This tutorial is part of our WordPress Management tutorial series. In this tutorial, you will learn how to manually restore your WordPress database data, settings, and configurations.
How To Restore WordPress Data
We recommend creating a system to keep your WordPress plugins, installation updates, themes, and data backups organized for easy access and retrieval and setting up an offsite data backup storage system in case you ever need to restore your WordPress data or reinstall your site.
To learn more about creating an organized system for performing WordPress site maintenance, see the tutorial below:
To learn how to set up an offsite data backup storage system, see the tutorial below:
***
The Importance Of Restoring Your WordPress Site Data
Restoring WordPress data is crucial for maintaining the integrity and availability of your website.
Regularly backing up and being able to restore data ensures that your site can quickly recover from unexpected issues, minimizing downtime and data loss.
Examples of when data, settings, or configurations may need to be restored include:
- Hacking or Malware Attacks: If your site is compromised, restoring it from a clean backup allows you to remove malicious code and restore it to its original state.
- Plugin or Theme Conflicts: Updates or installations can sometimes cause issues that break your site. Restoring to a previous working version can resolve these conflicts.
- Human Error: Accidental deletions or changes can be reversed by restoring a backup, ensuring no permanent damage is done.
- Database Corruption: If your database becomes corrupted, you may need to re-import your site’s data to fix issues or errors encountered during updates or installations.
- Site Reinstalls: You may need to completely reinstall your site (e.g. during a site migration). This is covered in more detail in this tutorial: How To Reinstall Your WordPress Site
What Is A Staging Environment?
A staging environment is like a practice version of your website. It’s a place where you can safely test changes, updates, or new features without affecting the live site that visitors see.
A staging environment can be used for:
- Testing New Features: Before adding a new design or feature to your website, you can use the staging environment to see how it will look and work.
- Preventing Mistakes: If something goes wrong during testing, it only affects the staging site, not your real website. This helps prevent any downtime or issues for your visitors.
- Troubleshooting: If you encounter a problem on your live site, you can use the staging site to diagnose and fix the issue without disrupting the actual site.
In summary, a staging environment acts as a safe zone to experiment with your website, ensuring everything works perfectly before going live.
Many reputable hosting companies offer staging environments with dedicated hosting plans. Check with your host.
What Is A Localhost Environment?
A localhost environment is like a private, offline version of your website that runs on your own computer. Think of it as a personal testing area where you can build, design, and experiment with your website without anyone else seeing it.
A localhost environment can be used for:
- Development and Testing: You can create and test new themes, plugins, or custom code without worrying about breaking your live website.
- Learning: It’s a great way for beginners to learn WordPress without the risk of messing up a real site.
- Offline Access: Since it’s on your computer, you can work on your site even without an internet connection.
If you need help setting up a localhost environment, check out this video course: How To Set Up WordPress On Localhost
Staging vs Localhost Environments
Here are the key differences between staging and localhost environments:
Staging Environment:
- Accessibility: Hosted online, but not visible to the public.
- Purpose: Used for testing changes before making them live on your website.
- Collaboration: Multiple people can access and review changes.
Localhost Environment:
- Accessibility: Only accessible from the computer it’s set up on.
- Purpose: Ideal for development, learning, and private testing.
- Privacy: Completely private and offline.
In short, a localhost environment is perfect for offline, personal use, while a staging environment is used to safely test changes in a setting that closely mirrors your live website.
Restoring WordPress Data – Key Processes
Here are the key processes to know when restoring WordPress data:
Verify Backup Integrity
Ensure your backup is complete and up-to-date before restoration.
Verifying backup integrity ensures that your WordPress backup files are complete, functional, up-to-date, and ready to be used in case of data loss or site restoration.
It involves checking that all critical components of your site—files, database, themes, plugins, and media—are correctly backed up and can be restored without issues.
How to verify backup integrity:
- Check Backup Files
Ensure that all necessary files are included in the backup. This typically involves checking for WordPress core files, themes, plugins, uploads, and the database. You can do this by unzipping the backup file and verifying that all expected directories and files are present.
- Restore on a Local Environment
Set up a local environment or a staging site (a copy of your website on a non-live server) and attempt to restore the backup there. This process helps confirm that the backup is complete and can be successfully restored.
- Test Website Functionality
After restoring the backup on a test site, navigate through the website to check that everything is functioning correctly. Test various pages, forms, and other critical functionalities like shopping carts or contact forms.
- Check Database Integrity
Ensure that the database is correctly restored and that there are no missing tables or corrupted data. You can do this by accessing the database via phpMyAdmin or a similar tool.
- Automate Integrity Checks
Consider using a hosting tool or backup plugin that includes built-in integrity checks or offers the ability to automate this process. This can save time and ensure regular verification of backups.
Regularly performing the above steps will help ensure your backup files are reliable and ready for use when needed.
Test the Restore Process
Before performing a full restore, test it in a staging environment to confirm it resolves the issue without introducing new problems.
Testing the restore process for a backup is crucial to ensure that your backup files can be restored without issues if needed.
Follow the steps below to verify that your WordPress backup works as expected:
- Set Up a Local or Staging Environment
Create a local server environment using tools like XAMPP, WAMP, or MAMP, or use a staging site provided by your hosting service. This isolated environment will allow you to test the restore without affecting your live website.
- Restore the Backup
Upload your backup files to the local or staging environment. This usually involves restoring the WordPress files and the database. Ensure that all files are uploaded correctly and that the database is imported using a tool like phpMyAdmin.
- Check for Errors
After restoring the backup, visit the test site to ensure everything is functioning as it should. Check for any error messages, broken links, missing images, or non-functional plugins.
- Test Core Functions
Navigate through key areas of the site, such as the homepage, blog posts, and any critical features (e.g., e-commerce checkout). Verify that these areas work as expected.
- Verify Database Integrity
Ensure that the database tables have been restored correctly. Use phpMyAdmin or a similar tool to browse the database tables and confirm that all content, settings, and user data are present and correct.
- Automate Future Testing
Consider using plugins or tools that allow automated testing of backups and restorations to save time and ensure ongoing reliability.
By following the above steps, you can confidently verify that your backup is reliable and that the restore process works as intended.
Restoring WordPress Data – Checklist
Restoring WordPress data effectively safeguards your site, maintaining its reliability and user trust.
Ensuring a proper and risk-free backup restore process for your WordPress site involves careful planning and execution. Use the checklist below to restore your WordPress site correctly, minimizing risks of further issues.
- Verify the Backup
Before starting the restore process, ensure that the backup includes all essential components: WordPress files, database, themes, plugins, and media uploads. This ensures that you have a complete backup to restore from.
- Set Up a Staging Environment
Create a staging environment on your web host or a local server. This allows you to test the restore process without affecting your live site.
- Backup the Current Site
Even though you are restoring a backup, make sure to take a fresh backup of the current site. This step provides a safety net in case something goes wrong during the restore process.
- Disable Plugins
Temporarily disable all plugins on the site. This helps prevent conflicts during the restoration process. You can reactivate them later after confirming the restore was successful.
- Restore the Database
Upload and restore the database backup using a tool like phpMyAdmin. Ensure that the database is properly connected to your WordPress installation.
- Restore WordPress Files
Use an FTP client to upload the backup files to your server, replacing the existing files. Make sure to include wp-content, wp-includes, and wp-admin folders, along with the .htaccess file.
- Test the Restored Site
Visit your staging site and thoroughly test all functionality: pages, posts, forms, and any custom features. Ensure that the site behaves as expected, with no missing content or errors.
- Reactivate Plugins
Gradually reactivate your plugins, testing the site after each activation to identify any potential conflicts or issues.
- Check Permalinks
Go to the WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings >Permalinks, and save the settings without making changes. This refreshes the permalink structure and helps avoid 404 errors.
- Clear Caches
If you use a caching plugin, clear all caches to ensure that your visitors see the most up-to-date version of your site.
- Monitor the Site
Your data should be fully restored. Open your browser and visit your site, then log into your WordPress site admin to make sure that everything looks fine and is working as it should.
After completing the restore, closely monitor your site for a few days to ensure everything runs smoothly. Watch for any unexpected errors or issues.
- Document the Process
Keep a detailed record of the steps taken during the restore process. This documentation can be invaluable for future reference or troubleshooting.
By following the above steps, you can minimize risks and ensure a smooth and successful restore process for your WordPress site.
How To Restore Your WordPress Data: Step-By-Step Tutorial
Many WordPress hosting environments offer automated backup and restore tools.
This doesn’t mean, however, that you shouldn’t know how to manually restore your site’s data.
If your database becomes corrupted and you need to manually re-import your data to fix issues or errors encountered during updates or installations, or reinstall your site, follow the steps below:
Log into your web hosting control panel, then locate and click on phpMyAdmin …
This takes you into the main ‘phpMyAdmin’ section …
Click on the MySQL database associated with your WordPress site …
Your database details are loaded into the screen …
If you are reimporting data into an existing database, skip the section below and go to “Reimporting Data Into An Existing Database” to continue with the tutorial …
Reimporting Data Into A New Database
If you are reimporting data into a new database (see Reinstalling Your WordPress Site), your database will only show the core WordPress installation tables …
Click on Import …
Skip the section below and go to the section called Importing Your Database Backup to continue with this tutorial …
Reimporting Data Into An Existing Database
If you plan to re-import data into an existing database to correct an issue or error with a recent installation or upgrade, it is generally a good idea to first delete all of the existing database content and do a clean re-import.
To delete all of your existing database data, click on Check All below the tables, then select ‘Drop’ from the ‘with selected:’ drop-down menu …
A screen will appear asking you to confirm whether you really want to drop all tables in your database. Click Yes to proceed …
After a few moments your query will be completed and a notification message will appear on your screen informing you that “Your SQL query has been executed successfully” …
Note: If your SQL queries DO NOT execute successfully, there may be an issue with your server settings. Please contact your hosting provider for support.
If your “Drop Table” query has been executed successfully, you will see a message informing you that you have no tables in your database. Click the Import tab in the menu to proceed …
Importing Your Database Backup
A screen appears asking you to locate the database file that contains the data you would like to import from a previous backup. Click on Browse …
Locate and select the SQL file on your hard drive, then click Open to proceed …
Tip: Make sure your “Files of type:” setting is set to “All Files” when searching for files with extensions such as .php, .html, .sql, etc …
Once you have selected the file to be imported, leave all settings as they are and click Go …
The file containing your data will begin uploading. Depending on the size of your database, this could take a few minutes …
A message like the one shown in the example below will appear informing you that your file has been imported successfully …
If you get an error like the one shown in the example below, try deleting all of your database tables and reinstalling your SQL data into an empty database (see the previous section for instructions on how to delete existing database content) …
Your data should be fully restored. Open your web browser and visit your site, then log into your WordPress site admin to make sure that everything looks fine and is working as it should.
Next Step:
Now that you know how to restore your database settings and site configurations, the next step is to learn how to reinstall your WordPress site in case something causes your site to become irretrievably corrupted.
To learn how to reinstall your WordPress site, see the tutorial below:
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org