We all hear about backing up our WordPress blogs and website, but some of us trouble wrapping our heads around this idea. For the longest time I never backed up my site, and I was always worried that something would happen. But with this plugin, I’m able to have peace of mind that my site is always backed up!
The plugin I’m using is called WordPress Backup to Dropbox.
To install, go to Plugins-Add New:
Type in WordPress Backup to Dropbox:
Click “Enter” and you’ll see the plugin:
Alternately, you can download the plugin directly here. Once again, you will go to Plugins – Add New. But this time you will go to the top of the page and click “Upload Plugin”.
Click Choose File, select the zip folder of WordPRess Backup to Dropbox from your download folder (or desktop – wherever you downloaded it to). Click Install now.
Whichever road you take to get the plugin on your site, both will bring you to this page where you will click “Activate Plugin”:
Once it’s activate you will be able to find it in your Plugins:
On the sidebar you will be able to find it too, just look for the blue arrow icon and WPB2D (WordPres Backup to Dropbox):
Next, you have to connect the app to your Dropbox account. This is the page you will see the first time you go to the plugin (via the left sidebar):
Once you click the green “Authorize” button you will be directed to Dropbox and see this:
Click “Allow” and you will see this screen once it’s connected successfully: Within your Dropbox a new folder will be created for your WP Backups. In mine, two folders were created. The first is titled “Apps” and within that folder I can find the WP2D subfolder.
It’s within this WPB2D folder in which all my backups are stored:
Now, return to your WordPress Backup to Dropbox plugin via the sidebar:
You can see here that I am now able to unlink the account if I choose to do so. I can also see my storage usage/availability right from the plugin:
Now, we are going to configure and set up the plugin to auto-backup based on our preference. I choose do backup daily, so I’m choosing “Daily” from the drop-down:
Go ahead and choose the time too, as you can see I choose to backup at 11pm.
On to the bottom part. This is a section you MUST read well. You are going to check the files and directories you want to EXCLUDE from the backup. So anything you check will NOT be in the backup file(s).
Click the “Save Changes” green button and you’re good to go!
This is incredibly an incredibly easy and secure way to backup your WordPress Blog or Website!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
Bloggers have a lot to do each day. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could program your website to take care of some responsibilities for you? You can!
Clear your to-do list of mundane tasks by using WordPress plugins that save time and effort.
I know you are busy. So much to do and so little time. But you could shave your agenda each day by adding a few plugins to your WordPress blog.
Please note this disclaimer: The more WordPress plugins you have operating on a website:
the slower your blog will load in a web browser and that means a higher bounce rate and lower SEO.
the risk of a plugin conflicting with other plugins grows, which may result in one of more plugins not functioning as they should, or worse, even crashing your site.
Another important note: Before you add a plugin to your website, create a backup file of your site. An easy solutions is to backup your WordPress blog to Dropbox.
WordPress Security Plugins
Limit Attempts – The plugin Limit Attempts allows you to limit the rate of login attempts by any IP, and create whitelists and blacklists. Have you ever been locked out of your site? You can whitelist your own IP, so that can never happen again.
Wordfence Security – Wordfence Security is a free enterprise class security and performance plugin that makes your site up to 50 times faster and more secure. While free to download and use from the WordPress Plugin repository, you will need a premium API key to make use of certain additional features.
Comment Plugins
Akismet – Akismet checks new comments against the Akismet Web service to see if they look like spam or not.
Thank Me Later – If you want to deliver a personalized “thank you” note to those who comment on your blog, Thank Me Later allows you to write a simple message and choose when to deliver.
Analytics Plugins
Google Analytics – If you are afraid of code, this plugin enables Google Analytics on all of your pages.
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP – Displays Google Analytics Reports and Real-Time Statistics in your Dashboard. And automatically inserts the tracking code in every page of your website. This plugin is “lighter” than Jetpack Analytics and will not bog down your site as much.
Productivity Plugins
Editorial Calendar – See all your published and drafted posts at a glance, drag and drop to re-schedule on a different date. This is a wonderful tool!
NextScripts Social Networks Auto-Poster – Automatically publish social media updates from your blog to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, and more. An upgrade is required to access some social media networks.
VA Simple Expires – This plugin sets a post to expire at a defined time, so that you can edit and republish later (useful for a giveaway or sale that ends at a specific time/date.)
Pretty Links – With this plugin you can create, manage and track out-bound URLs. Very handy for sponsored and affiliate campaigns.
ImageInject – Search the Creative Commons database at Flickr and find royalty-free images from your blog dashboard with ImageInject.
And don’t forget to browse the list of 80+ places you can find royalty-free images.
404 to Start – 404 errors are an indication of a broken link or the result of someone typing in the URL incorrectly. Instead of glaring error page, 404 to Start allows you to customize the user’s experience when they cannot find what they are looking for.
Genesis Simple Edits – Have you ever wondered how to change the copyright and theme and “powered by” information on the footer of your site? Genesis Simple Edits allows you to do that and more.
Table Press – Table Press is an easy way to create a photo gallery or display product links without having to manually align everything.
This is a screenshot of a product page created with TablePress.
WP Date Remover – takes the date off of specified pages and posts. Great for an evergreen content, so that people don’t see a two year old date and immediately mark it off as non-relevant.
Broken Link Checker – This plugin will check your posts, comments and other content for broken links and missing images, and notify you if any are found. It does use a lot of juice though and can conflict with other plugins, so I would suggest to use it with caution, and then make note of the problems and promptly uninstall.
EWWW Image Optimizer – Automatically compress your images to avoid wasted space on your blog. Without changing your displayed images, EWWW Image Optimizer “…convert your images automatically to the file format that will produce the smallest image size…” resulting in less bandwidth required to host your blog, faster page load speed, and and several other benefits.
Easy Digital Downloads– The perfect solution for selling digital resources on your blog, Easy Digital Downloads will save you time organizing and delivering your products.
Advertising Plugins
AdSense Plugin WPQuads – A complete solution for everything AdSense-related, AdSense Plugin WPQuads allows you to embed ads using short codes, disable ads on some devices, and makes Adsense a lot easier.
Ultimate Nofollow – Any link that you have been paid to include or that could potentially earn you money must be classified as a “nofollow” link. Ultimate Nofollow adds a checkbox in the insert link popup box for including rel=”nofollow” in links as you create them. A HUGE time saver.
WordPress SEO Plugin
WordPress SEO by Yoast – This plugin does nothing to help you “get found” online. It does however give you a visual cue to check that the keywords you have chosen to use are all in the “right” places to make sense to Google.
Within your Dropbox a new folder will be created for your WP Backups. In mine, two folders were created. The first is titled “Apps” and within that folder I can find the WP2D subfolder.
Now, return to your WordPress Backup to Dropbox plugin via the sidebar:
