Worried about how to back up your website?
This one is very easy!! You just need a free plug in (like an app for WordPress) to do the backups for you. You set it up and run it once (super easy, if it takes you longer than 15 minutes, you’ve gone off the rails). Here’s the step by step:
Go to your wordpress dashboard. (If you don’t know how to log in to WordPress, read this.)
I recommend using Updraft Plus.
It’s free and very easy to set up. You set it up once and then run back ups (just clicking a button) every week or so, and you’re good to go. Here’s how to do it:
1. Go to your WordPress dashboard. (If you don’t have WordPress set up yet, you can follow these step by step instructions for setting up your website.)
2. Go to Plugins > Add New
3. There’s a search box at the top right. Type in Updraft Plus.
4. There are a few different Updraft plug ins. We need the one that’s for backups. It should say ‘UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin.’ Click ‘Install Now’ and then ‘Activate.’ Now, the backup plug in is live on your DIY website.
5. To set it up and run the first backup, go to Plugins on your WordPress dashboard. Scroll down until you find Updraft. Click on Settings and follow the instructions to set everything up. If you get stuck or you’re not sure, don’t worry, because Updraft has customer support. And no, you don’t need premium for right now.
6. Once a week or so, open up the settings on the plug in (like you just did in step 5) and click the big blue ‘backup now’ button. I also do this before and after I make changes on my site, just in case.
That’s it!! Your DIY website is all backed up and ready to go. If anything happens or breaks accidentally (never through user error, of course!!), you’ll be covered.
