Backups going to wrong folder – wp-config setting doesn't work

[Please stop posting in uppercase & shouting at us. Post de-capped.]

Addendum to backups going to wrong folder

Whoops – its Balthazar again…
In the clear light of morning I noticed one big mistake in my setup snippet above. I was testing for ABSPATH NOT DEFINED, (the opposite of what I needed)… but in fact I didn’t need the test at all because ABSPATH is ALWAYS going to be defined by the time it gets to my little snippet:

So I revised the code… here’s what it now reads:

/** Set up path to the BACKUPWORDPRESS BACKUP directory */
define (‘HMBKP_PATH’ , ABSPATH .’wp-content/backups’);

Unfortunately, this doesn’t fix the problem. Even after deleting and re-installing the backupwordpress plugin, the backups are still going to the wrong place.

Any thoughts?
Balthazar

Addendum to addendum to Backups going to wrong folder

Well, I fixed my own problem (Whoopie!)

My first mistake was using if ( !defined('ABSPATH') ) as noted in my most recent post.

My second mistake was in not looking for the plugin’s warning message about file permissions on the backups folder…. but in truth, the warning only appeared once… and only for but a brief moment (you might want to check that out… it looks like a bug)…. and the warning was in a place where it was not very likely to be noticed.

My third mistake, was copying and pasting the example code directly from the backupwordpress plugin FAQ page into my wp-config file.

Here’s what the code on the FAQ page looks like
define (‘HMBKP_PATH’ , ’your directory’);

Here’s what the code on the FAQ page SHOULD look like (sorry for shouting, but it took me four hours to figure this out)
define ('HMBKP_PATH' , 'your directory');

Notice the difference?

The FAQ page uses so-called SMART QUOTES. The correct listing uses normal straight vertical quotes. When I copied and pasted the original code from the FAQ page to my wp-config file, I got the smart quotes … WHICH DON’T WORK (sorry for shouting).

Now that I’ve fixed the quotes, everything is working tip-top, and the backups are going where thery should.

Soooo… in the end, here are several suggestions for your next version of backupwordpress

1. If the plugin sees a problem with backup folder permissions, put the warning and instructions on the MANAGE BACKUPS page (sorry for shouting), where your users are likely to see it right away.

2. On that same MANAGE BACKUPS page (sorry for shouting), include an easy way to set for the location of the backup folder (unless there is a problem with making a change to wp-config.php, in which case provide instructions)

3. On your FAQ page, either make sure that you provide usable code (with regular quotes) or that you warn people about the smart-quotes.

4. Nothing works better than a good example. On your FAQ page,
you’ve only helped users by half measure by TELLING them what they need to do. e.g.. define (‘HMBKP_PATH’ , ’your directory’);

When poorly educated lumox users like me read that, we’re left with all kinds of questions like
a. Duh?? do I need to use a closing slash after my directory?
b. Wha?? do I need to prefix a path from the site root or the WP root to my directory name.

Instead, please please please go the extra distance by helping us with a couple of examples like:

define ('HMBKP_PATH' , ABSPATH .'wp-content/my-backup-folder');

and, please, tell us if we need (or don’t need) that closing slash

If you’ve taken the time to read through this long rant, then THANKS… ( and sorry for shouting),

Balthazar,
Vancouver, British Columbia

Hey Balthazar,

Thanks for your lengthy list of suggestions, I’ll definitely look to implement some of them and generally improve the UX around changing the backup directory.