How do I back up a database on my blog?

Q I have a blog that uses Wordpress. I have received an alert that Wordpress 3 is now available but I want to back up my blog before I do anything major.

I’m quite comfortable with backing up the files by copying them back to my computer using Filezilla, but I don’t know what to do with the database.

As this is where all my posts are actually held I want to make sure this is safe before I do anything.

Kevin Bailey

A There are several ways to save your database as a file on your computer but the easiest is to install a plug-in for Wordpress that does this. Log into your Wordpress blog. Click on Plugins on the left-hand side to expand the options and then click on Add new.

Type wp-db-backup in the search box and click on Search Plugins. WP-DB-Backup should be the top option on the next page. Click on the Install link on the right of the row.

A window will appear with some more details. Click on the red Install Now button. Provide the FTP details for your blog as requested and click on Proceed. Don’t forget to allow FTP access if your web hosting company normally blocks it for security reasons. Hopefully the plug-in will install properly. If it does click on the Activate Plugin link (and disable FTP access again from your web hosting company if required).

Click on the Tools menu in the left-hand column and then Backup. A page will be displayed showing all of the tables in the database that will be backed up. The ones on the left are the ones that Wordpress always creates.

If you have any plug-ins that have made their own, they will be listed on the right. Select those tables and scroll down to the next section. Choose where you want to save the backup, which can be downloaded to your computer or emailed to the email account given to Wordpress on setup. Click on the ‘Backup now!’ button when you have made your choice.

We think the download option is the simplest. A progress bar will appear and then your web browser will ask whether to save or open the file. Click on Save, select a location and click on Save again.

One thing we particularly like about the WP-DB-Backup plug-in is that it can be set to run regular backups of your database. Scroll down to the bottom of the page after saving the backup file to the Scheduled Backup section. Select how often the backup should run. There probably isn’t any need to do it more often than weekly. Enter an email address and click on the Schedule Backup button.

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