What to back up
- The site’s files: code, themes, plugins, uploaded images and documents.
- The database: pages, posts, products, orders, users, form entries.
- Configuration that isn’t in either: DNS records, redirects, server settings.
- Anything customers submit: bookings, orders, form entries, if they’re stored on the site.
A plan that holds up
- Daily, or more often for stores and booking sites.
- Kept somewhere else. A backup on the same server is lost with the server, and a hacker who gets in can delete it.
- Kept for a while. At least 30 days of copies, because a hack is often found weeks after it happened.
- Tested. Restore a copy to a test location at least once a year and check it works.
- Owned by you, or held for you with a clear way to get a copy.
Questions for your host or web person
- Where exactly are the backups, and how far back do they go?
- When was a restore last tested?
- If the site is hacked, can you restore to before the hack, and how long would it take?
- Can I download a copy?
Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.