Backing Up WP Site

1. Back up Mysql database using C-Panel.
2. Back up your public_html or www folder. Preferably using WinSCP for secure connection and its mirroring function.
3. If you connect from WinSCP, you will see www is a symbolic link to public_html. (at least in my case. just backup one of them).

by the way, which hosting company are you using? Like it?

Suggesting that someone use winscp is like telling someone that doesnt know how to drive the freeway directions to the closest megamall. Not everyone has SSH available.

Skip all of that, and just use cpanel’s built in. ability. Underneath the header that is labeled “Files” there ought to be an icon thats identified by the text “Backups”. If you click that link, you should be presented with the ability to download both MySQL backups and home directory backups. Click the links, and youre good to go.

There is also a generate a full backup option on that page as well. Clicking that will result in the backup being saved within your web space. If you do that, you will just add another step thats unnecessary.

To back up the files of your WP installation you can use any FTP client (I myself use Filezilla). The WWW folder or public_html folder are the same content. (If your WP installation is directly inside one of those folders — sounds like it from what you described — that means it is installed “in the root” of the directory. But some people put the whole installation in a subfolder instead.)

Opening my blog folders in either of these main folders, I see sub folders wp-admin, wp-content and wp-includes along with various other files. Which do I choose to select to download for my back up? Do I simply “select all” or do I need to select all the various files in my first level blog folder and then open the wp-“admin”, “content” and “includes” folders seperately and download the included files and folders individually?

You should be able to select all for the whole thing — the 3 main folders (wp-admin, etc.) and the loose files in the directory. It may depend on the settings of your FTP client, but default behavior is that it will download those folders and all the subfolders and files inside them.

EDIT: Whooami posted before I finished. Unsurprisingly, her directions are simpler and more straightforward, so do what she says.

Thanks folks – I’m much clearer now. I’m following your guide whooami – is it really that simple? I mean surely I should have to do that – I dunno – standing on one leg or something – to make it a little more difficult??!

In my c-panel – files – backups I have the options you describe. I can download the “Home Directory” backup and the MySQL option is described as “Download a MySQL Database Backup”, with the button below that labelled “Databases” and my blog listed as the only thing available to click on. So I guess that’s the two I need for backing up both my site files and my Db files.

Thinkweird, I’m hosted with https://www.bludomain.com. I purchased my site from them too and I like it very much.

I’m good to go now. Thanks very much everyone.

OOPS! I guess I spoke too soon. Just a question now on the htaccess file, to join the many other posts on the forums asking similar questions.

Does the process recommended by whooami include the htaccess file or is there another step I need to take?

If there is another step, could someone please walk me through it? I can’t see htaccess in my folders, I understand that’s because it could be hidden and from what I gather from other posts, I think I need to change my ftp client to “show hidden files”? but I’m unsure how to do that even! Is this something I do through my C-Panel?

Thanks for your patience guys.

WinSCP is recommended by WorePress.

Pros:

1. Securer since it uses ssh connection.
2. Faster since it only has to backup newer files.
3. Other benefits like quick editing of certain files on your site.

Search WP site for a guide about how to backup.

WinSCP is recommended by WorePress.

what the hell is worepress, and who cares? And as I already said — Not everyone has ssh available.

youre answering a question that wasnt asked. Learn to read, and stop trying to make some point that just confuses people that dont understand what youre talking about.

Phil Egan,

Its as simple as I described. When getting backups from within cpanel, a home backup is exactly what it says — its archives up all your web “stuff”, that includes any dotted files, like .htaccess.

Theres no other step; its just that simple.

Thanks whooami, that’s good of you and I appreciate the support.

Just use this plugin…

https://wordpress.designpraxis.at/plugins/backupwordpress/

it works great.