Use Dropbox to Backup Your WordPress Website

First of all, for those of you who may be unfamiliar with Dropbox and their service, Dropbox is a freemium cloud storage service that gives you 2GB of free storage space in the cloud. You can upgrade to 100GB for just $9.99 per month. So if you find yourself in need of a quick and easy way to take your files with you anywhere then Dropbox could be just what you’re looking for. And since it’s automatic once you sign up and configure your settings, you don’t have to bother with manual backups to external hard drives etc.

Now, with the Dropbox plugin for WordPress, the same service that allows you to keep your files or even your whole computer backed up in the cloud can quickly and easily backup your WordPress site too.

Installing the Dropbox Plugin

In order to install the Dropbox Plugin for WordPress you need to do three things. The first thing is head over to Dropbox.com and sign up for a free account. After you’ve done that, go to the WordPress Plugin Directory and download the Dropbox Plugin for free. Lastly, you need to go to your WordPress Admin > Plugins > Add New > Upload and install the zipped folder you downloaded.

Once installed and activated you will notice a new menu appear in your admin side bar.

Configuring the Dropbox Plugin

When you click on the first option under your new menu, which will be Backup Settings, you’ll see this screen prompting you to authorize this plugin with your Dropbox account.

Go ahead and click continue. It will take you here where you click Allow.

Success!

Next, head back to your WordPress admin and make sure you’re Backup Settings are set to your personal preferences. You’ll notice that you can choose to exclude certain files and directories as well as schedule recurring backups.

Once you’ve tweaked the settings to your liking just go to Backup Now under Backup Settings and start your first backup.

Once you click start it’s time to relax and rest assured that your files are safe. And that’s pretty much it! What do you think? Do you use Dropbox and would you be interested in backing your WordPress site up with it? Let us know what you think in the comments below.