SSP Documentation
SSP Backup & Restore
Overview
SSP Backup & Restore creates automatic scheduled backups of your WordPress site with support for local storage, Google Drive, Dropbox, and FTP/SFTP. Restore your entire site with one click when disaster strikes.
Quick Start: Go to Backup & Restore in your admin menu, configure your schedule, and click Run Backup Now. That’s it.
Requirements
- WordPress 6.2 or higher
- PHP 7.4 or higher
- ZipArchive PHP extension (most hosts have this)
Scheduling
Backups run automatically in the background using WordPress cron. Configure your preferred schedule and forget about it.
| Daily | Runs every day at your specified time. |
|---|---|
| Weekly | Runs once per week on your chosen day and time. |
| Monthly | Runs once per month on your chosen day (1-31) and time. |
| Timezone | All schedules respect your configured timezone. Defaults to your WordPress site timezone. |
Manual Backups: Click Run Backup Now anytime to create an immediate backup outside the schedule.
Pre-Update Backups
Enable Backup before updates to automatically create a backup before WordPress core, plugin, or theme updates. If an update breaks something, you can roll back instantly.
Backup Scope
Choose what to include in your backups.
Selected Components
- Database — All tables with full SQL export
- Plugins — wp-content/plugins folder
- Themes — wp-content/themes folder
- Uploads — wp-content/uploads folder
- MU-Plugins — wp-content/mu-plugins folder
Entire Site
Backs up the entire WordPress root directory including wp-admin, wp-includes, and all files. Use this for full site migrations or complete disaster recovery.
Custom Exclusions
Skip folders you don’t need. Enter paths relative to wp-content, one per line:
uploads/large-videoscacheupdraft
Auto-Excluded: Cache directories (w3tc, litespeed), other backup plugin folders, node_modules, and .git are automatically skipped.
Cloud Storage
Store backups locally or send them offsite for extra protection.
| Local Server | Stored in wp-content/uploads/ssp-backup-restore/ with .htaccess protection. No setup required. |
|---|---|
| Google Drive | Requires Client ID and Client Secret from Google Cloud Console. Best for backups under 100MB. |
| Dropbox | Requires App Key and App Secret from Dropbox Developer Console. 150MB file size limit. |
| FTP/SFTP | Send backups to any remote server. Supports SSL and passive mode. |
Cloud Limits: Google Drive works best under 100MB. Dropbox has a hard 150MB limit. For larger sites, use Local or FTP storage.
Google Drive Setup
- Go to Google Cloud Console
- Create a new project (or select existing)
- Enable the Google Drive API
- Go to APIs & Services → Credentials
- Create OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Web application)
- Add your callback URL:
https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/admin-post.php?action=sspbr_gdrive_callback - Copy Client ID and Client Secret into plugin settings
- Click Connect to Google Drive
Dropbox Setup
- Go to Dropbox App Console
- Create a new app with Scoped access and Full Dropbox access
- Copy App Key and App Secret into plugin settings
- Add your callback URL in Dropbox app settings
- Click Connect to Dropbox
FTP/SFTP Setup
- Enter your FTP host, port, username, and password
- Set the remote path where backups should be stored
- Enable SSL (FTPS) if your server supports it
- Enable Passive Mode if you have firewall issues
- Click Test Connection to verify
Retention Policies
Automatically manage backup storage so you never run out of space.
| Keep All | Never delete backups automatically. Manual cleanup only. |
|---|---|
| Smart Retention | Keeps one backup per day for 30 days, plus one backup per month for 12 months. Oldest backups are automatically deleted. |
| Max Count | Keep only the newest X backups (1-200). Older backups are deleted when the limit is exceeded. |
Recommended: Smart Retention gives you 30 days of granular recovery points plus a full year of monthly snapshots.
Restoring Backups
Restore your site from any backup with one click.
- Go to Backup & Restore in your admin menu
- Find the backup you want in the Existing Backups table
- Click Restore and confirm
- Wait for the restore to complete
During Restore: Your site enters maintenance mode automatically. Visitors see a maintenance message until the restore completes.
What Gets Restored
- Database — All tables are dropped and recreated from the backup
- Plugins — Restored to wp-content/plugins
- Themes — Restored to wp-content/themes
- Uploads — Restored to wp-content/uploads
- MU-Plugins — Restored to wp-content/mu-plugins
Download Backups
Click Download to save a backup ZIP file to your computer. Use this for offsite storage or migrating to another server.
Email Notifications
Get notified when backups succeed or fail.
| Enable | Toggle email notifications on or off. |
|---|---|
| Email Address | Where to send notifications. Defaults to your admin email. |
| On Success | Send an email when a backup completes successfully. |
| On Failure | Send an email when a backup fails with error details. |
Test Button: Click Test next to the email field to verify your email settings work correctly.
Troubleshooting
Backup fails with “ZipArchive not available”
Your server doesn’t have the ZipArchive PHP extension. Contact your host to enable it, or switch to a host that supports it.
Google Drive upload fails
- Check that your backup is under 100MB
- Verify your Client ID and Client Secret are correct
- Make sure the Google Drive API is enabled in your project
- Try disconnecting and reconnecting your account
Dropbox upload fails
- Dropbox has a 150MB file size limit
- Verify your App Key and App Secret are correct
- Check that your app has the correct permissions
FTP connection fails
- Verify host, port, username, and password
- Try enabling Passive Mode
- Check if your server requires SSL (FTPS)
- Ensure the remote path exists and is writable
Scheduled backups aren’t running
- WordPress cron requires site traffic to trigger. Low-traffic sites may need a real cron job.
- Add this to your server’s crontab:
*/5 * * * * wget -q -O - https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php - Or use a service like UptimeRobot to ping your site every 5 minutes.
Backup is too large
- Switch from “Entire site” to “Selected components”
- Exclude large folders like uploads/videos or cache directories
- Use Local or FTP storage instead of cloud services
Restore fails or site is broken after restore
- Check PHP error logs for specific errors
- Ensure your database user has DROP and CREATE permissions
- Try restoring from a different backup
- If completely broken, restore files manually via FTP and import database.sql via phpMyAdmin
Email notifications not sending
- Use the Test button to verify email works
- Install a mailer plugin like WP Mail SMTP
- Check your spam folder
- Verify your server can send outbound email