This is very simple but AWESOME plugin. Recently I dealt with an issue where I found out my hosts backup solution for website files wasn’t working. Thankfully the file I was trying to recover was only a static CSS file and I was able to retrieve it through my Firefox browser cache. This method was a tedious process since Firefox encrypts your cache. Typically encryption is a good thing but not in this particular situation. Needless to say after hours of recovering things I didn’t need I was able to find the file, upload it and alleviate the situation. Crisis averted even though I probably lost two or three hours.

Backup Your Backup, Dummy!

The root of the problem here is I counted on my web hosts solution for backing up server files. I should have had a standalone backup solution. It sounds redundant but can be helpful. WordPress Backup to Dropbox is fantastic and it’s perfect for having a backup solution in-case your host fails or just doesn’t provide backups at all. Plus it’s completely separate from your host just-in-case they ever fail, fall off the face of the earth, or you get your account suspended. And the control aspect is a lot nicer too.

What is Dropbox?

Dropbox is a free (up to 2.5GB) cloud storage solution that allows you access to your Dropbox files anywhere and across a multitude of devices including your Android or iPhone mobile device. If you don’t use it for this I would suggest you find a reason to. It installs natively on your computer where you can can access it as if it were a folder on your computer. It’s very transparent and easy to use even for those that aren’t computer savy. A lot of my clients currently use it and share their web related files with me through Dropbox so it’s also a very nice collaboration tool. Don’t email that huge file! Upload it to your Dropbox folder and

My WordPress Backup to WordPress Usage Model

I build websites for clients and will be using this quite a bit for their backups. That’s a great start, however I will run out of space fast if I use my personal Dropbox account (standard user scenario). Thinking about this briefly my solution is to create a backup email account and Dropbox account for each domain/host: backup@yourclientsdomain.com. This way each website has its own stand alone backup solution and Dropbox account. You can give your client shared access to this account and let them store website material there if they are inclined to; logo artwork, project related document, etc.