The Nightmare of Losing Your WordPress Site
Oh, the horror! You spend hours, even days, building your perfect WordPress site, and then… it’s gone. Vanished. Poof! All that hard work, down the drain. You meant to install a WordPress backup plugin, but never got around to it. I’ve been there, done that, and trust me, it’s not a fun place to be.
Why You Need a Backup Plugin
The internet can be a crazy place, and sometimes things just go wrong. Hackers, a misplaced click, or a faulty plugin can all wreak havoc on your site. But, with a good backup plugin, you can rest easy knowing that you can always restore your site to its former glory.
What to Look for in a Backup and Restore Plugin
When choosing a backup plugin, there are a few things to keep in mind. First and foremost, make sure it lets you both backup and restore your site. You’d be surprised how many plugins only do one or the other. Here are a few other things to consider:
- Cloud backups: Can the plugin automatically back up your site to cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3?
- Automatic backups: Can you schedule backups to run at regular intervals, so you don’t have to think about it?
- Site size: If you have a large site, make sure the plugin can handle it without slowing down.
- Migration: If you think you might need to move your site to a new domain, look for a plugin that supports migration.
The Best Backup and Restore Plugins
After careful consideration, I’ve narrowed down the best backup and restore plugins for you. Here they are:
| Plugin | Free/Premium | Cloud Backups | Automatic Backups |
|---|---|---|---|
| UpdraftPlus | Both | Yes | Yes |
| WPVivid | Both | Yes | Yes |
| BackupBuddy | Premium | Yes | Yes |
| BlogVault | Premium | Yes | Yes |
| Duplicator Pro | Premium | Yes | Yes |
| VaultPress | Premium | Yes | Yes |
| BackWPup | Both | Yes | Yes |
1. UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus is a free backup and restore plugin that also has a premium version. It lets you create automatic backups, download them to your computer, or send them to cloud storage. Restoring your site is easy, and it even supports migration.
2. WPVivid
WPVivid is a free plugin that packs a punch. It offers automated schedule backups, one-click restore, and backing up to leading remote storage services. The premium version, WPvivid Backup Pro, offers more customization options.
3. BackupBuddy
BackupBuddy is a popular premium backup and restore plugin from iThemes. It gives you full coverage from potential WordPress emergencies and makes restoring your site a breeze. You also get 1 free GB of storage space and a private support channel.
4. BlogVault
BlogVault is one of the most reliable WordPress backup solutions out there. It can backup or migrate a 300GB site without overloading your server and has one of the fastest website recovery tools.
5. Duplicator Pro
Duplicator Pro is a premium plugin that lets you create copies of your full WordPress site. You can store these copies as backups, use them to restore your site, or use them to easily migrate your site to a new domain name.
6. VaultPress
VaultPress comes from Automattic, the company behind WordPress. It completely handles your backup situation by running automatic backups and storing your backups in the cloud.
7. BackWPup
BackWPup is a great option if you’re looking for a reliable free backup and restore plugin. While it does have a premium version, the free version should be fine for most WordPress users.
Proper WordPress Backup Strategy – Remember 3-2-1
Any of the above plugins will work for backing up and restoring your WordPress site, but you need to use them properly. A backup is only good if it’s actually accessible. To ensure you always have access to a viable backup, remember the 3-2-1 rule:
- 3 total backups of your site
- 2 local backups
- 1 offsite backup
For example, you could store a copy of your site on:
- Your computer
- An external hard drive / USB drive
- A cloud storage provider like Dropbox or Google Drive
It may seem excessive, but following this strategy basically guarantees that, short of a global disaster, you’ll always have access to at least one viable backup.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve got your plugins and your backup strategy knowledge, you’re ready to go out there and start safeguarding your core WordPress files, your database, and everything running in your cPanel. Happy backing up!
