Getting help

Documentation

Please follow the steps on this page if you need help with the setup or while using the Backup4WP tool.

Contact

Please post your feature requests, bug reports and support questions via the issues section on Github. Don’t forget to check existing issues first.

Frequently asked questions

Find below the most common questions from other Backup4WP users. Please check this list first and post an issue only if you can’t find the answer.

Is it possible to add multiple users or email addresses to get access to the backup tool?

No, not at the moment. We think only the side admin should be able to use this tool. Maybe we will change that functionality in the future.

I don’t receive the authentication emails, what can I do?

Use one of those options: Maileroo, Mailersend or SMTP. The PHP mail() function doesn’t send complete mail headers and those emails are marked often as spam. Beside this it’s also possible that your webserver’s IP address is on a blacklist. This is often not a problem for your site, but it might be the reason why email is blocked by your own email provider.

I messed it up, is there a way to start over?

We created Backup4WP with the idea to have a backup and restore function that “always” work. There is no direct connection to your WordPress website and there are not many configuration options. That means if something goes wrong or stopped working you need to start over. Just remove the database file called “wpbackupsDb.sqlite” and the “backups” directory. You can find both in the parent directory of your public HTML directory. It’s not necessary to remove the Backup4WP application. If you reload the screen after the previous steps, you start with an empty backup list.

Where are the backups located?

If you access the tool the first time, the directory “backups” is created. The location is one level higher than the public directory from your WordPress website. Note, if your update or delete the application, the backups are still intact. 

What are the requirements to run the Backup4WP tool?

Most important is that you use WordPress. Right now the tool doesn’t work with with custom WordPress setups, where the “wp-content” directory is not inside the public directory from your website. Beside these requirements your server needs to support the tools composer, rsync, zip and the PHP function shell_exec(). We use this PHP function to “run” the Linux tools (composer, rsync and zip). 

Is it possible to create periodic backups with Backup4WP?
Right now it’s not possible. Structural backups should be done off-site. Most hosting providers taking care of these backups.

Can I also download the backups?
Yes, that’s possible. This option is disabled by default. To enable this option (temporarily), you need to set the constant variable “ENABLE_DOWNLOADS” to “true.” You can find this variable in the “libs/func.php” file of your Backup4WP application.

I don’t know how to use Composer and I’m missing the PHP libraries, how to fix this?
The easiest way to install Backup4WP, is by using our WordPress plugin. The plugin is also able install the dependencies. If it still doesn’t work, your hosting account doesn’t meet the requirements.

How to solve the “white screen of death” after importing a download file to Local (by Flywheel)?

In most cases this error is related to a plugin that is not working on your local test location. Disable all plugins before you make the (partial) backup and download/import that file.