Saturday 19 March 2011

Have You Backed Up Your Blog?

Sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything, what with doing blog posts, administering Bloggers Network, visiting blogs and websites, answering questions, research and marketing etc. What I do have (and make) time for however, is to backup my blog on a regular basis.

What are the things that you HAVE to do when it comes to your blog? The chances are that you have these things on your list:

- write on a regular basis
- pay attention to SEO practices
- get other people to visit your blog

But is backing up on a regular basis part of your must do list? Probably not! Backing up your blog is something that should be automatic and it's a practice that you shouldn't forget, whatever happens.

Just imagine...what if your server crashes or your site gets hacked? Maybe Blogger's automatic spam detection software accidentally considers your blog as spam and blocks (or possibly deletes) your blog. What will happen to all the data that you have accumulated over the months or years?

This may not be a problem if your blog is relatively new as you might be able to reconstruct your posts, but just imagine losing all your data for 6 months, a year or maybe 2 years or more...now that would be disastrous!


Here's how you can backup your blog if you use Blogger:

1. Log into Blogger.
2. On the Blogger home page, click on the blog you want to backup.
3. On the left-side of the "Overview" page, click on "Settings" then on "Other".
4. Click on the "Export Blog" link under the "Blog Tools" heading.
5. On the popup window that appears, click on the "Download Blog" button.

Note: If you have modified your Template on Blogger, you can back this up as well by clicking on "Template" on the left-side of the Overview page then clicking on the "Backup/Restore" button on the top-right of the Template page. Simply click on "Download Full Template" to backup your blog's Template.


Here's how you can backup your blog if you use WordPress:

1. Use an FTP client (FileZilla for example) to download all the site files (the WordPress folder).
2. Log into phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database.
3. Click on "Export" and make sure that all the WordPress tables are there.
4. On the "Structure" section tick "Add Drop Tables", "Add AUTO_INCREMENT", and "Enclose table and field names with backquotes".
5. On the "Data" section leave all the boxes unticked.
6. Tick "Save as file" and download the database (you can use compression if your database is big).

Don't leave it until it's too late, backup your blog NOW and continue to do so on a regular basis. Rule of thumb is to backup your blog every time you publish a new post.

NOTE: If you're a blogger or website owner, please consider putting a widget and/or banners on your blog or website and help support the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Effort. Full details can be found at:
http://www.derekjones.co/2011/03/help-support-japan-earthquake-relief.html


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Have a wonderful weekend!

32 comments:

  1. Great post Derek. Thanks for that. I've just backed mine up for the first time...

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  2. Thank you Simon...I'm happy that the post helped you. Make sure you backup often though, preferably after each post.

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  3. I'll have to do that! Thanks for the tip!

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  4. Thanks for this valuable information! I always forget! :-)

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  5. Oh geez, another thing I need to do. I have enough posts now that I would be devastated to lose them. I'd best get on it before it's too late.

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  6. nice sharing friend....thanks so much...

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  7. This is important information, especially with the dilemma you were recently faced with. Thanks, Derek.

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  8. Excellent article. Thanks, I guess I have a lot to do for backing up my blog

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  9. Thanks for sharing valuable info.

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  10. Thank you Jean, Prasad, Nirupam, Laura and everyone else for your kind comments. Don't forget to backup often, preferably after you publish a new post on your blog.

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  11. All done backed them up thanks for all your help Derek great post!!

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  12. since my blogs are on .blogspot.com domains, Google would have to blow up for me to lose my data. If that happens, I will be too busy hoarding ammunition, food, and water to worry about writing :)

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  13. Timely posted. At the moment what we need is this. Good post. Thanx for the info.

    http://www.techblaster.co.cc

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  14. That is definitely something I never even thought about. Thanks for this!!!

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  15. Great info ,
    thank you
    im going to follow your blog now

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  16. Great post. Even this novice understands.

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  17. Thanks for this information. I honestly never even thought about needing to do this, nor did I have a clue how to accomplish it. I followed your simple instructions, and now it's done! I really appreciate your guidance.

    Orea
    http://orea-highervoice.blogspot.com/

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  18. This was great - thank you so much Derek : )

    Kriti - http://kriti-howaboutthis.blogspot.com/2011/07/dads-diary-18-boss.html

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  19. I do my database backup with a plugin WordPress Database Backup by Austin Matzko and the files are backed up through a cPanel File Manager. Is this sufficient or do I have to do the phpMyAdmin and FTP backups as well?

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  20. Hi Kerrie,

    As long as your Database is backed up using the WP plugin, you don't need to go through the task of using phpMyAdmin.

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  21. you just saved me from one potential rainy day. thanks for the idea, Derek. :)

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  22. Thanks so much for the tip. I just backed up my blogger blog - it was very easy to follow in their new dashboard.

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  23. Anna, when you click on "Download Blog" or "Download Full Template" in Blogger, a popup window will appear for you to save the file(s) to a folder on your hard drive.

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  24. Thank you Ludwig and Lisa. I'm happy that this post helped you.

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  25. Thank you so much. I just backed up my blog for the first time.

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  26. Thanks I didn't even know you could back up your blog.

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  27. Thanks Derek, for such a useful information.

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  28. Great information Derek, didn't even know about that. Thanks.

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  29. Valuable info. New member to Bloggers Network. Thanks Derek.

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    1. Thanks Nancy and welcome to Bloggers Network. It's great to have you as part of the community. If you need any help at any time, just give me a shout. :)

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