If you are like me, you spend hours and hours carefully writing posts, putting up photos, and offering your online content to the world.

But have you protected your work? WordPress blogs can go wonky for all sorts of reasons and even if your host does a complimentary backup, who wants to lose several days of work?

A blog may have a fatal error when there is:

1. A bad update on the WordPress software.
2. A glitch with a new theme.
3. A server issue.
4. A plugin incompatibility.
5. An inexperienced blogger is playing around with code when he/she is not quite sure how to do it.

Backing up your blog is simple and easy, and I’m frequently surprised at how many people have nothing in place. Here are a few simple ways you can keep your content safe.

Backing up your blog content on your computer

It doesn’t matter what platform you use, periodically export your blog content and keep a copy on your computer. To do this in WordPress, you simply go to tools and export. In Blogger, the setting is under settings and then other.

Important note! This only backs up your content, not your settings, theme, and database. Once you’ve exported your blog content, save a copy in your dropbox account or on a flashdrive.

If you’ve done this, wonderful. But you need to back up your entire DATABASE as well.

The rest of this blog post pertains to self-hosted WordPress blogs only.

To do so, simply download a backup plugin. Go to plugins and type in Backup in the search bar. Choose one with decent ratings!

Free WordPress Backup
Updraft Plus
Complete Central Backup
WP-DB Backup

A couple things you want to be mindful of….

1. If you are doing a backup onto your server, some hosts have a limit on your space (i.e. 20GB). Make sure you set your latest backup to replace old backups so you don’t fill up your server. Check the settings in your plugin.

2. Some plugins will have the options for a prescheduled weekly backup. Others will be manual (in other words, you must remember to backup your blog).

3. You should backup your blog onto your server and THEN onto a separate account (like Google drive, Dropbox, etc. in the event your server goes down).

When should I perform a backup?

Once a week is fine. If you are a frequent blogger, you can do it once a night. You don’t need more than four or five copies of your blog at a time. However, you should always have a recent backup handy whenever you:

-Install a plugin
-Change themes
-Perform updates to plugins or software
-Alter code

Check your host…

Know what your hosting company offers you. Some (like Bluehost and Hostmonster) offer a free complementary once a week backup for emergencies. Hostgator performs the same service but charges $15.00 for a restoration. Know your plan and once in a while, go into yourcPanel and find the folder where those backups are!

If you’re concerned with the ins and outs of backup up your blog, I can help. Email me at Julie@fabulousblogging.com to get your work saved.