, it also provides an additional face to your blog, and could lead to more hits and stats as well.

I am sure there are a ton of ways to protect your content, and I’d love to hear them all.  Leave a comment, or shoot me an email.

Most importantly, do something. Don’t let all your hard work go down into the depths of Internet hell.

2 Responses to “How to Backup Your WordPress Blog”

  1. Bob Holmes November 29, 2009 at 10:44 pm #

    Thanks Daniel!

    I’m building one site with 3 in the wings and I had, but lost this info. Your’s is easier too.

    Live Long and Prosper!
    Bob

  2. Jake November 29, 2009 at 11:28 pm #

    You can also use wp-database backup plugin found here: http://ilfilosofo.com/blog/wp-db-backup/
    This allows you to email your DB to you once a week. If you have a gmail account you cannot go wrong because your data base will be forever stored.