WordPress Backup Introduction
Let’s face it, WordPress is one of the most famous content management systems (CMS) on the planet. Dare we say one of the most powerful. However, the power house CMS doesn’t have a standard way to backup the system and the website. Shocking we know. The real question is, why do you need to backup the system and the website? Simple, there are numerous viruses, hackers, and other vulnerabilities that threaten the website. The ability to restore a website from a backed up copy provides peace of mind. Knowing a backup on the website is performed on a regular basis allows the business owner a good nights rest. The good news is there are numerous plugins that can help with backing up the website and the option to restore the site should the website experience any issues.
1. UpdraftPlus Backup and Restoration
UpdraftPlus is one of the most popular backup and restorations plugins used on the WordPress.org repository. The plugin has 500,000+ active installations, meaning more than 500,000+ WordPress sites have the plugin installed. The plugin comes in two different versions, free and premium. The free version allows webmasters to backup the website and WordPress itself while storing the site on a remote storage. A remote server can consist of Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, to name few options. You can place the backup on a schedule to automate the process and have the ability to restore a website in case an issue were to arise. The plugin boasts the ability to quickly restore a website from the plugin and for added security layer can encrypt the data if need be. There are numerous other features that come equipped with the free version and the premium version comes with even more. Give UpdraftPlus Backup and Restoration a chance by downloading the plugin on the WordPress plugin repository.
2. VaultPress
VaultPress is an awesome plugin. The component is a premium plugin that comes with a one push solution, literally. VaultPress performs all of the work for you. Think of it as a set and forget. VaultPress performs numerous background backups, while the website chugs along. VaultPress is an example of a paid plugin that delivers when the time arises. The plugin begins at $5 / month for the most basic plan. A lot of small business websites can get away with the cheaper plan for a cost savings benefit. In addition to performing backups of the website, VaultPress offer security scans. The security scans ensure no malicious software is on the website during backups and notifies the webmaster if there are any issues. VaultPress is a premium at an affordable price point.
3. BackupBuddy
BackupBuddy is another premium plugin. The plugin is highly respected in the WordPress community and many webmasters have either used the plugin for themselves or have implemented the plugin for customers. The features BackupBuddy provides are inline with most of the other high end solutions, but what separates this plugin is the ability migrate a WordPress website. The plugin provides the ability for webmasters to make a copy of the website, deploy the copy on what developers call a sandbox, which is a copy of the customer’s website, onto another host. Same can be said for non-developers. Customers can clone a website and move the website to another host with a click of a button. BackupBuddy is a strong, premium backup plugin that we highly recommend for all WordPress websites.
4. BackWPUp
BackWPUp is a free backup solution numerous WordPress sites implement. The plugin’s free and premium version has been downloaded more than 2,000,000 times as of this writing. The free solution comes equipped with standard features including, database backup, Backup with various storage options (Dropbox, Amazon, Google Drive etc.), and checks and repairs the website’s Database. The free solution is adequate for smaller websites, while the premium can be purchased for more features. The premium version of the plugin comes equipped with all of the free features and premium support for the plugin. The premium version starts at $75 per year. The price is fairly competitive considering the other plugins on the list.
5. WordPress Backup to Dropbox
The name in the plugin says it all, WordPress is backed up to Dropbox. The simplistic plugin is a breeze to install and connect to a Dropbox account. All of the data the plugin backups is stored on Dropbox. Depending on the size of the Dropbox account, you will have to manage the backups that are uploaded. For example, backups take up a lot of space rather quickly. If the Dropbox account is using the free version, which only comes with 2GB, space will become limited quickly. The plugin is suitable for smaller websites and works nicely with a service most customers are comfortable with.
Thanks Andrew for this advices. I selected for me WordPress Backup to Dropbox plugin easy to install and to operate!
You are very welcome Maria! Glad the WordPress Backup to Dropbox was easy to install. What type of WordPress website are you backing up?
Thanks for the great post.
It is good to know that I can backup my WP site easily using a plugin. My hosting company (https://www.rosehosting.com) regularly backup all servers, but having a local backup is really good.
You can never have too many backups. As long as none of the are corrupted, all will be well!
Great list; I use many of those but will certainly try Vault as I use WPBackUp and haven’t had a response to a support request for two weeks !
A recent plugin that I found is Dropbox Photo Siteloader. If you use Dropbox to collect your photos or receive photos from brands/PRs you work with, this plugin pulls all your selected photos from Dropbox folders into your media library. No more downloading and re-uploading !
Hi John! Sorry to hear about WPBackUp not responding. Definitely give VaultPress a shot. Its one of those plugins where you set it and forget it. It really is that simple. Thanks for the tip about Dropbox Photo Siteloader! Removing the aspect of downloading and uploading is great! What’s the issue you are experiencing with WPBackUp?
I have the backup and askismet and dofollow of course .. the others I don’t. Time for a revamp on those old wp tutorials on your site? The extra one’s I have arem one for a sitemap and one for a contact form the other two are security plugins. I was not sure about any of the seo plugins so left them alone but will be checking the above out.
WP Security Scan
Exploit Scanner
Fast Secure Contact Form
WP Archive-Sitemap Generator
Hi Mohd!
Which backup option do you use? Most of the tutorials on here are more informative. I keep them a bit general so that these tutorials apply for months. Will eventually have to update as the interface changes. Thank you for the comment Mohd and sharing what plugins you use!
In my opinion the best plugin is BackupGuard! Very powerful plugin.Saved my life many times https://backup-guard.com/
We’ve never used BackupGuard. Does the service offer a WordPress plugin?
Thx for the info. Those are helpful plugins. I wish the article had a date. When talking about technology, it helps to know when the post was made. This article will still be on the Internet 5 years from now, but this information will be stale. Frankly, I believe all posts and articles should have a date. Why not?
Greetings Eve – Thank you for your comment. If you actually look at the top of the article, you’ll notice the date is October 2015. While the article may be dated, these are still valid options for backing up your website.
Is it really that simple? That’s the question many people will ask after reading this post. The most important thing is having an backup just in case your site gets hacked or when you change hosts like you mentioned. You always want to have some to go back to on those rainy days!
From day one of my blog I’ve been using the WP DB-Manager, to auto backup my database. I’ve always used that one because its east to use and gets the job done with no problems. On the off chance one day I get a database crash, I’ll be covered. I also weekly take a manual backup of my files. Goof plugins you’ve listed.
Hello Joseph! While I’ve heard of WP DBManager, I’ve never used the plugin. I did notice within the WordPress.org repository that the plugin hasn’t been tested with the last 3 WordPress major releases and should be used with caution. We’ll definitely need to update the list as newer backup and restore options have hit the market. Thank you for the comment!
Those plugins are good but I dont know why Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin gives problem for my sitemap xml and i am not able to use other sitemap any advice for that.
Great list of wordpress plugins. As we all know that plugins are the real power of wordpress and every wordpress blogs are incomplete without plugins but choosing the right plugin for a blog is the toughest thing……Thanks a lot for the great list of wordpress plugins.
Thanks for the list, your blog posts are consistently worth reading. I’m curious about your Popup (that encourages newsletter signups)? Is it a plugin or have you custom-coded it? Nice new effect on it, too! For plugins, I found P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler) which shows how much lag time each plugin is using on your site — helps decide whether a plugin is worth using or not. Thanks!
I used a pop-up for awhile then stopped and now I’m back at it again. I use pop-up ally which is also free and has the same fully customizable options that OptinMonster does, including an exit intent popup. I’ve only been blogging for about 8 months but have never backed up my site. Yikes! I will e investing inVaultPress today!