I have my WordPress installation in the /blog subdirectory of my site root, so I just sent a query to VaultPress to ask about whether they'd backup everything in the /blog subdirectory or only the known wp-xxx subdirectories. I'll post here when I get a reply. What I'd like is if they'd take the entire contents of [root]/blog and then I'd be all set.

For anyone looking to use Dropbox, you can add 1GB to the free space you get by installing the iOS Mailbox app and connecting it to your dropbox account. You don't have to keep using it to keep the space

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57599334-285/get-1gb-extra-dropbox-space-just-for-using-mailbox/

I'm here to publicly thank Picture5469 for hand-holding my efforts to get VaultPress to back up my images as well as other files.

Picture5469 and I were PMing for 2-3 hours tonight. Somewhere-in-England to Santa Fe-NM-USA and back and forth in "real time." (I'm old enough to find that truly amazing, even if some of you techies are not.)

End of story is... I managed to get it done, but only thanks to Picture5469's know-how and patience. Now I think I know enough to pay it forward if anybody else needs help doing that down the line.

Thank you, Mark!   

Quote from: marthamarks on September 02, 2013, 20:59

I'm here to publicly thank Picture5469 for hand-holding my efforts to get VaultPress to back up my images as well as other files.

Picture5469 and I were PMing for 2-3 hours tonight. Somewhere-in-England to Santa Fe-NM-USA and back and forth in "real time." (I'm old enough to find that truly amazing, even if some of you techies are not.)

End of story is... I managed to get it done, but only thanks to Picture5469's know-how and patience. Now I think I know enough to pay it forward if anybody else needs help doing that down the line.

Thank you, Mark!   

If I understand you correctly, you (two) were able to get VaultPress to back up the symbiostock_rf directory? If so, (a) that's good news as I was thinking I had to rule VaultPress out as a backup solution and (b) the answer I got from support wasn't correct.

Can you run down what needs to be done here on MSG?

I'll try! Let's see if I can replicate what I did earlier tonight.

1. I went to my Bluehost Control Panel
2. went into the "File Mgmt" area
3. selected the Directory named "Web Root"
4. clicked the + beside the "www" button at the bottom of the left-hand list (to expand what shows there)
5. clicked the + beside the "wp-content" folder
6. clicked the + beside the "uploads" folder
7. inside that "uploads" folder, I created a new file that I named BACKUP_RF (to create that, I clicked the "New Folder" button on the left side of the top menu bar)
8. refreshed my browser window.

Then...

9. I copied all my image files from the "symbiostock_rf" file that's close to the top of the long list of files on the left. Mark made it clear: You want to copy these images, not simply move them. And above all, don't erase them!!!

Here's the trick for copying and moving images. Select 1-2 images to learn on. Select them, begin dragging them to the new folder you've created, but while you're dragging them hold down the CONTROL button. If you don't hold that down, you'll be moving them, not copying them. You want to wind up with 2 complete sets of images so VaultPress will find a set in the Uploads folder that it saves for you.

Once you've figured out how to move 1-2 images, then try for 6, and if you've got the technique down, you can move your entire port over in one fell swoop (or in a few smaller swoops). It's actually very easy once you get the motion right. All in the wrist. :-)

Sure enough, when VaultPress saved my file soon after that, my dashboard showed it going from 3454 uploads to 4839. So it seems to have gotten all those image files it wasn't getting before.

One caveat: Mark warned me that Bluehost won't like having duplicate sets of images in "storage". Even if it's for a good cause like allowing VP to find them. So this may not wind up being a good permanent solution. However, for now I'm happy that at least I do have a reliable backup of all images on my site to date.


I hope I got all the steps right and that it helps you do what I did tonight. With Mark's help, of course, because I would NEVER have figured this out without him.

Have you given any thought to how you'll keep your copies up to date as you add files to your site - assuming you don't just delete the copy and re-create it each time you do a backup?

I understand I'll have to copy all new image files into that new BACKUP_RF folder I created in the "uploads" folder. So as I upload a new batch, I'll copy them into that. It's not a hard project to do, just gotta remember to do it.

You're probably smart to try Updraft Plus, even with the extra fee and Dropbox upgrade to store it all. If Bluehost balks at letting me store 2 copies of my images for this purpose, I'll surely follow you down that same road.

So... please do give it a try and let us all know how it goes!

I am currently looking at all sorts but think that dropmysite.com might win

Same here. I was looking at either dropmysite.com or codeguard.com. But I think for the price dropmysite looks pretty good for the features. Anyone have experience with either?

http://www.microstockgroup.com/symbiostock-general/backing-up/msg342739/#msg342739

I put my description of how UpdraftPlus is working for me in the other backup thread

Quote from: ShazamImages on September 04, 2013, 08:43

Quote from: Redneck on September 03, 2013, 15:09

How to back up your entire Symbiostock website (in less than one hour) ➤

I'm not sure that you are completely backing up your site properly.  According to your blog, you are backing up "the /symbiostock/ folder".  But that doesn't contain everything.  See my post here for a list of directories that need to be backed up:

http://www.microstockgroup.com/symbiostock-general/backup-vaultpress/msg342205/#msg342205

I have my complete Wordpress/SYMBIOSTOCK installation in the folder "symbiostock". It's backing up everything that belongs to the site.

OK, I thought that you were only backing up the symbiostock directory under wp-content/themes/

Quote from: Redneck on September 04, 2013, 11:38

I have my complete Wordpress/SYMBIOSTOCK installation in the folder "symbiostock". It's backing up everything that belongs to the site.

This is not a backup question, but one about site setup. It sounds as if you have your WordPress installation somewhere other than the site root, as I do (except that my directory is called /blog not /symbiostock). I wonder why you didn't have all the problems I did (which Leo has given me a separate "funky fixes" plugin to work around) with links being wrong because the site URL wasn't the same as the WordPress installation?

FYI... My site is not in the root either but thru my hosts cPanel I have configured a subdomain called stock.tdahlphotography.com and pointed it to the folder where I installed symbiostock. So all references in WP and SY point to stock.tdahlphotography.com.

No problem at all. I just threw it out there as info. Did not know if it would help or not.

I just skimmed through all the backup problems here in this thread and want to recommend using blogVault as WordPress and Symbiostock backup solution.

blogVault not only backups all of your Wordpress, you can also request to backup another folder outsite of the WordPress installation.

Try it for yourself: http://blogvault.net?src=amosnet and please get back to after your free 7 day trial to receive the exclusive special offer!

I'm affiliated with blogVault because they backup all my websites as well and i run their german sales team. We at blogVault have discussed to give Symbiostock users a excluive discount and i strongly recommend that you try our backup solution for free.

We have backuped very large sites with gigbytes of data without any issues. I know that vaultpress is also an OK service but they have had several problems with my host, where slow and do not have a test-restore feature. This test-restore feature will let you test the backup blogVault has created and see if all your Symbiostock is fully and properly backed up.

Looking forward to your questions.