Backing Up Your Blog

Every writer's nightmare is to have something they've written dissapear or worse, be hacked and messed with. But how many of you bloggers out there worry about it? Not many? Well you should. It's one of those things that no one thinks can or will happen to them, then it does.

I always thought no one would mess with my blog because I'm just a harmless writer who blogs about writing and books. I thought after I got published I would worry about things like people hacking my blog. But then an author friend of mine who was weeks away from debuting, had her blog hacked. She couldn't log in. They'd changed her passwords and messed with everything! It wasn't a friendly joke either. She lost material she'd written years ago. It threw off what she had planned to do on her blog for her debut.

Ever since that happened to her I've been backing up my blog. It's easy, even for non technical types so don't worry! I'll walk you through how to back up a Blogger blog.

1) Log into your account. From your dashboard (the log-in page) click on Settings.
2) In the Tools section on top of the screen click on Export Blog.
3) Click on Save Blog. It may ask if you want to view or save, click on save.
4) It may ask what you want to save it as and at this point it should suggest either the name of your blog, or just 'Blog' along with the date. In this same screen it will show where it's saving it, most likely your documents.

Now you'll have a back up of your blog saved on your own computer in your documents. I recommend saving to it often. Just go through the prompts and save it to the same document. That way it will replace the old one with the new one. I save mine weekly, but you can save it after each post if you like.

If you have a different blog than Blogger check out this in depth post on Chuck Samubchino's (Writer's Digest) blog that runs through each type of blogging account.

Comments

  1. This is great! I actually read about backing up ones blog on Chuck's site, but you made it infinitely more simple for those of us who are hardly tech savvy (me)! Thanks, I'm going to go back up my blog now!

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  2. Thanks for the great tips here Heather! I did know how to export my blog and save it, but I never thought to do it on a regular basis that's for sure. I definitely will now though!

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  3. I thought I lost files on my laptop when my computer semi-crashed, and that was NOT a good feeling. I didn't even know this was a problem--thanks so much, Heather, for the info. I'll definitely backup my blog right away.

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  4. I'm glad I could simplify it for you Lindsey! If I save just one blog from a hacker's destruction I have succeeded!

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  5. You're very welcome Anastasia. I'm glad the post helped. You never know when you'll be hacked and what you lose if you haven't saved recently.

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  6. Wow Kari that sounds horrifying! A computer crash is never a good thing. I'm so glad this helped you. Hackers can be even worse than a system failure.

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  7. This is invaluable info! THANK YOU so much for sharing. My hubby was just asking me the other day how I back up my blog and I was like, "Um, I don't know." Now I do and I am so on it!!!

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  8. Thanks for this heads up. Too often we wait until the worst happens before thinking of prevention.

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  9. Heather--thanks so much for posting this! I need to do this immediately. :)

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  10. Sounds like the timing was perfect for you Elizabeth! I'm happy I could help.

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  11. So true Elle. I hadn't even thought about it until it happened to my friend. The wierd part is, she is the sweetest person in the world so I'm certain it wasn't because she ticked somebody off. It was just malicious hacking.

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  12. You're welcome Kristi. I just backed mine up, your turn!

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  13. Thank you! I hadn't ever thought about doing this, but I just did. Now I feel nice and cozy-safe. (Additionally, I also know that someone in my family has been messing with the computer's setting, because it's trying to tell me that my blog is an mp3 file.)

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  14. Oh no Jennifer, it sounds like the kids may have got a hold of your computer! I'm glad your blog is backed up now. Whew!

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  15. That's terrible! I swear, if hackers took the time to actually do something worthwhile, we could have LOTS of cool technical things. Losers!

    But yes! I definitely back up my blog as well. Once a week religiously. I have a Wordpress blog, but the backup plug-in is simple and easy.

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  16. Thanks Heather -- excellent post. I saved it, so I can always find it if I forget to save my blog posts.

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  17. Heather, wowza, thanks for sharing this....runs off to backup blog (and is reminded to backup writing files - YIKES).

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  18. I know huh Karen? Its a waste of talent that's for sure. I'm glad to hear you're backing up your blog!

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  19. You're welcome Linda! I'm glad it was helpful.

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  20. Wow! Glad I decided to scroll back through. :) I'm going to take that advice because you just never know!

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  21. I'm a new follower and your blog is gorgeous!!! I'm definitely going to enjoy visiting here!!!

    These were awesome tips, and after one horror story after the other I'm all about saving my stuff!!

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  22. I'm glad you did too Lisa! Now I'll feel better knowing your wonderful blog is backed up!

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  23. Hi Jen, thanks for following! I'm really glad to have you here. Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I'm happy I could help at least in a small way!

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