Website Disappeared, What You Should Do.

Website Disappeared, What You Should Do.

Database

Other than having heart failure, you should immediately contact your hosting provider. You should also check your PHP Database to see if anything has been moved or deleted. If you are not tech-savvy leave it to the experts because one wrong move can make your site disappear forever.

Apologies To Our Readers

We were visited by gremlins in the middle of the night and as you can imagine my heart was in my mouth. My database seemed to still be there but one thing I am going to do is practice what I preach and back up my database at least once a month on all my websites, especially the ones that have a lot of content updated regularly.

I did have an SQL back up but it was about six weeks old so you can imagine how much data I could have potentially lost.

This site is hosted with www.one.com and these are the instructions to backup: Backup your web space with File Manager – Support | one.com

Each hosting provider will have their own set of instructions, usually found in the help and support section.

Reason Why My Site Disappeared Temporarily

What was the problem with my site disappearing was that I disabled an add-on and it immediately crashed my site. The site has now been moved to a new infrastructure as per the email I received this morning and is back up and running again, thank god. Had my sites been on my own servers, I guess I would have avoided going into cardiac arrest.

WordPress Back Up

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, powering more than 40% of all websites on the internet. With its ease of use, flexibility, and abundance of plugins and themes, it’s no wonder so many people use it to build their websites. However, one crucial aspect of maintaining a WordPress website is often overlooked: backing up the database.

Why is it imperative to back up your WordPress database?

Your WordPress database contains all of the critical information that makes your website function, such as your posts, pages, comments, and user data. If something were to happen to your database, such as a hack, server failure, or accidental deletion, all of that information would be lost, potentially causing significant damage to your website and your business.

Having a backup of your database ensures that you can easily restore your website to its previous state if anything goes wrong. It’s like having an insurance policy for your website, giving you peace of mind that your hard work is protected.

How often should you back up your WordPress database?

The frequency of your backups depends on how often your website’s content changes. If you have a static website that rarely changes, you can get away with backing up your database once a month or even less frequently. However, if you have a dynamic website with a lot of user-generated content, such as a blog or an e-commerce store, you should aim to back up your database at least once a week, if not more often.

It’s also a good idea to back up your database before making any significant changes to your website, such as updating your WordPress version, installing a new plugin or theme, or making changes to your site’s design or functionality. That way, if anything goes wrong during the update or change, you can quickly restore your website to its previous state.

How to back up your WordPress database

There are several ways to back up your WordPress database, including using a plugin, your hosting provider’s backup service, or manually exporting your database.

Using a plugin is the easiest and most convenient method for most users. Some popular backup plugins include UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy, and VaultPress. These plugins allow you to schedule automatic backups and store your backups on cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or Amazon S3.

Your hosting provider may also offer backup services as part of your hosting plan. It’s worth checking with your provider to see if this is an option for you.

If you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can manually export your database using phpMyAdmin, a web-based tool provided by most hosting providers. This method requires a bit more technical know-how, but it’s a good option if you prefer to have complete control over your backups.

Conclusion

Backing up your WordPress database is a critical aspect of website maintenance that should not be overlooked. It’s essential to determine how often you need to back up your database based on the frequency of changes to your website’s content. With many backup options available, there’s no excuse not to have a backup of your database in place. So, take action today and protect your hard work!

So as you can imagine I have not had much sleep today.

Once again apologies for being taken over by gremlins.

Moral of the story.

Remember when your website is your pride and joy, your blood, sweat, and sleepless nights, you can never be too careful, so make a habit of backing up your site on a regular basis.

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