Please re-read the title again.

I want you to take the backing up of your blog very, very seriously.

Just imagine…

…you don’t take backups and your blog is hacked into or your host server gets corrupted.

Can you imagine losing everything?

Your posts…your images…your comments…your themes…your plugins…the settings.

Can you imagine if you could never get any of your information back?

What would you do?

I am purposely trying to scare you because I want you to do something about it.

I want you to start taking regular backups.

I want you to check your backups are working if you are taking backups.

I want you to take some action as a result of reading this.

Backup Tools / Plugins

WP-DBManager

This plugin is the most widely used for automatically backing up your database files.

Pros:

Easy to install and use

Automatically update your database files

Automatically optimize your database files (helps improve load speed of your blog)

Repairs and restores your database files

Cons:

The plugin only backs up your database files and not your entire WordPress blog.

Cost:

Free.

I personally don’t use WP-DBManager for backing up my blog as it doesn’t backup everything.

I do use it to automatically optimize my database files though. It helps improve the loading speed of your blog.

Here’s more details on WP-DBManager :

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-dbmanager/

Automatic WordPress Backup

One of the best plugins around that backs up your ENTIRE site (WordPress database, themes, plugins, uploaded files and settings files), which means minimal downtime if you need to restore.

Pros:

Automatically backs up your entire site

Backups are stored on Amazon S3 servers

The plugin is free

Cons:

Windows servers & PHP4 are NOT supported yet (most hosts these days use Linux servers and PHP5 – but it is worth checking).

Costs:

You will have to pay a monthly fee for an S3 Amazon account. If your backup files are 50 GB, you’ll pay approx $7 a month.

Here’s more details on Automatic WordPress Backup:

http://www.webdesigncompany.net/automatic-wordpress-backup/

Vault Press

This plugin has been created by WordPress themselves – so you know it is going to be good.

Pros:

Easy to use – install the plugin and set it up.

Protect just one or as many WordPress blogs and sites as you like.

Automatically backs up your entire site using the WordPress servers

Cons:

None

Costs:

Cost ranges from $15 to $40 per month per blog site

Here’s more details on VaultPress:

http://vaultpress.com/

iDrive

iDrive backs up your entire site and after the first backup, only backs up the files that have changed – meaning the backups are much quicker.

Pros:

Easy to use – install the plugin and set it up.

Protect just one or as many WordPress blogs and sites as you like.

Automatically backs up your entire site using their iDrive servers

Backs up your ENTIRE site

Completes incremental backups rather than full back-ups each time

Cons:

Windows servers & PHP4 are NOT supported yet (most hosts these days use Linux servers and PHP5 – but it is worth checking).

Costs:

Cost $4.95 per month for up to 150GB of data – that is plenty of space for 2 or 3 blog sites.

If you go over your allocated space, you are charged $0.50 per extra GB – which is over 3 times the S3 Amazon costs.

Here’s more details on iDrive:

https://www.webuildyourblog.com/idrive.htm

Backup Buddy

This is the backup plugin I use for myself and my clients. It is easy to use and has many options.

Pros:

Easy to install and use

Automatically backs up your entire site

3 different storage options:

1. Amazon S3 servers

2. FTP them to another host server

3. Email them (although the backup files would have to be small to be able to email them)

Migrate option. You can migrate from one server to another.

Cons:

PHP4 is NOT supported (most hosts these days use PHP5 – but it is worth checking).

You have to re-new the license use each year

Costs:

From $45 per year for 2 sites plus any S3 Amazon or hosting costs.

Here’s more details on Backup Buddy:

https://www.webuildyourblog.com/backupbuddy.htm

As I say above, I use Backup Buddy as my backup solution.

I store my back-up files on an alternative host account where I already have unlimited space hosting – so it doesn’t cost me any extra.

At the moment you can get 25% off Backup Buddy by using this discount code:

RESOLVE2011

The 25% off code expires on 31st January – simply add the discount code on the sign-up page.

https://www.webuildyourblog.com/backupbuddy.htm

Costs In Summary

Premium Plugin Costs Link
Automatic WordPress Backup approx $7 a month http://www.webdesigncompany.net/automatic-wordpress-backup/
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Vault Press from $15 per month http://vaultpress.com/
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iDrive $4.95 per month https://www.webuildyourblog.com/idrive.htm
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Backup Buddy From $3 a month with discount code https://www.webuildyourblog.com/backupbuddy.htm

Takeaway Action

Please review your backup process and if needed invest in one of the plugins above.

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