Backup WordPress to Dropbox

Alan Buckingham
Dec 7, 2012
Updated • Dec 26, 2012
Backup, Development
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5

WordPress may very well be the most popular software on the web these days, but most users don't know it. Why? Because it is the behind-the-scenes platform that is powering the sites that users are visiting. However, for those responsible for running those sites, WordPress is a household name and backup of the content contained on those sites is vitally important. Of course, there is no shortage of plugins to take care of this task, but one interesting extension actually utilizes your Dropbox account for storage of the backup file.

The aptly named "Wordpress Backup to Dropbox" will place your backup in a solid cloud storage location and it is fairly easy to setup as well. You can head over to wpb2d or simply search the plugins from your admin panel in WordPress.

Once you have it installed there is a small amount of setup you will need to take care of. You will find a WP2D item in the menu on the left side of your admin panel. Click on this and choose "Backup Settings".

First up you will need to click an "Authorize" button. This will take you to the Dropbox site and prompt you to log in and authorize the app. It will also create a wpb2d folder in your Dropbox account. You can now schedule backups to take place automatically by choosing a day, time and frequency.

wordpress to dropbox backup

From the setup page you can also exclude certain files and folders, although you should probably backup all of your files.

The plugin is free and a Dropbox account is free as well. However, both services have premium features. For Dropbox that means additional storage. For WPB2D it means a couple of extra features -- the ability create a .ZIP of your backup ($19) and the ability to receive an email alert when a backup completes or encounters an issue ($9).

This works great with free versions of both Dropbox and WPB2D so it's unlikely you need to pay for either, but the email option is a rather nice feature and if you rely of your site for income then you may want to pay the fee. You should also consider storing a local copy of your backup files as well.

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Comments

  1. Claude LaFrenière said on September 14, 2012 at 5:52 pm
    Reply

    Hi Martin Brinkmann :)

    In my Windows 7 this is already done in the Task Scheduler by the default installation… The command line is:

    %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe /d srrstr.dll,ExecuteScheduledSPPCreation

    :)

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on September 14, 2012 at 6:22 pm
      Reply

      Thanks for posting that, easier than my way. Have not tried it yet though but will. Wonder why I do not have it.

    2. ilev said on September 14, 2012 at 8:31 pm
      Reply

      I have it as well but it was configured to run only when the PC is idle.

      Task Scheduler > Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > System Restore.
      There are 2 triggers : at 00:00 every day, at startup.

      1. Rich said on September 15, 2012 at 4:07 am
        Reply

        Much easier and simpler method is at tweaking.com Registry Backup. It runs at startup and invokes VSS to copy registry and keeps last 30 days for restores. Can be invoked within MSFT Recovery Console so better suited to non-boot situations. No authority issues either.

  2. Michael said on September 16, 2012 at 4:57 am
    Reply

    My task scheduler is also configured this way. But it doesn’t work. My system does NOT make a restore point every time it boots. Its typically not running at midnight.

  3. Achilles Khalil said on September 16, 2012 at 6:57 am
    Reply

    Hi this is achilles Seo Expert and website designer and developer. I am here to tell you if need help or need any seo expert contact me I can design any kind of site for any country and Optimize with search engin also can bring your site at TOP. Please feel free to contact me. Whoever your work is great awesome. Be Happy.

  4. Frantic said on September 16, 2012 at 10:33 pm
    Reply

    How is this done in Windows XP, I wonder?

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