Note: in recent versions of b2evolution, there is a backup tab in the Maintenance tab. This makes it easy to make quick backups.

In case you want to understand more about backing up, you will find general information that applies to all versions below.

A b2evolution blog is made up of three distinct parts:

• the b2evolution program files (which includes your site layout, the backoffice, etc.)
• the images and other media files you have uploaded into the /media/ folder structure
• your MySQL database (which contains all your posts, comments, users, but not your uploaded files/images).

When most people speak of backing up their site they are primarily thinking of the posts and comments in their database.

Although b2evolution v5 can create a backup of itself, backing up your database is typically not done through b2evolution. You typically do so through the tools your webhost has given you access to, such as phpMyAdmin, cPanel, or something similar. Export/Dump your b2evolution database to a file and then you can save it as a backup or reuse it somewhere else.

Keep in mind that any files or images that you upload with your posts are not stored in the database. They are kept in the /media/ folder strcuture and referred to by b2evolution. You should also backup your complete /media folder in order to keep your file and image links working if you need to reinstall or restore your blog.

If you want to backup your site’s design/layout, then you can simply save the skin folder that you are using (within the /skin/ folder structure)

If you are backing up in preparation of an upgrade, please note that skins and plugins from previous versions may not always work well with newer versions.

Other things you might want to backup

If you have made customizations to the following, consider backing them up also:

• Custom settings in the /conf folder.
• Custom skins
• Custom plugins
• Custom .htaccess file(s)
• Hacks in the code