No one wants to lose their assets, no matter what type of asset that is. If you run an online business and use WordPress to create the website for your business, then that website is your asset. Routinely, you need to create a backup of your website just in case something happens to the server that plays host to your website. You can back up your WordPress site manually by copying all your files under the root directory of your WordPress site and export its database. However, this method is only suited for a static website.
If you have a dynamic WordPress-based site like a blog or news portal, setting up an auto backup for your site is a terrific idea. You can restore the latest update to get your site if your server experiences technical errors, causing your site’s data to get lost. Backup Bot is an excellent tool you can use to set an automated backup for your WordPress site. It has an easy-to-use user interface and doesn’t require advanced technical skill to use. Backup Bot also has a handy file manager to manage your backup files. Most importantly, you can use Backup Bot for free for testing purpose. Backup Bot offers a special discount of 50 percent for Bettertechtips.com readers (use better50off3 code to get the discount)
How to Back Up Your WordPress Site Automatically
In the context of WordPress, there are two elements you need to back up: the complete files under the root directory of your WordPress site ― in most cases, the directory is “public_html” — and the database of the website. The database management system (DBMS) platforms supported by Backup Bot are Microsoft structured query language (MS SQL) and MySQL. This allows you to set automatic backups for websites that are built using a content management system (CMS) other than WordPress as long as the CMS uses either MySQL or MS SQL.
Backup Bot uses file transfer protocol (FTP)/secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) in transferring the files from your server to the Backup Bot server. So, make sure you have FTP access on your server. Backup Bot itself is a paid service but offers a 30-day trial with which you can use this service determine if it meets your needs. During the free trial period, you are given 5 gigabytes (GB) of free storage space.
Using Backup Bot
Here are the steps to follow when using this service:
1. Create an account: Visit the Backup Bot website and create a Backup Bot account. If you want to start with the 30-day trial, click the FREE 30 DAY TRIAL link.
2. Verify information: Fill out all of the fields on the appearing pop-up form and click Create An Account button. Check your email to verify your account. If you can’t see a new email in your inbox, make sure to check the spam folder. Once confirmed, login to Backup Bot using your account.
3. Backup WordPress files: There are two elements you need to back up: the whole files under the root directory of your WordPress site and the database. To back up all of the files under WordPress root directory, click the Add Website Backup link at the top of the Backup Bot dashboard.
4. Fill out all of the fields on the form: If you have no idea about certain fields, click on the question mark on each of the fields to figure out what you supposed to type
5. Create a schedule: Next, scroll down to the ADD A SCHEDULE section to set the backup frequency. There are two period options offered by Backup Bot: Daily and Monthly. Daily is a great option if you want to back up your website a couple of days frequently. However, it takes a great deal of storage space. If you’re going to use this option, you can also set an automated deletion to delete the older backups automatically so that you won’t run out space. Backup Bot allows you to set multiple backup frequencies. Click the Add a Website button once you are done configuring the backup frequency.
That’s it. You have done setting up automatic backup for your WordPress site. Let’s take a switch to the database.
Back Up WordPress Database
Backup Bot supports two popular DBMS platforms: MySQL and MS SQL. WordPress itself uses MySQL as the DBMS. To back up the WordPress database of your website, do the following:
1. Click the Add Database Backup link at the top of the Backup Bot dashboard: Select the website you have just created on the step above on the Website Nickname section as well as the DBMS platform on the Database Type section.
2. Add database information: Enter database port, IP/hostname (your website domain without www or http://. i.e. yourdomain.com), database name, database username and database password on the available fields For WordPress websites, you can get the database connection information from the wp-config.php file in the main folder of your site (go to cPanel, open File Manager, then open public_html and you will see wp-config.php). Again, you can click the question mark on each field in case you have no idea what you supposed to type.
3. Schedule backup frequency: Scroll down to the ADD A SCHEDULE section to set the backup frequency. Set whether you want to back up the database daily or monthly. Ideally, you use the same settings as the one you applied on the WordPress files above. Click the Add a Database button once you are done making the settings.
That’s all you need to do. If everything is fine, Backup Bot will start working to back up your WordPress files and database. Backup Bot begins working based on the backup period you have specified. For the trial period, you can set a shorter period like one, two or three days so that you will know earlier if this service works.
Manage the backup files
Backup Bot features a handy file manager which you can use to manage your backup files. You can download certain files when you need them easily. Alternatively, you can also delete the old backup files to save the storage space. To manage your files:
1. Log in to the dashboard: Return to the Backup Bot site and click the Login link to login to the Backup Bot dashboard
2. Choose site to back up: Select a website you want to manage the backup files of and click the View Backups button.
3. Select backup options: On the View Backups page, you can choose whether you want to download the file, delete or restore.
The verdict
Setting an automated backup is a terrific idea if you have a dynamic WordPress-based site like blog or news portal. This will save your life when something bad suddenly happens to the server where you host your website to. Backup Bot is a great tool you can use to set an automated backup of your WordPress site. It has an easy-to-use user interface and takes no advanced technical skill to use it. All you need to have are the FTP account and database account. Backup Bot is a paid tool, but you can make use of the free, 30-day trial period offered by this tool to figure out if this tool suits your need or not. Backup Bot is a web-based tool that you can use it no matter the operating system you have.