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Importance of UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin
At its core, the UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin is a life-saver for any WordPress site owner. This plugin’s primary function is safeguarding your site’s data by creating comprehensive backups. It’s like creating a full copy of your website that you can revert to if anything goes wrong.
UpdraftPlus: Scheduling and Automatic Backups
One of the prime features of the UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin is its scheduling capability. The plugin can carry out regular automatic backups based on your chosen frequency. This means that your website is consistently backed up, providing peace of mind and mitigating the risk of data loss.
Secure Storage and Easy Restoration with UpdraftPlus
But where are these backups stored? The UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin offers secure off-site storage options. The plugin integrates seamlessly with various cloud storage solutions such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and more. This means your backups are safely stored separately from your website, enhancing security. Finally, you can keep the backups at your local computer storage.
UpdraftPlus as a Migration Tool
Moreover, the plugin isn’t just for backing up your site; it can also facilitate site migration. It can help you move your website to a new domain or clone it for development and testing.
UpdraftPlus: Offering Incremental Backups and Multisite Support
The benefits of the UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin don’t stop here. It also provides incremental backups, only saving changes made since the last backup. This feature is a great space saver, reducing both storage use and server load. Plus, for those managing multiple sites, UpdraftPlus offers premium multisite support.
While the basic UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin provides robust functionality, a premium version is available. This comes with advanced features like sophisticated scheduling, additional storage options, automatic backup during updates, and priority customer support.
Installing UpdraftPlus Backup WordPress Plugin
You can install the plugin using our WordPress Plugin Installation Guide article in our Complete SEO Guide Box.
Search for: UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup & Migration Plugin By UpdraftPlus.Com, DavidAnderson.
Setting Up UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin
There isn’t much to set up in UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin, but we’ll get over the settings.
Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
On the left side menu bar, hover with the mouse cursor over [Settings]. In the pop-up menu, click on [UpdraftPlus Backups].
The [Backup / Restore] tab is the main tab for using the plugin manually. We will go over it in the Usage Section of this article.
The [Migrate / Clone] tab is self-explanatory. If you need one of these features, follow Updrafts’s tips and guides.
[Settings] is the main Settings section of the UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin. You can set up scheduled backups to any online storage settings like Google Cloud or Microsoft OneDrive / Azure. Which cost for subscription, but are the most convenient. Of course, you can always use manual backups to your local computer storage.
The [Premium / Extensions] tab will show you the difference between the free and the premium versions.
Manually Backing Up WordPress Installation to Local Computer Storage
On your local hard drive, create a folder for your site’s backups, something like:
D:\Sites\YourSite\Backups23.07.22
This is very important to make your backups arranged and consistent.
Return to your UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin page.
Click on the [Backup / Restore] tab.
Click [Backup Now].
A new window will open. Make sure these selections are present:
[V] Include your database in the backup (…)
[V] Include your files in the backup (…)
[ ] Only allow this backup to be deleted manually
Click [Backup Now].
Wait until the backup process is finished.
When the backup finishes, you will see the new backup at the bottom in the “Existing backups” section.
Click each button on this backup row: Database, Plugins, Themes, Uploads, Must-use plugins, and Others.
You will see new line rows for each button you clicked.
Over each row, there will be a button [Download to your computer].
Click this button on each row and download the file to the folder you created before:
D:\Sites\YourSite\Backups23.07.22
After downloading all the files, you may close the row with the “X” button on the right side of each row.
In the “Last log message” section, click the link “Download most recently modified log file” and save the log in the same folder.
Remember that when you create backups, they take up your storage. We suggest leaving only the 5 latest backups and removing the older ones from the “Existing backups” list to make restoring easier. All your backups on your local disk will be in the backups folder.
Conclusion
UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin is popular for backing up websites. Making backups regularly is very important. You can do it weekly if you post frequently or after each post. It would be best if you backed up before each update of WordPress, plugins, or themes.
If you find any mistakes or have ideas for improvement, please follow the email on the Contact page.