Until recently there was no SIMPLE way to back up a WordPress blog or a website. It could be done but it was complicated, involved multiple steps and configuration headaches and the process could not be automated unless you sold your children into slavery to raise a Kings ransom.

They all had the usual claims that they were simple to use, foolproof and executed flawlessly on every c-panel hosted account, regardless of the version of WordPress installed. Words “One click” were used to describe just how simple the software was to use. Unfortunately two failed miserably to live up to these claims and thankfully ONE was superb and worked first time exactly as the developer said it would. Read below which plugins failed and which triumphed and more importantly for most of us which two are simply not worth the money.

Of the three available products two were actually plugins whereas the third was a PHP script. I purchased each one of these programs because I realised how vital the WordPress Backup Plugin could be and the potential time it would save should the unthinkable happen, and I broke my blog or worse yet I got hacked. I originally wanted a WordPress Backup Plugin that was simple to use and could be automated. I only intended to buy One and stick with that, unfortunately I was overtaken by events.

Bloggers understand that WordPress is a highly complex yet highly flexible System, which is its strength and also its weakness. The weakness is due to the thousands of plugins and widgets, themes and scripts that interact within the wordpress system. Sometimes they don’t play well together and something breaks. That is the hardest part of coding anything for wordpress. So coming up with a WordPress Backup Plugin was always fraught with problems.

When that happens there are a few things you can do to fix that; Unfortunately if you are running a business then you don’t have the time or resources to go delving into the code to fix a 2 cent widget. Its not a good use of your time or effort. Outsourcing could help but there is no guarantee and there is a cost involved. Plus when you purchase a product online, they universally make very bold claims about the product that you should rightly expect the thing to do exactly what the developer claims it can do. Sadly that’s not always the case.

Below is a detailed expose of each product. I will detail how each performed and what problems I found, if any.

Product #1; EzwpBackup – WordPress Backup Plugin

If your looking for a product that backs up your wordpress blog EzWPBackup is definitely not the product for you.

Let me start off by saying this is NOT a positive review of the EzWPBackup WordPress Backup Plugin. I am taking the unusual step of slamming this product, not one I own nor one I developed but one I have bought TWICE (yes i am stupid sometimes) and which has failed to work on both occasions even after the developer spent weeks tweaking the code. Once they re-released the product they upped the price. I was not impressed when it still failed to work.

This product makes this very bold claim right at the top of its web page;

In short the claim made on the sales page that you can “Back up any wordpress site in Just one click, with no installation issues, customer support issues or hair pulling frustrations, is this really possible??, Not if you try and use ezwpbackup that’s exactly what you will end up with. Watch the video above to watch the demonstration.

Essentially this product says you click the “Generate Backup” button and the software then completes a full blog back up which you can then download to your computer for safe storage.

Product #2 – Ez Wp Cloner – WordPress Backup Plugin

Surprisingly enough this plugin is Also from the same developer as the previous product, EzWpBackup. Its also a WordPress Backup plugin but it functions in a different way.instead of providing you with a download back up of your blog  this one is designed to be used to move a blog from one site to another.

Other solutions do exist and new ones are coming on to the market every day. One such product launched just two days ago called WP Cyteclone which is also a cloning plugin designed to move the content of one blog to another site.  the principle behind this plugin is that you create a “Master blog” and use that to create a blog network all based on the contents of your master set up.

I have purchased Wp Cyteclone and plan to use it in the forthcoming days to create blogs for clients.  Its NOT YET available for the general public but will be going live within the next few weeks, so if you are looking for a solution like this then it maybe worth the wait for you.