Site disaster recovery clone (static mirror)

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  kulakow · Member · Aug 23, 2013 at 5:21 pm

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  Dear support,

  I would like to keep a static html, human readable copy of my blog including all content (images, media, etc.) for disaster recovery purposes. Is there any recommended way to do this with wordpress.com?

  I have tried using wget -mk but it stops at index.html file.

  Please advise,

  Michał Kułakowski

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  amightywp · Member · Aug 24, 2013 at 6:48 pm

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  Hi there,

  While we do keep full redundant copies of all media and content for the purposes of disaster recovery, we understand that you might want something for yourself.

  The only real way in which you can keep a full copy of your entire site is for you to setup a self-hosted WordPress.org site somewhere (whether a shared hosting account somewhere or on your own computer). You can then do an export from your WordPress.com blog:

  Export Your Website’s Content

  Which will create a flat .xml file containing all of your written content and instructions for where your media is. You will then need to import it in to your offsite blog:

  http://codex.wordpress.org/Importing_Content#WordPress

  While this is not static, you can then use any number of WordPress.org plugins to generate a full backup, including a .zip file containing all media.

  Hope this helps!

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  kulakow · Member · Aug 24, 2013 at 9:34 pm

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  Hello amightywp,

  thank you for coming back to me. I have tried exporting already. My problem is that attached media, mainly images, are not included in such backup.

  It is interesting what you have just said about plugins though. Can you recommend any of them, you have experience with?

  I am not the wordpress pro (this is one of the reasons I am hosting the site commercially), and I do not want to mess with production instance trying them one at a time.

  BTW: I like your title a lot : )

  Thanks a lot,

  Michał

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  amightywp · Member · Aug 25, 2013 at 5:12 pm

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  Heya,

  You’re right, the export does not contain the actual media. That is why you would need to import in to a third-party WordPress.org site.

  The actual export only contains instructions on where to find the media. The import engine on WordPress.org blogs then goes and fetches the media and imports them into your secondary blog.

  In regards to backup plugins, I don’t have any that I would specifically recommend over another. Depending on your needs, they will largely work the same. I personally currently have this plugin installed on my third-party WordPress.org site:

  http://austinmatzko.com/wordpress-plugins/wp-db-backup/

  And thanks! We like the title a lot too! :)

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  kulakow · Member · Aug 26, 2013 at 9:32 pm

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  Thanks amightywp.

  Importing media is important to me. Since we are taking about DR here I cannot assume the site hosting images will exist at a time I will be restoring from the backup.

  So I hope we are getting closer to the solution. Couple of additional questions here:

  1. Would wp-db-backup incluse all content including images?
  2. How do I install this plugin on my instance (www.wloczykije.info)? I do not see any option like this in my admin console.

  Thank you,

  Michał

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  amightywp · Member · Aug 26, 2013 at 10:07 pm

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  The entire process which I described is all necessary. WordPress.com does not provide the ability to install plugins, thus the need to export your blog to a WordPress.org site, where you would be able to do a complete backup of the nature which you would desire.

  And again, please note that all of your media would be transferred over. The initial .xml file is an instruction file. The import engine then does the work to pull your media over during the import process. Once the import is completed, you would then be able to complete a backup using the backup plugin of your choice.

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  kulakow · Member · Aug 27, 2013 at 9:23 am

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  Hello amightywp,

  thank you for your explanation. To summarize what you have said, in order to get a backup of a blog with all media included I need to:

  1. Set up a separate wordpress instance
  2. Configure backup in there
  3. Migrate my content

  I have to say this exceeds the complexity I was expecting a lot.

  Since I am not wordpress techie, that would have to be a managed instance, so I can get proper assistance. Once I migrate all stuff to the new managed site is there any reason for me to ever look back at wordpress.com?

  This is an honest question. I do not see any such reason, but if you help me find one I would consider it.

  Thank you,

  Michał

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  amightywp · Member · Aug 27, 2013 at 3:01 pm

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  If you are certain that you would need a managed WordPress.org instance, that is completely up to you however the use of WordPress.org is really not terribly difficult. People from all walks of life and with all levels of expertise set them up every day!

  With that said, if you intend to spend that kind of money on a WordPress.org instance then by all means you should have that be your primary site! We always want what is best for our customers, and while we offer a wide variety of benefits, a managed service should take excellent care of you!