Full Serve WordPress projects include a 1 year license to BackupBuddy whenever appropriate. Most WordPress projects also include a coaching session, and one of the first things we cover during coaching is how to back up your WordPress site.

WordPress Coaching: Back Up ReCap

Here is a quick refresher:

1.  Log in to your WordPress site and look for the BackupBuddy section in the dashboard on the left side. wordpress dashboard showing backupbuddy section

If you can’t find BackUpBuddy in your WordPress site, the plugin may not be installed on your site, it may be inactive (check to see if it’s listed in the plugins), or your user account may not have access to it.

2. Click on BackupBuddy and then click on Backup, and then Complete Backup.

Complete Backup of WordPress site - screenshot of section

3. When it is finished, a blue button will appear that says: Download backup file. download back up file screenshot

4. Click the blue button and save the backup file to your computer or cloud storage (ie Dropbox).

BackupBuddy will also save a copy to your server. It’s important to make sure your downloaded copy is included in your regular backup routine for your computer. Other options: save a copy to an external hard drive and store it in your safe. This is a valuable company asset. Remember, you can only restore to the most recent backup available and any changes inbetween will be lost.

Some Important Information About WordPress Back Ups

  • Full Serve includes a 1 year license to a premium back up plugin with every site build (and often site designs, and tune-ups – if appropriate). In most cases we can restore your site in 30 minutes when we use this plugin!
  • Your website is a valuable company asset and we want to make sure you are able to restore your site quickly if necessary.
  • Many hosting packages include back ups. Some are automatic (for example, weekly); some are not and you need to manually do a back up. Some hosting companies will restore your site for free; others charge you. Sometimes it can take up to 72 hours or longer to restore your site.
  • If your site was built by someone else and you hire us to do work on your site, we will not work on it until we have confirmed that there is a recent back up available and plan for how it will be restored.

Website Back Ups – Best Practices

  • Always back up your site before you allow a service provider access to your site and confirm their policy if the site breaks while they are working on it (Will they restore it? How quickly? How much will they charge or is it included?)
  • Always back your site up after you make changes to it. Recently, a client lost several blog posts, edits to a page, and SEO work completed by a service provider when his site broke.