Reading some interesting creative uses for Dropbox, a file sync/storage service that is very popular.  One thing some people use it for is to backup their blogs to.  In terms of using it strictly as a backup service is not always recommended, in terms of a offsite destination certainly is worth looking at.

Backups for blog should follow the same basic guidelines I have for backups from your system. There should be 3 copies, 1 being in a different physical location,  should be easily accessible without reinstalling software and be automatic.

I maintain several WordPress blogs and having a way to back these up can present challenges.  Finding an easier way was worth looking at.

My first consideration was calculating how much there was to backup. Dropbox has free plans starting from 2gig so I wanted to make sure I had enough room.  In the end I decided to create a second dropbox account just for backup. For many users this step may not be necessary.

I use a WP plugin called BackWPup This plugin is excellent as it backups the WordPress databases as well as all other files required for a full restore. Other WP plugins only do the database or the other files.  What I really like about this plugin is it has a great variety of options to export the backup to. File and ftp export are included as well of many cloud-based services including Dropbox.

Installing the plugin is very simple as most are and after setting up the dropbox settings in the options, I setup a job to backup the blog.  You can choose to run a job manually and/or put it into a schedule.  If there is a problem with the backup the plug in can send you an email to the address of your choosing.  Once the backup is complete the files will be in your dropbox folder and will sync with your computer giving you a local copy.

I’m very impressed with this plugin and method and can recommend.