Backups & Maintenance

Trigger an immediate on-demand backup of any WordPress site from the WP Warden dashboard.

1. Option A — From the Backups page

   
   Click Backups in the sidebar. Select the site from the site dropdown at the top. Click Trigger Backup.
2. Option B — From the Site Detail page

   
   Go to Sites, click the site name, scroll to the Backup Card, and click Backup Now.
3. Wait for the backup to complete

   
   The backup entry appears in the history list with status Pending → In Progress → Completed. Large sites may take several minutes.
4. Check the result

   
   Once the status shows Completed, the backup size and storage region are displayed. You can now download or restore it.

Screenshot: Backups page with “Trigger Backup” button

The backup page showing the site selector, Trigger Backup button, and the backup history table.

Create reusable backup templates and assign them to sites. WP Warden automatically runs backups on your chosen schedule and retains them for the configured number of days.

1. Go to Backups

   
   Click Backups in the sidebar.
2. Click “+ New Template”

   
   The backup template creation form opens.
3. Name your template

   
   Give it a descriptive name like “Daily Full Backup” or “Weekly eCommerce Backup”.
4. Configure the backup settings

   • Frequency: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
   • Retention: Up to 90 days for weekly/monthly schedules; daily backups are always capped at 7 days
   • Incremental backups: On by default — after the first full backup, only changed files are re-uploaded (the database is always backed up in full every time). Set how often to rebuild a fresh full backup (default every 7 days) to bound how far back a restore has to replay
   • Keep a copy in WP Warden storage: On by default — turn off if you only want the off-site destination below to hold a copy
   • Storage region: EU or Local (stored on the WordPress server) — US storage is temporarily unavailable
   • Local backups to keep on site: How many recent backup archives stay on the WordPress server itself for instant Time Machine browsing and restore (default 3)
   • Include database: Yes / No
   • Include WordPress core files: Yes / No
   • Include wp-config.php: Yes / No
   • Include/Exclude paths: Whitelist or blacklist specific directories
   • Backup notifications: Managed through your tenant-wide notification settings (Settings → Notifications for email, Settings → Integrations for Slack/Discord/Teams) rather than per template
5. Save the template

   
   Click Save Template. The template is now available to assign to sites.
6. Assign the template to a site

   
   On the Backups page, select a site from the dropdown. A template assignment section appears below. Choose your template from the dropdown and click Save.
7. Verify the schedule

   
   The next scheduled run time is shown next to the template assignment. WP Warden will run the backup automatically at the configured interval.

Screenshot: Backup template creation form

The form showing frequency, retention, storage region, local retention count, and include/exclude options.

Roll back a WordPress site to any completed backup snapshot. WP Warden handles the restoration automatically once you confirm.

1. Go to Backups and select the site

   
   Click Backups in the sidebar and choose the site from the dropdown.
2. Find the backup you want to restore

   
   The backup history table shows all completed backups for this site, sorted by date. Identify the correct restore point by date, size, and type.
3. Click the “Restore” button on that backup row

   
   A confirmation dialog appears explaining what will be restored.
4. Confirm the restore

   
   Click Confirm Restore to start the restoration.
5. Wait for the operation to complete

   
   The restoration usually starts within a few minutes. Large sites may take longer to fully complete. A notification appears once the restore is finished.

Screenshot: Backup history table with Restore button

The table row showing date, size, type, status, and the Restore button.

Restoring a full backup isn’t always what you need — sometimes a single file, plugin, theme, or page just needs to go back to how it was. Time Machine lets you browse any completed backup and restore only what you select, without touching the rest of the site.

1. Open the backup you want to browse

   
   Click Backups in the sidebar, choose the site, and find the completed backup you want to restore from in the history table.
2. Click “Browse files”

   
   If the backup is still stored locally on the site (its recent hot-backup copies), WP Warden builds the file catalog instantly. If the backup has already been moved off-site only, Time Machine shows it as unavailable instead of downloading it back down first.
3. Select what you want to restore

   
   Search by name, filter by type (Plugins, Themes, Files, Media, Posts, Pages), and sort A→Z or Z→A. Check the box next to each item you want to bring back — select as many or as few as you need.
4. Click “Restore selected”

   
   Only the items you checked are restored from the backup — everything else on the live site is left untouched. A summary shows exactly what succeeded and what, if anything, failed.

Screenshot: Time Machine file browser

The Time Machine modal showing a searchable, grouped list of files, plugins, themes, and database records with checkboxes, and a “Restore selected” button.

Download a completed backup as a ZIP file to your computer for offline storage or manual migration.

1. Go to Backups

   
   Click Backups in the sidebar and select the site.
2. Find the completed backup in the history table

   
   Only backups with status Completed have a Download button.
3. Click “Download”

   
   Your browser downloads the backup as a ZIP file. This works only for backups stored in the US or EU cloud region. Backups with storage region set to Local stay on the WordPress server and have no Download option in the dashboard — trigger a fresh cloud-region backup if you need a downloadable copy.

Screenshot: Backup row with Download button

A completed backup row showing size, storage region, and the Download button.

Use the Google Drive destination template to guide customers through a simple off-site backup setup that uploads a copy of each backup ZIP file to their Drive account.

1. Open the destination template

   
   Go to Backups, create a new template or edit an existing one, then choose Google Drive Add-On in the Backup Destination section.
2. Name the connection and destination folder

   
   Enter a clear label such as Client Google Drive and choose a destination folder like /WP Warden Backups/Client Name.
3. Choose the copy behavior

   
   Select whether WP Warden should mirror only the latest backup, append every new backup indefinitely, or keep a rolling set of the most recent backups for this client.
4. Save the template

   
   Save the template and assign it to the site — the customer completes a simple guided Google sign-in to finish connecting their Drive.
5. Complete customer authorization

   
   During onboarding, the customer signs into Google Drive and approves access. Future backup copies follow the saved template automatically.

Screenshot: Google Drive destination template

The policy modal showing the Google Drive add-on card, folder path field, and copy behavior selector.

Use the OneDrive destination template to prepare a Microsoft 365-friendly off-site archive path that customers can authorize without advanced setup work.

1. Select the OneDrive template

   
   Open Backups, start a new template or edit an existing one, and select OneDrive Add-On under Backup Destination.
2. Set the connection label and archive folder

   
   Add a friendly name such as Client OneDrive and confirm the archive folder, for example /Apps/WP Warden Backups/Client Name.
3. Choose how archives are copied

   
   Pick the copy policy that fits the customer: latest-only mirror, append-only archive growth, or a rolling set with predictable retention.
4. Complete the guided setup and save

   
   Save the template, assign it to the site, and have the customer complete a simple guided Microsoft sign-in to finish connecting their OneDrive.
5. Finish authorization and assign the policy

   
   Save the template, assign it to the site, and have the customer approve access with their Microsoft 365 account so backup copies can start syncing off-site.

Screenshot: OneDrive destination template

The policy modal showing the OneDrive add-on card, destination summary, and guided setup options.

Maintenance windows let WP Warden automatically run updates, backups, and health checks for a site during scheduled low-traffic hours — no manual intervention required.

1. Go to Maintenance

   
   Click Maintenance in the sidebar.
2. Click “+ New Window”

   
   The maintenance window configuration form opens.
3. Select the site

   
   Choose which WordPress site this window applies to.
4. Give it a label

   
   For example: “Sunday 2AM Maintenance” or “Weekly Client A Update”. This label appears in logs and notifications.
5. Configure the schedule

   • Days of Week: Check the days this window runs (e.g. Sunday only)
   • Start / End Time: Set the UTC time range (e.g. 02:00–04:00)
6. Choose what to run during the window

   • Auto-backup before changes: Creates a backup before any updates run
   • Auto-update plugins: Applies all available plugin updates
   • Auto-update themes: Applies all available theme updates
   • Auto-update WordPress core: Applies available core updates
   • Health threshold: After updates run, checks the site’s health score and automatically rolls back if it drops below this value (default 70)
   • Email notification: Enter an address to receive a completion report
7. Enable the window and save

   
   Toggle the window to Active and click Save. WP Warden will execute the window automatically on the next scheduled occurrence.

Screenshot: Maintenance Window creation form

The form showing site selector, label, day/time schedule, task checkboxes, health threshold, and email notification field.