Originally published on CodingCush .

To back up a WordPress site safely, copy both parts of your site — all of its files and its complete database — save that copy somewhere away from your own server, and check that you can restore it. A plugin such as UpdraftPlus does this in a few clicks, and a manual backup using your hosting file manager and phpMyAdmin does the same job without a plugin. Do one full backup before every update, and keep at least one copy in cloud storage. That is honestly the whole secret; everything below is simply those steps in plain English.

What Does a Full WordPress Backup Include?

WordPress is really two things living together, and beginners often back up only one of them. That is like saving a photo of your house but forgetting the address. You need both halves, every time.

Your files are everything in your WordPress folder: WordPress itself, your theme, plugins, and the uploads folder with your images and documents.…