perplexity and burstiness: A Guide to Restoring WordPress

WordPress – the globally popular content management system. It’s customizable, powerful and user-friendly with the ability to build websites of all kinds. However, what if something goes wrong? What if you delete a crucial file by accident? What if you’ve encountered a malware attack or crashed your site after updates? Well, have no fear, because restoring WordPress is possible, and we’ve got the comprehensive instructions to help you out.

Why is it essential to have a backup plan for your WordPress site?

WordPress sites are prone to various issues that could potentially damage your site. These issues arise from errors in WordPress updates or themes/plugins, malware or hacking attacks, accidental file or content deletion, hosting or server troubles as well as downtime and server crashes. Without a plan in place, these issues could cause significant damage to your site, and you may lose your entire site, or worse, weeks, months, or years of your hard work overnight. Therefore, having a backup plan will save you from all these troubles.

What are the two ways to create a backup?

There are two ways to create a backup of your WordPress site: manual and automated.

Manual Backup

A manual backup involves creating a copy of your site files and data manually using FTP or cPanel, then storing it in a separate location, such as your local computer, cloud storage or via email. However, manual backups are time-consuming, prone to human error, and you have to keep a record of each backup and store it safely manually.

Automated Backup

An automated backup involves using a plugin or service that automatically backs up your site’s data and files at regular intervals such as daily, weekly, or monthly. Automated backups are more reliable, and you don’t have to worry about forgetting to make a backup or storing backups or managing them manually.

How to Restore WordPress from Backup?

Before starting a WordPress restoration, you need to have a backup of your site files and data. Here are instructions on how to restore WordPress from the backup.

Step 1: Choose a Backup Tool

Several backup tools available in the market can help you create reliable backups of your site. One of the most popular tools is UpdraftPlus, which is free and highly recommended by experts.

Step 2: Download Your Backup

After having a backup, download it to your local computer. Saving the backup to your local computer saves the backup file in a safe and accessible location.

Step 3: Install WordPress

If you want to restore your WordPress site about a new server or hosting, you will need to reinstall it. You can install WordPress using the quick installation process provided by your hosting company, or you can also install it manually. It’s crucial to ensure that the version of WordPress you are installing is the same as the version you had installed previously.

Step 4: Install the Backup Tool

Next, install the backup tool that you used to create the backup of your site, whether it’s UpdraftPlus or any other tool. After installing the tool, activate it.

Step 5: Restore Your Backup

Open the backup tool and go to the restore option, select the downloaded backup file, and then click the restore button to initiate the restoration process. The restoration process may take several minutes or a few hours, depending on the size of the backup.

Step 6: Check Your Site

After the restoration process is complete, check your site by opening it in a browser. If everything looks good and all your content is available, congratulations! You have successfully restored your site.

What to Do If You Don’t Have a Backup of Your Site?

If you don’t have a backup of your site, it’s challenging to restore your site. However, here are some options to try:

Option 1: Ask Your Hosting Company

Your hosting provider may have a backup of your site files and data. You can contact them for support and check if they have a backup of your site. If they do, they can assist you in restoring your site.

Option 2: Try to Recover Your Site’s Data

If you know which data is causing an issue on your site, you can try to recover it. The process involves using an FTP client to access your site’s folder and download the relevant files to your computer. You can then fix the data and upload it to your site using FTP.

Option 3: Hiring a Professional

If none of the above options work, you can hire a professional web developer or agency that specializes in restoring WordPress sites. They can provide you with the necessary expertise and tools to help you recover your site.

Conclusion

Backing up your WordPress site is crucial as it can save you from a lot of trouble in the long run. In the case of issues, restoring WordPress from backup is a simple process that can restore your site to its pre-issue state in a few steps. However, if for any reason, you don’t have a backup of your site, you can still try to recover it using the options mentioned here. Always remember that prevention is better than cure; hence, always make sure to back up your site regularly so that you don’t have to go through the headache of losing everything you’ve worked hard for.