How to Save a WordPress Backup to Dropbox Automatically ?

We always recommend our website owners to always create backups whether it is on their local server or by the use of cloud storage or both. By doing so, we have prepared countermeasures on unfortunate events like data corruption or getting your websites hacked. But if you want to easily access your backups anytime, anywhere, one of the most effective solutions is using cloud storage.

By using cloud storage, you can still access your backup files on your phone or to any device that is available around you. Even if data corruption happens on your desktops, you have a failsafe on the cloud. We’re here to introduce one of the popular cloud storage used by many. Here’s a thorough discussion about the WordPress Backup to Dropbox. We will discuss what Dropbox is, what are its pros and cons, which plugin to use for backing up your files up to the process how to back up the files on Dropbox. 

Dropbox

Dropbox is an online file-sharing application that allows users to easily backup their documents and files into one location. It is an ideal solution for users who regularly create dual  WordPress backups as it allows you to centrally store your files on their servers, making the virtual access seamless and easy, wherever you are. May it be on another desktop, laptop, mobile device, or tablet. On top of that, if you’re working with a team for a certain website, it is now convenient because of the collaboration feature it has. As introduced, we offer a few of its capabilities as a solution to your WordPress backup to Dropbox. Now, let’s now proceed with the in-depth details about Dropbox’s pros and cons.

Get Dropbox

Backup to Dropbox Pros 

Easy to use

We all love the convenience and time-saving tools so we can maximize and make use of that time for other things. As a go-getter, you need something that serves you this quality without compromising on the performance. Luckily, its basic features are very straightforward. Once you create a backup file in your Dropbox folder, it automatically syncs to any devices that it is connected to. Talk about convenience. 

Portability

You’re not always on your workstation and between your days off, sometimes you want to check on your backup files if there are changes made, (if you’re working on a team) or you immediately want to create an update on your WordPress. If that’s the case, then you don’t have to worry if you’re using Dropbox as cloud storage. What we love about cloud storage is that you can access your files whenever or wherever you are. If you have an internet connection, then you’re good to go. 

Offline capabilities

Speaking of internet connection, there are also days when you cannot connect to your internet provider properly. And that’s a downside for cloud storage as you need an internet connection to get access to it. But with Dropbox, you don’t have to sweat yourself with the internet lost. It has an offline mode where you can easily mark any file, document, or folder that you need access to when you go offline. In that way, the files marked stay synced until you change the setting. Now, one of your worries is eliminated because of this functionality Dropbox gives. You have prepared a countermeasure whenever that time comes. 

Automatic file backup

Automatic file backup is one of the features we are looking for in cloud storage. Sometimes, users cannot avoid deleting the files accidentally on the cloud but one thing’s for certain. Dropbox has an automatic file backup that allows every document, file, or folder saved, to create a backup so whenever those “accidents” happen, you have a failsafe. This gives reassurance to the users and the restoration procedure to retrieve data also makes Dropbox even better. 

In every advantage, there are always disadvantages. While we’re done on the good qualities or the pros, we can get through the not-so-good qualities of the WordPress Dropbox backup. 

Backup to Dropbox Cons

Lack of high-level security

We all know those cloud storages are most likely prone to data encryption and hacking. Dropbox still has the right to access your information due to a legal investigation but as far as the encryption goes, we’re still not sure that it isn’t zero-knowledge. If your WordPress doesn’t contain any sensitive or valuable information, then Dropbox still serves its security purpose. In addition to that, if your Dropbox account is inactive for a few months or a year, Dropbox has the right to delete your information. So take note of that.

Storage Limitations

Most cloud storage has a great amount of storage compared to your localhost. We most likely find Cloud storage as a better solution to free up some space for your desktop. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for a free plan to backup WordPress, then Dropbox might not work for you as it only offers 2GB of storage for starters. If you want to increase your storage without paying, there are other methods that you can use. But if you want a hassle-free task, you can always upgrade to their monthly or annual plans to get the most of their storage capacity. If you think that 2GB is enough for you, then go for Dropbox. 

Bloated or Heavy in the long run

Seamless navigation through your cloud storage is another plus, as you can work freely and you can backup files or update files as quickly as you can. But for Dropbox, requires a lot of space on your local hard drive to enable file syncing. If you have a great number of files that are important, this kind of minor issue might become annoying in the long run. 

Search function is limited

As cloud storage has a good amount of storage capacity, another factor that we need to consider is the fundamental search tools for finding specific files. If you have large database files on your Dropbox, then most likely you’ll encounter how underwhelming their search functionality is. Dropbox fails in that area as they lack metadata search functionality that users find it difficult to access their files because they cannot find it. 

After going through the WordPress Dropbox backup pros and cons, let’s proceed with the plugins that you can use for backing up your files to Dropbox. 

Which plugin to use for backing up to Dropbox

Backing up your WordPress site on Dropbox is very simple if you know what are the right plugins to use. With that in mind, here are some plugins that work best on Dropbox.

UpdraftPlus

The first on our list is the UpdraftPlus. This plugin is one of the most tested and comprehensive when it comes to backing up files. It has a user-friendly interface so file backups are much easier and convenient. You can use this plugin for free or you can always have the pleasure to upgrade anytime. 

Pros

• You can set schedules of backup between 4, 8 or 12 hours on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
• Restoration process is now made easy as you can restore backups directly from the WordPress control panel. 

Cons

• UpdraftPlus doesn’t have a security scanner or malware monitor. 

Get UpdraftPlus

WP Time Capsule

Next on our list of WordPress Dropbox Backup plugins is WP Time Capsule. This plugin allows you to select which files or data you only need to backup. You can make backups for the most recent changes, or as the name implies, you can make rollbacks through your data easier. With that in mind, WP Time Capsule provides a backup process in a smart manner. This plugin comes in for free. 

Pros

• It allows you to go back to the most tiny or most recent changes on your database
• WP Time Capsule offers encrypted backups for additional protection
• It backs up on real time

Cons

• Unfortunately, the free version runs for 30 days only. 
• Quite costly when you decided to upgrade to their plan especially if you are running multiple sites.

Get WP Time Capsule

BlogVault

Added to our growing list of WordPress Dropbox Backup plugins is the BlogVault. As stated on their website, they are the all-in-one solution for complete website management. By over 400,000+ site owners, it is known and trusted by having reliable backups on WordPress. It has a free version that is available to use. 

Pros

• Instead of a client web server, the entire backup process is performed on BlogVault’s dedicated servers. 
• As high as 330GB, automatic restoration is faster compared to other plugins. 
• If you’re transferring from one domain to another, you can completely migrate your entire WordPress website. 

Cons

• The malware security tool of BlogVault is unfortunately, only available when you upgrade to the Plus and Advanced plans. 
• If you ever consider upgrading to their Plus and Advanced plans, it is undeniably expensive as for 1 site license costs for $89 per year. 

Get BlogVault

How to Backup to WordPress

Here, we are going to tackle how to Backup WordPress on Dropbox by using the plugins that were mentioned above. 

For the UpdraftPlus plugins, you need to install and activate the UpdraftPlus on your WordPress site. After that, you can now configure it to pair with Dropbox. Proceed by going to Settings then UpdraftPlus Backups which can be seen on your dashboard and click on the Settings tab. It will display a list of remote storage options.

Now, select Dropbox as your remote storage. After that, UpdraftPlus will ask you which files you want to include in your backups. You can also add exclusion rules to leave other files out. 

The default settings include all files and folders within your WordPress installation. Now, Save the changes and a message will pop up on your screen that says you need to authenticate your Dropbox account. Click on that link. 

After that, go to Dropbox and log in to your account. 

Now, authorize the plugin by confirming it and you can finally save data to your account. Dropbox will redirect you back to WordPress.

To create a full WordPress backup then save it to Dropbox, all you have to do is to the Settings, then UpdraftPlus Backups. Click on the Backup/Restore and click on the Backup Now button. 

If you have a large website, the process may take you a few minutes or longer. After backing up, you’ll see the recent copies under the Existing Backups. If you see a Dropbox icon under the backup, that indicates that the backup process is successful.

If you wish to set the interval for the automatic backups, you can do so by looking for the Files backup schedule and choosing on the dropdown button what schedule suits your website needs. 

And that’s how you use UpdraftPlus to WordPress Dropbox backup. Next is the backup process using the WP Time Capsule. This approach is straightforward. Sign up for an account to use WP Time Capsule. After creating an account, go to the WordPress plugins repository and look for the WP Time Capsule. Install the plugin and activate it. Proceed to the WordPress admin area and look for the WP Time Capsule, then log in to your account and then select the Lite version. 

After choosing the plan, right next to it is the connect your storage app. Choose Dropbox to save your backups and click on Connect to Dropbox. It will redirect you to Dropbox. Proceed by logging in to your Dropbox account and click on the Allow button to allow access to your own folder. 

To finish it off, set the time you prefer and the city you live in so the plugin can create daily backups. 

WP Time Capsule will now start on the initial backup of your entire WordPress site and database. Depending on how big your website is, this initial backup will take you an hour or longer but, you may skip on this process and do it later. If you proceed with the initial backup, your future backups will only take a few minutes as the process is incremental. And that’s all for the backup process by using the WP Time Capsule. Last on our list is BlogVault. 

The backup process for this plugin is very straightforward and it will only take a few minutes to create a WordPress Dropbox backup. 

To start with, you need to sign up first on BlogVault and create an account. After successfully creating an account, log in to your BlogVault and proceed to its dashboard. After that click on the +Add New Site to add your WordPress site. 

Upon adding your WordPress site, BlogVault automatically creates a full backup of your website. After that, click on the Upload. 

Then,  you can now proceed by connecting your Dropbox account by clicking on the Allow button to give access to your own folder inside your Dropbox. 

And, that’s it. All you have to do is to create backups and they will be saved on your Dropbox. 

An additional plugin that you can use is the classic WordPress Backup to Dropbox which is also known as WPB2D. Make sure that you already installed the plugin and activated it. Once it’s done, you can now start configuring the plugin. 

First on the menu list is the Backup Settings. Click on that and it will flash a message that says Authorize the plugin. Click on that button to proceed to the next step. 

Before clicking on the Authorize button, make sure that you’re logged in to your Dropbox account and it will redirect you to the Dropbox site which will show a message that the plugin wants to connect with you Dropbox. Click on Allow to enable that.

After enabling, click on the Continue on the WPBD settings page and it will show you a list of settings you can configure for your backups. 

After configuring the settings, you can now finally choose the files that you want to exclude from the backup then click on the Save Changes button. 

You can now backup your files by going to Backup Now which can be seen under the main menu. 

Click on the Start Backup button to start backing up your files. 

Those are the following procedures that you can use for WordPress Dropbox backup.

Conclusion

As a website owner, you want to avoid unpredictable accidents that may happen. But things such as data corruption, malware, power interruption, data connection loss, and any other events that may affect your backup will always be there. The fact that you’re building a website, you must know that these kinds of events are unavoidable.

Despite being unavoidable, developers created a solution to that problem and in that way, you have applicable countermeasures that you can use in the long run, and using cloud storage is among them. Online cloud storage like Dropbox is made specifically for this. After we go through the in-depth information about Dropbox, it is undoubtedly one of the reliable cloud storage in the market. You don’t need to be an expert to create your backups for WordPress. It all takes the right tool for the right action.

Try using Dropbox for WordPress backups today and see how it works!