Jeffrey Zinn presented on backup and security for WordPress sites. He outlined that the objectives are to reduce risk of being hacked and have a plan for if hacked. He recommended securing computers, connections, and WordPress sites through updates and strong passwords. For backups, he said to back up the database and files, do so frequently in multiple locations, and provided options for manual, plugin-based, third party, and specialized hosting backups. The presentation emphasized having a backup plan is essential for disaster recovery.

1. Backup & Security Lite
Slides: slideshare.net/jeffreyzinn/backup-and-security-lite-wcphx13
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

2. Jeffrey Zinn
• Co-founder of Pixel Jar
• WordCamp OC co-organizer
• AdSanity co-developer
• @jeffreyzinn
• jeff@jzinn.us
surfer, WordPress fanboy, avid backpacker,
euro gamer, soccer hooligan, traveler,
voracious coffee drinker
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

3. Objective
1. Reduce your risk of being hacked.
2. Have a plan for when you are hacked.
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

4. Security
‣Secure your computer
‣Secure your connection
‣Secure your WordPress website
★ Do not be a target
★ Nothing is 100% secure!
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

5. Secure your computer
‣ Keep you computer updated with the latest software
‣ Install anti-virus software on your computer
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

6. Secure your connection
‣ Use SFTP or SSH to connect to your site instead of FTP
‣ If possible, use an SSL connection
‣ How secure is your website host? Read up, ask questions.
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

7. Secure your WordPress website
‣ Update, Update, Update (WordPress and plugins)
‣ Change the database prefix (do not use wp_ )
‣ Use secret keys https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/
‣ Use trusted sources for themes and plugins
‣ Do not use “admin” as a username
‣ Use a strong password
‣ File permissions, generally set files to 644 and folders to 755
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

8. Backup & Security Lite
‣Why back up your website?
‣What needs to be backed up?
‣When to back up your website?
‣How to back up your website?
★ Have a plan to get your website back
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

9. Why backup your WordPress website?
“Making backups is essential because problems inevitably
occur and you need to be in a position to take action when
disaster strikes. Spending a few minutes to make an easy,
convenient backup of your database [and files] will allow
you to spend even more time being creative and
productive with your website.”
- wordpress.org
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

10. What needs to be backed up?
‣ Database - Your WordPress database contains every post,
every comment and every link you have on your blog. If your
database gets erased or corrupted, you stand to lose
everything you have written.
‣ Files - Your WordPress website consists of the WordPress
Core Installation, your plugins, your themes, images,
javascripts, PHP scripts, other code files, additional files,
static pages... All of these are used in various combinations
to generate your website.
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

11. When to backup your website? (and where?)
‣ Frequency - Frequency depends on site activity. A blog that is posted to daily should
be backed up more often than a CMS site that is only updated monthly.
How much data are you willing to lose?
‣ Where - Ideally three back ups should be made - one to your local hard drive, one to an
external server and one to a cloud or other service not in your immediate vicinity.
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

12. How do I back up my WordPress website?
‣ Manually - Just like when WordPress was set up and the files were uploaded and the
database was created, files can be pulled down and the database can be exported
through the site’s hosting control panel.
‣ Automated Through Plugins - Plugins can provide most of the functionality to create
back ups of WordPress sites, but finding the right one can be difficult.
‣ 3rd Party Service - 3rd parties take most of the work out of your hands and provide
excellent back up and restore functionality, but usually at a price.
‣ Specialized Hosting - Some hosting options are starting to pop up which specialize in
hosting WordPress installations including backup services.
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

13. Backup Manually
Pros Cons
Free Manual
Confidence in result Must be diligent
‣ phpMyAdmin - Log into the site’s hosting control panel. Log in to the default
database management tool. Select the WordPress database and create and
export. (Save the file in all your back up locations.)
‣ SFTP - Again, use the site’s hosting default SFTP tool or other 3rd Party tool
and connect to the webhost. Bring ALL files down to local machine. (Zip the
folder, save to all back up locations.)
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

14. Backup with Plugins
Pros Cons
Free Plugin supported?
Some automation Backs up to website server
‣ WP-DBManager plugin
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-dbmanager/
‣ WordPress EZ Backup
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-ez-backup
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

15. Backup with 3rd Party Services
Pros Cons
Little-to-no work after set up Paid service
Fully Automated
Saves away from website server
Restore!
‣ VaultPress - Automattic’s solution to backing up self-hosted WordPress
installs. ($180 - $2400)
‣ Amazon S3 - Automatic WordPress Backup is WordPress plugin that saves a
copy of your entire WordPress site to the Amazon S3 servers. (around $0.15/
GB.)
‣ BackupBuddy - BackupBuddy is an all-in-one solution for backups,
restoration, and migration. ($45 - $150)
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

16. Backup with Specialized Hosting
Pros Cons
Fully automated Pricier than other hosting
Restore!
Web servers optimized for WordPress
sites
‣ Page.ly - Provides nightly backups of both the files and the database of a
WordPress site.
‣ Blog on Cloud 9 - Also provides nightly backups.
‣ WP Engine - Provides daily backups of your site, also allows you to create
your own restore points.
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR

17. The End. Thank You. Any Questions?
Slides: slideshare.net/jeffreyzinn/backup-and-security-lite-wcphx13
TWITTER WEB
JEFFREYZINN@PIXELJAR.NET
EMAIL
@JEFFREYZINN OF @PIXEL_JAR