I write stuff for kids...and muse on writing, children's books, and the publishing industry in general

Monday, May 23, 2011

When did you last back-up your blog? (plus directions if you don't know how)

I had a major panic a couple of weeks before The Great Blogger Crash. Everything on my blog went screwy - little bits of computer code appeared, my followers all disappeared, I couldn't open my dashboard - everything you can imagine to give me a headache and a spot of "Oh my God, what if...?" Things were back to normal the next day, thank goodness, and I'd backed-up my blog a few days before so I wouldn't have lost everything, but the whole incident made me squirm. I thought it might be timely to remind you to back-up your blog regularly, and show you how to do it if you don't know already.

As to the reminder part

Um, yes, do it! :D

And the directions...Here's how to save a copy of your blog template, in four easy steps (honest!)

Step One - Click on "Design" at the top right of your blog (or you can go through the Blogger Dashboard instead if you prefer)


Step Two - Click on "Edit HTML"


Step Three - Click on "Download Full Template"


Step Four - Save the file (I usually add the date to the save-name, so I can easily work out which is the lastest download)


And as for saving your entire blog content...Check out Clarissa Draper's post here.

And that's it, eezey-peezy. I've set my calendar to remind me to back-up my blog every two weeks, but you can do it more or less if you prefer, of course. Make sure you save your blog often though - we put so much work into them, and I've heard some horror stories about people who've lost the whole thing. For good!

How about you: Did these directions help you? Do you back-up your blog often (if so, how often)?

Other stuff:

I was interviewed by Deana Barnhart on platform-building last week. Check my two-part interview out here and here.

You'll have seen I've been doing a bit of tinkering with my sidebar and my banner - hope you like :D Also, I finally got my act into gear and joined Networked Blogs - I'm looking forward to catching up with heaps of you there!

Thanks so much to everyone who's given me an award lately! I've popped your names and awards up on my Awards Page *grins*

Oh, and I've changed my blogging schedule to Mondays-only for the next little while, as I dive into my revisions in preparation for querying.

Hope everything's well with you all, and Happy Monday!

45 comments:

Jordan McCollum said...

It's definitely a good idea to back up your template before you make any changes to your blog!

But it's also important to note here that by default this doesn't back up your blog *content* this way. This only downloads the *template*--the layout, the sidebars, etc. The content of your posts isn't included in the file. (I just downloaded and checked mine--not even the most recent post was in there.)

The template backup is still handy though! Never know when something might go wrong with that!

mooderino said...

Interesting post. Is there any way to back up the whole thing inclusing posts and comments?


@mooderino

Rachael Harrie said...

@Jordan, @Mooderino, check out the link I included above to Clarissa Draper's post - that tells you how to save the posts, comments, etc (LOL, rather than reinvent the wheel... *grins*). I prefer to save my blog template and the entire blog in separate places, in case I only need to use one or the other (eg I might use the saved template for a quick fix to sort out a mistake I made in the blog html).

Hope this helps.

Hugs,

Rach

mooderino said...

Thanks, missed that on first read.
cheers,
mood
@mooderino

Wendy@FabNouveau said...

Rach I've lost my entire company blog after buying a domain name for it on blogger. To date no one can help me get it back. I did so much work on that blog I'm totally depressed about it. Thanks for the post.

Suze said...

Very informative. You're kind of like the PSA center of the blogosphere. :)

Nas said...

Hi Rach,

Thanks for this timely reminder! You're awesome!

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

I write my blog in Word first and save copies and pictures ever since Some phone tech guy managed to remove Picasa from my phone and everywhere.

This is also a SIMPLE way and will do this as well. (If I can do it--it's simple.)

Thanks so much.

Zan Marie said...

Thanks, Rach! I truly didn't know I could back up my blog. All saved now.

I was sick during the the late unpleasantness and hadn't posted, but a word to the wise--backed up with the know how--is always welcome. ; )

PT Dilloway said...

I don't think my blog has anything worth backing up.

Deana said...

Oh yes, I am loving this post! That blogging mayhem we had recently really threw me for a loop:)

Stina said...

I've tried saving my stuff several times but it hasn't worked so far. I don't even get that pop up window after I click on Download Full Template.

Carol Riggs said...

Great idea. That would be horrid to lose my blog! *shudder* Thanks for the info! I may have read Clarissa's post, and backed up the content a while back. Probably need to do it again!!

Kerri Cuev said...

Good post! I guess I put to much faith in blogger that nothing bad will happen. Maybe it's time for a change to avoid an all out panic attack if my blog went haywire. *cringes thinking about it*

Shari said...

How sad that I didn't even know you could do this! Thanks for the info.

kjmckendry said...

Thanks for the great info! I just did it and now I'm off to check the link! I will add these to my calendar.

Colene Murphy said...

HA! This was a very dear-in-headlights post for me. I had no idea you could/needed to back it up! Yipes!! Thanks Rach!

Clara Gillow Clark said...

Has anyone told you lately how fabulous you are? Well, you are! Thanks for the much needed tutorial.

Savannah Chase said...

After getting your blog post I went and backed up my site today..Thank you...I had not done it in a little bit...

Kay L. Davies said...

Thanks for the reminder. One would suppose the Great Blogger Meltdown would have reminded me, but it takes a while and a second push to get me to remember.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Whoah...I never backed up my blog. Thanks for the heads up. Hey Rach, I gave you an award called the "I'm on Fire" Award. Stop by and cut and pasty it to your blog if you want it :)

Alleged Author said...

Yay for revisions and querying! Thanks so much for the info on how to back-up the bloggie. Would hate to lose everything!

Lacey Devlin said...

Great advice, Rach! I back mine up but it's been a little hit or miss then came the Great Blogger Meltdown... cue my new anal backing up system =P

Kerrin said...

Goodness, i had never even thought of it!
THanks!!

Carrie said...

Yowza I knew nothing about this! Thanks, Rach :)

www.jolenestockman.com said...

Rach, you are awesome! Another useful, timely and mega-thoughtful post :) Your revisions (and querying – woohoo!) will go beautifully! Sending good vibes :)

Chris Phillips said...

Pretty sure the gov't keep extensive records of my every move, so I'll just ask them for it if it crashes. Too lazy to do that every 2 weeks. j/k thanks for the tip.

Donea Lee said...

I've never even thought about backing up my blog...too trusting of the internet super-highway, I guess. #doneafail That will be the NEXT thing I do. Thanks for the steps!!

And best of luck with your edits and querying!!

Amanda Milner said...

You have so much great advice! Thanks Rach, I've basically learned everything about blogging from you! ☺ Lol!

Unknown said...

I've backed up once - after Blogger got rid of Talli's blog during the A to Z Challenge (and she luckily got it back!). So thanks for the reminder - off to back up now!

KM Nalle said...

Thanks for the reminder. I should do this. NOW.

Jo Schaffer said...

(= Just discovered your blog.

LynNerdKelley said...

My friend, wub2write, emailed me (and our other writer friends) your post. It never crossed my mind that this could happen. Thanks so much for clueing us in. I backed up my blog right after I read the email.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this reminder.

I save my template at least twice a year, but I'm going to read Clarissa's post to see what I can do about the entire blog.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Hey Rach, I was thinking about how you could approach your third crusade in August since the numbers of people have grown so large. I know you said you were going to separate them into genres (or something like that) but I thought there'd only be like 12 people in the sci-fi group and then 700 in the YA group.

So I thought perhaps you could separate them into two groups of "former crusaders" and "newbies". Then it would be the responsibility of the "former crusaders" to follow the newbies. I figure you'd get two groups of roughly equal size perhaps.

Dorothy Evans said...

Didn't know you could and it would never have occured to me to try! Now I know better - thanks.

Now I'm off to both back up and find out what on earth a networked blog is!

Dorothy Evans said...

and I should learn to spell/type too, apparently!

E. M. Prokop said...

Thanks for this Rach! I've never ever backed up my blog...as everyone knows, I'm not exactly techno-savy! I will do it now though...it would be awful to lose everything...I've been having problems with Blogger lately, and I've noticed that others are too..so this time it's not just me being a techno-tard! Thanks again! Peace..

Len Lambert said...

Hi Rach! I'm back!!!! I know, I know, I haven't blogged for quite awhile. I've been busy. But I hope to be able to visit all my fellow crusaders and comment on their posts. Hugs!

Pearson Report said...

Hi Rachael,

Just dropping in to tell you how much I appreciate your post - very informative and helpful.

I was unaware of how to back my blog up and this just took the mystery out of the whole process.

I hope you are keeping well and busy - looks like it!

Sending you Happy Thoughts and Sunny Smiles!
Cheers, Jenny

Ready, Aim, Hook Me said...

Oh, that's good to know. I didn't even think about that. Thanks. You're so smart and wise :)

Ghenet Myrthil said...

I was on vacation last week so please excuse the late reply. :) Backing up your blog is SO important! I've backed up my template and I backed up my content the other day and need to remember to do it more often. Especially since Blogger's been weird lately...

Anonymous said...

It's scary indeed to think we might lose everything on blogger.

So I just set up a WP blog. A kind woman helped me, but we found out unless I pay to host a site, I can't get the Google Connect Button. But I'm going to use it. I'll cross post to it from Blogger, plus I'll write other kinds of posts on WP that I don't want on Blogger. Will see how it works.

I once exported my Blogger posts and it worked. This was when I got a dreadful glitch, something I did, and had to start a new blog and get back all of my followers. I don't want to have to do this again!

Good luck with your revisions. I'm spending too much time blogging. We don't get first drafts or revisions or anything done if we don't curtail ourselves.

The best to you!
Ann Best, Memoir Author

Erin said...

Thanks so much for this tip!! I had no idea you could do this, or back up the content. I am going to share this on my FB page, so hopefully more people can learn this.
Thanks!

Brittney said...

Hey Rach, I was thinking about how you could approach your third crusade in August since the numbers of people have grown so large. I know you said you were going to separate them into genres (or something like that) but I thought there'd only be like 12 people in the sci-fi group and then 700 in the YA group. So I thought perhaps you could separate them into two groups of "former crusaders" and "newbies". Then it would be the responsibility of the "former crusaders" to follow the newbies. I figure you'd get two groups of roughly equal size perhaps.

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