By Jennifer Blanchard
In last week’s post I explained that my blog got hacked back in October, and what you can do to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to your blog.
How To Backup Your Blog
As I mentioned in last week’s post, backing up your entire blog is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself in case your site ever does get hacked. If it does and you have backups, you will be able to restore everything without a problem.
I said that I would detail in this week’s post the process for backing up your site. However, my awesome Web guy, Peter Freeman, stepped in and created two tutorials on his blog for how to back up your site (with detailed steps and screenshots to make the whole process super easy).
So rather than re-explain everything he’s already explained on his site, I thought I’d just share his resources with you.
Most host companies use cPanel as its back-end system (GoDaddy does not, unfortunately). If you’re with a host other than GoDaddy thou, there’s a good chance your host uses cPanel. So here are detailed instructions on how to back up your entire blog.
Peter has also detailed how to back up your blog using the WordPress Backup plugin. I highly recommend you backup your site both ways (if possible) to avoid having parts of your blog go missing if it does get hacked. (I was only backing up this blog using the WordPress plugin, that’s why all my images are missing still. If I had been doing both, I wouldn’t have lost everything.)
But I also recommend you go a step further with your site backups and find a Web guy/gal who can back you up in the event of a hacking.
Why I Recommend You Have A Web Guy/Gal
When I first found out about the hacking, I contacted my now-former Web guy to ask for his help. After a week of beating around the bush, he finally admitted that he didn’t know enough about WordPress to help me after all.
I almost threw in the towel on my blogging and was done with it right after that happened. I was already upset and stressed to no end, and then my Web guy tells me he just wasted a week of my time. Thanks a lot.
But lucky for me, blogger Suzannah Freeman (of WriteItSideways) told me her husband, Peter, is a WordPress wiz. So instead of throwing in the towel, I contacted Peter. And boy am I glad that I did.
Having him available to help me made all the difference. He essentially saved me from quitting something I love (blogging).
Working with Peter was a really fantastic experience. He kept me in the loop on everything he was working on regarding my blog. He made sure I was comfortable with the work he wanted to do on my site and the cost associated with that work before he did anything.
He even set up a Google doc where he added notes throughout the day, letting me know what was happening with my blog. We also chatted via Google docs in real-time so we could ask/answer questions back and forth.
Now my blog is up-and-running again, and I have Peter to thank for it. From here on out, when I need Web services, Peter’s the person I’m calling.
A Little Bit More About Peter
A note from Peter Freeman of Web Services for Business:
Right now I’m specialising in WordPress sites for bloggers and small business people. I want to help you make the most your opportunities online. That could be through improving your WordPress site, setting up a new one, or just tweaking what you have now and making it work better for you.My background in IT service management means I know how to keep my clients happy. That means you will receive prompt and honest communication and 110% commitment to getting the best results for YOU.Catch me on Twitter or drop over to Web Services for Business and shoot me an email if you would like to connect!
About the Author: Jennifer Blanchard is the founder of Procrastinating Writers. For more great writing tips, articles and advice, follow her on Twitter or on Facebook.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Jennifer,
Thank you for the kind words. I’m really happy you’re back online – and thank you for being so patient during what I’m sure was an extremely frustrating and worrying experience.
In regards to your note about backing up other files, a helpful thing for your readers to do with their blogs is to save all their images and uploads for Wordpress on their computer (in addition to the full website backups etc).
Create a folder structure with YEAR and MONTH, eg. a folder called 2010, and create folders under that for each month (Jan, Feb, or 01, 02 etc).
Then, store your upload files there before you upload them to Wordpress.
In the event your blog does get hacked and for some reason your images are all gone you’ll have an archive on your computer that a good web support person will be able to use to restore your images.
Regards,
Peter
@Peter Thanks for stopping by to comment! And I really appreciate you adding that advice. I forgot to mention it in the post, but it’s absolutely necessary information. I wish I would’ve done that with my images over the last two years. Then I wouldn’t be in the mess I’m in right now.
I cannot even imagine the horror of being hacked & losing all of my words!! In a strange coincidence, a friend of mine thought she lost her entire blog yesterday. I felt her pain in the pit of my stomach. And I shuddered as it occurred to me that I had never (not even one time) thought about the need to back up my blog. Needless to say, I immediately got busy, backing it up the only way I could think of, copying & pasting into Word. Thanks for sharing this post, I definitely want to check out the links above, since I am clueless about backups.
I am so happy you found Peter & all of your words!! If it HAD to be one or the other, at least you get to keep your words.
Oh yeah, and one more thing…Hey blog-hacking-loser-smelly-douchebags:
You’ve got some mean karma to deal with, have fun with that.
@Jenn Hahaha!! Thanks for your comment. You totally made my night! Karma’s a bitch, right?!
Since you’re a serious writer, you’re one of the minority (?) who appreciates a friendly correction:
A blogger needs a little backup (not back up).
She needs to now how to back up (not backup) her blog.
That aside, thanks always for the good articles.
Heh, my “correction” spelled “know” as “now”. My first must-do task as a writer: Learn to type!
@Reader Thanks for the correction! I appreciate it. I always get confused on whether or not to add a space, haha.