Backing up and Restoring using WordPress & Bluehost

I had to create this walk through for a client so I thought I would share this information publicly on my blog (should I ever need to use it again). First, get your ingredients. Ingredients = 1) WordPress 3.7 or higher with BackUpWordPress plugin installed. 2) Bluehost account with Site Backup Pro (19.99 p/yr)

To back up your database (mostly likely the important up-to-date stuff on your site) you can do so manually at any time directly from the wp-admin panel under > Tools > Backups. You can download anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months of automated back-ups from this admin panel. I recommend that you manually backup the database file (.sql) twice a month and backup the complete site files (.zip) under the > Complete Weekly tab once a month though this is entirely up to your own discretion. All back-ups will download as compressed .zip files for safe storing. Database files are generally very small (1-10mb) while complete site backups can be anywhere from 50-300mb.

If something gets broken and you need restore all of your website files from a backup you will need to log in to Bluehost. Once in the control panel (cPanel) go to Database Tools > phpMyAdmin.  You will need to log in here again. Once in phpMyAdmin click on > Databases tab on the upper left. Once there select your database by clicking on the name. This will open the Structure tab and you will see a bunch of files. Ignore this page and click on the > Import tab to the right. Once there it will allow you to upload a file, click Browse, select the .sql (not the .zip) file and click Open. Once the file is attached simply click on ‘Go’ and the database restoration process will begin. You can also call Bluehost and they will walk you through the process.

Additionally, you can restore the database and site files using your Bluehost Site Backup Pro tool under > cPanel > File Management > Site Backup Pro. To do that please follow the instructions from this link or call Bluehost: +1 888 401 4678

If in doubt, contact Nate!