The Importance of Website Backups and How to Use UpdraftPlus for WordPress
Backing up your website is crucial, especially when making significant changes. It ensures you have a copy of your site as it was, so you can restore it if needed. While WordPress can automatically schedule backups, it’s often wise to manually back up your site before major updates.
Thanks to numerous plugins, backing up and restoring a WordPress site is straightforward. There are many reasons to perform these actions, such as correcting coding mistakes, recovering from security breaches, or dealing with a host’s issues. Today, I’ll show you how to use UpdraftPlus for this purpose.
Why You Should Backup Your WordPress Website
Backing up your website offers several benefits. It’s especially useful for fixing mistakes that might occur during significant changes. For example, installing and misconfiguring plugins can disrupt your site. Additionally, if you’re switching web hosts, backing up ensures a smooth transfer. If anything goes wrong, you can simply restore your site from the backup.
Security is another key reason for backups. Attacks can disable your site, but a backup allows for a quick restoration. Using a WordPress backup plugin helps keep your site running even after severe incidents.
How to Install and Use the UpdraftPlus Plugin
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to install and use the UpdraftPlus plugin, the most popular backup tool with over a million active installations. It offers all necessary features for backing up and restoring your site, including both scheduled and manual backups, all available in the free version.
Install UpdraftPlus
Go to the WordPress plugin area and click “Add New.”
Search for UpdraftPlus. You’ll see several similar plugins.
Scroll to find UpdraftPlus and click “Install Now,” then activate it.
Configure UpdraftPlus Settings
On the left-hand admin panel, go to Settings and click on UpdraftPlus Backups.
In the main settings page, click on the Settings tab.
Set up scheduled backups for your files and database. Choose the frequency and number of backups to keep. Remember, large websites might not have room for multiple copies, so select a schedule that works for you.
Choose where to save your backups. Avoid storing them on the same server as your website. UpdraftPlus offers various storage options. Select the best one for you and set up an account if needed.
Choose which files to back up. It’s generally best to back up everything.
Click “Save Changes” to set up automatic backups.
Manually Backup Your Website
Go back to the Current Status tab.
To manually back up your site, click “Backup Now.”
In the new window, choose the files to back up and click “Backup Now.” The process may take time depending on your site’s size.
Restore Your Website from a Backup
Go to the Existing Backups tab.
Upload your backup by clicking “Upload Backup Files” or “Rescan Remote Storage,” depending on where your backup is stored.
Back in the Current Status tab, click “Restore” and confirm in the new window.
Keep Your Website Backed Up
Always be prepared for potential issues, whether they stem from your own mistakes, plugin problems, or your host’s errors. It’s your responsibility to maintain a backup to minimize downtime.
While scheduled backups are useful, they’re not foolproof. If a backup is made during a problem, it might be corrupted. Keep multiple copies in different locations and manually back up before major changes. Following these guidelines ensures you always have a reliable backup to restore your site.
Have you ever avoided extended downtime by restoring a backup? Do you align your scheduled backups with your content updates?