Three ways to backup your website with Watchful
There are three methods you can use to backup your site from Watchful:
- Manual backup
- Queue-based backup
- Scheduled backup
This document will describe the differences between each of these methods and when you might use each one.
Note: You must have configured at least one of the supported backup plugins before using any of the backup methods below.
Comparing backup types
The table below compares the main features of each type of backup workflow at Watchful:
| Feature | Manual | Queue-based | Scheduled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts automatically | No | No | Yes |
| Scheduled | No | No | Yes |
| Operates in the background | No | Yes | Yes |
| Workflow efficiency | Lowest | Average | Highest |
Manual backups
Manual backups are initiated directly by the user and occur in real time. While convenient, additional tasks in the dashboard can not be performed until the backup is complete.
To perform a manual backup, please refer to the How to create a manual backup FAQ page.
Queue-based backups
Queue-based backups are convenient when multiple sites require backups before proceeding with other maintenance. Sites added to the backup queue are performed when the next available spot(s) in our backup queues is available.
Backup queues are useful when some, but not all, of the sites in your dashboard have recent backups. It allows the user to perform maintenance on the sites that do have a recent backup while the other sites are backed up in the background.
To add sites to the backup queue, please refer to the How to add sites to the backup queue FAQ page.
Scheduled backups
Scheduled backups are the best way to maximize the efficiency of your maintenance workflow. Ideally, you will schedule your backups such that all of the sites needing maintenance are already backed up when you log into your Watchful account. This allows you to proceed with site maintenance without delay.
For full details on scheduling backups, choose one of the plugins listed on the what backup plugins are supported FAQ page.
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