How to Back Up WordPress by MainWP is for self-hosted agency dashboards, web-care providers, and admins who want centralized backup visibility without handing every site to a hosted SaaS dashboard. Use this method when coordinating host backups, plugin backups, and maintenance reporting across many child sites.
A good WordPress backup includes the website files and the database. The files carry themes, plugins, uploads, configuration, and custom code. The database carries posts, pages, users, settings, WooCommerce orders, booking records, form entries, menus, and plugin data. Before you change WordPress core, PHP, DNS, plugins, themes, checkout, or a page builder, make sure you know which backup contains both halves.
When this backup method makes sense
MainWP backup management is a good fit when you already have that tool available and need a practical restore path. It is especially useful before updates, redesign work, hosting migrations, malware cleanup, PHP changes, database work, and plugin troubleshooting.
Before you begin
- Confirm the WordPress URL and document root so you back up the right site.
- Find the database name in
wp-config.phpor the hosting panel. - Check free disk space; many backup failures start with a full account.
- Pause risky work until the backup finishes and you can see the file.
- For stores and booking sites, note the last order, booking, or form entry before the backup.
Backup steps
- Connect each child site to the MainWP dashboard.
- Open MainWP backup management and review which backup systems are supported in your setup.
- Choose the backup layer for each site: host API backup, UpdraftPlus, BackWPup, or another supported path.
- Confirm each child site has both files and database coverage.
- Run backups before bulk updates and check each job result after the batch.
- Keep a client-facing restore note that says which dashboard, host, or plugin owns recovery.
Automated backups and cron
MainWP is a coordinator. The actual backup timing may come from the host, plugin, or integration behind it, so verify schedules in the source system too.
For WordPress plugin backups, remember that WordPress scheduled tasks often depend on WP-Cron. WP-Cron runs when WordPress receives traffic and notices a task is due. That is fine for many small sites, but low-traffic sites can run late. For business-critical sites, pair plugin schedules with a real server cron, hosting-panel backups, or provider backups where available.
How to test restore readiness
Restore from the specific backup provider used by that child site. MainWP can help manage the fleet, but the restore path still needs to be documented per site.
Do not test your only restore for the first time during an outage. Use a staging copy, temporary subdomain, local development environment, or provider restore preview when available. After restore, check login, home page, important pages, media, forms, checkout, email delivery, permalinks, and cache behavior.
Common mistakes
- Assuming MainWP itself stores every backup.
- Mixing backup providers without recording which site uses which provider.
- Running bulk updates without fresh backups.
- Not testing restore on a representative child site.
Where to store the backup
Keep at least one copy outside the web server. Good destinations include your own Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3-compatible storage, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, SFTP, a provider backup vault, or a secure internal backup server. The exact tool matters less than the restore test, retention policy, and separation from the production account.
Fix I.T. Phill recommendation
Use MainWP backup management as one layer, not the whole plan. Keep a second backup path for important sites, especially WooCommerce, bookings, memberships, and agency-managed sites. Before major updates, take a fresh manual backup even if automatic backups are already scheduled.
Related Fix I.T. Phill guides
- Complete WordPress backup methods guide
- How to Back Up WordPress: Complete Methods Guide
- How to Back Up WordPress by cPanel Backup Wizard
- How to Back Up WordPress by cPanel File Manager and phpMyAdmin
- How to Back Up WordPress by WHM Full Account Backups
- How to Back Up WordPress by cPanel WP Toolkit
- WordPress 7.0 safe upgrade checklist
- Install essential PHP extensions for WordPress in WHM/cPanel
- Disable WordPress plugins with phpMyAdmin when wp-admin is broken
- Help4 Network hosting and website support
