10 Hidden Time-Saving Features in BackupBuddy

Even if you've been using BackupBuddy for a while, you still might not know about several "hidden" features to save you time. 1. Hourly Database Backups Located in Schedules > Add New Schedule section > Backup Intervals dropdown. BackupBuddy includes nine different interval options for your backup schedules, but you may never have considered how handy an hourly backup can be during a high-traffic event to your site, such as a sale.

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SolidWP Editorial Team
Even if you’ve been using BackupBuddy for a while, you still might not know about several “hidden” features to save you time.

1. Hourly Database Backups

Located in Schedules > Add New Schedule section > Backup Intervals dropdown.
hourly-database-backup-wordpress BackupBuddy includes nine different interval options for your backup schedules, but you may never have considered how handy an hourly backup can be during a high-traffic event to your site, such as a sale. For example, if you or a client is hosting a one-day sale, the database could change rapidly with new entries, so consider running an hourly backup during the event so you don’t lose any customer information. Just note that sending hourly backups offsite could slow down your server, so you can store your database backups locally (because they’re small) until after the event.

2. Files Only Backup (BETA)

Located in Backup > + > Backup Profile Type dropdown.
backup-files-wordpress-site In addition to a Database Only and Complete (Database + Files) back up, BackupBuddy also gives you the option to create a new backup profile that only backs up the files on your WordPress site. Sometimes you don’t need your database or you only want certain files within a backup. For example, if a site has lots of large-sized images or self-hosted video files, you may want to split your backups up to help them run more efficiently. Plus, after running a manual Files Only backup, you can immediately download the backup zip file, unzip it, and have access to all the images stored in the media library of your WordPress website without having to go in and manually download them from your server.

3. Backup Notes

Located in Backup > Local Backups section. Hover over the backup file name to see the “Note” link.
add-note-backup-file This handy feature allows you to add a short note to backup files. Use it to make notations about when the backup file was made (such as before making changes to a stylesheet or adding a new blog post) or to give yourself a reminder to send the backup offsite later.

4. Browse and Restore Single Files

Located in Backup > Local Backups section and from Restore/Migrate > Local Backups section. Hover over the backup file name to see the “Browse & Restore files” link.
browse-files-wordpress Keeping a few local backups has a few advantages, such as having the ability to browse and restore single files within the backup. Restoring an individual file can be really helpful if you’re making changes to your theme’s stylesheet or functions.php file. Instead of restoring the entire site, you can restore a single file.

5. File Viewer

Located in Backup > Local Backups section and from Restore/Migrate > Local Backups section. Hover over the backup file name to see the “Browse & Restore files” link, expand directories to see files (if necessary) and then click the “eye” icon to view files.
view-wordpress-files From within the Browse and Restore files feature, you can actually view a read-only version of the file. This can be a quick and easy way to copy code snippets from previous versions of files.

6. Status Log Download

The “Download Status Log” button is located at the bottom of the Backups page during a manual backup.
download-status-log-backup Every time you manually run a backup, you might be missing the “download Status Log” button at the bottom of the screen. If you download and open this file up, the backup tasks are listed with a timestamp during the backup process. You could use always include this file with your monthly maintenance reports so clients get an idea of what you do behind the scenes.

7. Database Rollback

Located in Restore/Migrate > Local Backups section. Hover over the backup file name to see the “Database Rollback” link.
database-rollback-wordpress-plugin Use this feature to roll back your database to a database that exists within a previous backup file. As with single files restores, you don’t have to run a total restore of the site.

8. Sever Information Results

Located in Server Tools. Scroll to the bottom of the Server Configuration section and click the “Display Server Configuration in Text Format” button.
wordpress-site-server-info A ton of useful features are available in BackupBuddy’s Server Tools. BackupBuddy compiles information about your server such as your MySQL and PHP version and max execution time. BackupBuddy allows you to view these results in text format, so you can quickly send this information to support or to clients as proof they need to upgrade to better quality hosting.

9. WordPress Schedules (CRON) Jobs

Located in Server Tools > WordPress Schedules (CRON) Jobs tab.
run-wordpress-cron-jobs Did you know you can manually run (or delete) any CRON job from within BackupBuddy? BackupBuddy compiles a list of all scheduled WordPress tasks (CRON jobs) so you can see which ones are in place and then force the CRON job to run. Just use caution when manually running or deleting scheduled CRON jobs as plugins, themes or WordPress itself may expect these to remain in place.

10. Database Repair

Located in Server Tools > Database tab.
wordpress-database-repair You don’t actually need an optimazation plugin if you use BackupBuddy. Why? BackupBuddy can check and repair databases. Just visit the Database tab in the Sever Tools menu item. Hover over any item in the list and you’ll see the “check” and “repair” action links.

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