updating wp, backup site

Taking regular backups is good practice. An insurance policy against future problems. I hear that you had a bad experiencem, but don’t let that disuade you.

A backup consists of the all the site files (at a minimum everything in the directory where the /wp-admin/, /wp-content/, wp-config.php etc) are found. You also need a backup of your database, as that contains all the site settings.

Most hosting control panels (e.g. cPanel) allow you to manually take backups of the files and database. Or you can use a backup plugin to automate the process: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/search/backup/

I thought that is what I did originally. I was first trying to figure how to restore using it, but But Hostgator told me that I wouldn’t be able to do anything with the backup, on my computer, and so I paid for their latest one, which, while restoring the ruined parts, wiped out stuff created since their backup.

I see. That’s very frustrating to lose work. The benefit of having a plugin solution is that the backups are regular (weekly, daily, x per day), meaning that you lose fewer changes if you do have to restore. Also, the restore tends to be a one-click process. UpdraftPlus seems a pretty solid and popular choice. Having a good backup can be helpful if you ever get hacked, too.

After the debacle and paying for the partial restoration, I did also pay for a daily backup service, so I can assume, I don’t have to worry about updating? One thing, I wonder about is the present size of my site, compared to when I bought the one year service. I wonder if it will be bigger than the size originally paid for and if I would get a surprise if it was. I am sure as I add more and more photo galleries that it will eventually. How do I know the size?

Daily host backups are great. You could also save your own occasional backup (files + database) on your computer, in case the host ever has a major distaster.

The host backups should be stored off-server, so they should not affect the size of your account usage. Adding media such as images and video will start to increase the overall site size. I’m not sure what control panel you use, but that would be the place to check. For example, on cPanel you will see a disk usage stat (e.g. https://snipboard.io/BHGgwz.jpg) so you can keep an eye on the site size vs the upper limit on your hosting plan.

Thanks. I see that it shows 3010.61 / 20000 MB
So I am pretty safe for some time.
I thought I would do the computer backup again, as suggested, but don’t see in WP or Hostgator where I did it before…….. Found video on how to and am doing.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Rob.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Rob.