Thursday, May 12, 2016

Back It Up

The other day, my heart stopped briefly when I wasn't able to get into my blogger dashboard. After a few minutes of panic, I realized I was logged into a different Google account than the one my blog is connected to. whew! So all is well on that front, but it was a good reminder to back up the blog regularly. Admittedly, I do it only quarterly at best, and I'm curious what you do, if at all. If you never have, it's super quick, as you'll see below.
Note that this is for Blogger only. Do research if your blog is on another platform.

Step 1. SAVE YOUR TEMPLATE: First, go to your blog's dashboard just like you were going to edit a post.


See way over in the upper right corner where it says "Backup/Restore"? Click there.


Choose "Download full template." A file full of code will be downloaded. Save the file and I suggest, rename it to include the current date. 


Close the Backup/Restore window. Step one is done.

Step 2. SAVE YOUR CONTENT: Still on your blog's dashboard, click "Settings" in the left hand column, then "Other." See under "Import & back up" the choice to "Back up Content." Click there and another file full of code will be downloaded. This one will take a little longer than the template, but not long. Save the file and again, rename it to include the current date. 


That's it! Seriously, it'll take you ten minutes or so. And give you a whole lot more peace of mind.

27 comments:

  1. Good reminder, Debbie. I back up my computer quarterly. Thankfully I have my blog archived by my host, which should help in the event of some calamity (theoretically).

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  2. Nothing like the adrenaline rush of missing data to help us vow to reform our backup and security habits, eh? Glad yours turned out to just be a 'test of the blogger alert system'. Not a blogger, but we've been down this road with other things.

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  3. Thank you for the reminder! I always forget to do this and now I've got a reminder set for the first of the month.

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  4. Thanks for the reminder and the how-to! I just got my blog all backed up and saved. Don't know that I've ever done that.

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  5. I do this often but will do it again today, thanks for the reminder.

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  6. Holy cow I have never done this and didn't know that it was a thing...

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  7. Thank you for showing the way! So much to remember. Thanks!

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  8. I have never done this before either so thanks for the great tip Debbie!

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  9. hmm have never done this in 8 years of blogging! oops! thanks Debbie, it's done now

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  10. Thanks for the tip, Debbie. Fab idea. Done!

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  11. Thanks for the reminder! It's been... way too long since I've backed mine up. And other stuff as well. :(

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  12. Yikes! I've never ever done this! Thanks to you I just did! Now if I can only remember to do it often!!

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  13. I've never backed mine up. I'm going to do it right now. Thanks for the reminder and the easy instructions!

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  14. Timely reminder! My host charged me $150 to restore my blog last year, and I need to back up everything before I go hunting for a new host next month.

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  15. Thanks for the reminder, I've never backed up my blog, so its about time I started!

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  16. I too have never done this, didn't know I had to. Thank you for the great instructions, it's done.

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  17. Thank you Debbie. As a blogger of only four months it was something I had never considered. I have been doing a series of tutorials for new bloggers, just the kind of things I needed to learn, I hope you don't mind if a put a link on my tutorials page, I know many others will be unaware of this.
    Smiles
    Kate

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  18. Oh boy - I never back up my blog! And I know I should - I work with computers all day and back up my work all the time... Don't know why it never occurred to me to back up my blog?! Thank you so much for the reminder and the VERY helpful tutorial. :-)

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  19. Hmm. I didn't know we were supposed to! Thanks for the heads up!

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  20. Very good point! I haven't backed mine up, ever! Thanks for showing me how to do it, Debbie!

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  21. Thank you so much Deb, my blog content file is downloading now. I hadn't done this for a couple of years.

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  22. Hmm. My Blogger dashboard doesn't look like yours. Perhaps that's because I never updated to the newer (eight years ago?) version. I'm still on the old one, and it's working just fine for me. Though I have no idea if my blog is backed up! As well, I cannot find anywhere by blog's photos. Well, I can find the old ones, up to 2014, but after that, it's a mystery. Thankfully, I print a blog book each year, so that's my reassuring back-up. Thanks for the time you took to post this though!

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  23. Thank you for the reminder! I always forget to do this and now I've got a reminder set for the first of the month.
    Forex Enigma Review

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  24. Peter
    I've never backed mine up. I'm going to do it right now. Thanks for the reminder and the easy instructions!http://coradar.org/

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  25. Thanks, that was simple. Hope none of us have the apocalypse of lost blog efforts. I feel like one of the cool quilters now.

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