Discover four tips to use with the VaultPress cloud backup service that will save you money on the package you choose, plus increase site performance.
Update: As of 12/9/16 VaultPress announced major plan changes and now requires that you install Jetpack to use VaultPress. I have serious security and performance concerns with using Jetpack. Read the latest in this post Why I Yanked VaultPress off My Recommended List
Update: I have found ways to set up SSH restore on shared hosting.
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Tutorial Notes
What I like most about VaultPress is that the entire service resides in the cloud and puts very little load on your site, unlike plugin type backups that can be real resource hogs. And, you don’t have to pay for a plugin and then more for storage. It’s all for one price that’s cheaper than several popular plugins.
There are several different account types and this first tip will help you get to the backup-only type accounts, which are very affordable.
When you go to VaultPress.com, click the blue View Plans & Pricing.
The Basic and Premium accounts shown here come with lots of extra features.
Scroll to the bottom and click this link that says Only want backup and restore functionality?
Now you’ll see the Lite and Basic backup options.
The difference between the two is in how often they back up your site. The Lite version is daily, which is great for most sites. It’s the one that me and all of my clients use.
Basic backs up every time a change is made to the site. Perhaps if you run a store you’d want this. Otherwise, it’s overkill and not worth pay the extra money for.
The Lite version is $5/mo or $55/yr. And unlimited storage is included. So you don’t have to pay for a plugin and then storage on top of that.
Tip #2
VaultPress is made by Automattic, who are the same folks who make WordPress, Akismet, and Gravatar, and who run WordPress.com. So, you’ll be using a WordPress.com login to get an account. If you already have one for Akismet or Gravatar, use that.
Copy down these 3 pieces of info about your account, because you’ll need them later.
Email, password, and the activation key.
There are three steps to setting up VaultPress.
First, get the VaultPress plugin. You’ll find it in the WordPress repository.
Once you activate it, you’ll see a message at the top to Register VaultPress.
Once you click that link
You can enter your registration key.
Tip #3
Here’s the trick for performance. Make sure you do this in the middle of the night. Once you enter that key, the backup process will start immediately. And it will run at that time every day. So, if you do this in the middle of the night, it’s likely to be when traffic is slow on your site.
You can log out of your site and the backup will continue to run. You’ll get an email when it has finished. That first one takes the longest, but will likely be complete for you the next morning.
Tip #4
Next, you’ll want to set up a faster restore process. VaultPress can restore your site if you don’t, but it will be way faster if you do.
Log into your VaultPress Dashboard.
Then click Settings
Here you’ll see multiple ways for connecting the restore options.
On shared hosting, you’ll may only be able to set up FTP, but I have found ways to do SSH on many hosts.
If you’re on VPS or Cloud, you should be able to set up SSH, which is super fast, and it’s encrypted.
SFTP will require the same security keys, and it is also encrypted.
So, set up FTP if that’s all you have available.
And set up SSH if that’s available and that will be the only one of them you need. Or you could set up FTP as an alternate.
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