backing up

[Miss Chatterbox]

What is the best method for backing up my database? Also will backing up my database back up my products as well?

Currently we are backing up via ftp all files to a secure location, is this the best way to do it?

[ZombieAndy]

If your forums is small then you can use the back up database tool in the admin cp but this tends to time out if your forums are too big, in which case your better off doing it via phpMyAdmin

[Miss Chatterbox]

If your forums is small then you can use the back up database tool in the admin cp but this tends to time out if your forums are too big, in which case your better off doing it via phpMyAdmin

Hiya! Thank you very much for your reply.

So you can't back up via ftp?

I've had a look at the phpMyAdmin but as I'm very inexperienced I honestly don't understand what I'm doing (there are lots of boxes to tick etc.) I don't suppose it's possible to have a newbies guide to backing up using phpMyAdmin?

[ZombieAndy]

I Suppose you could via FTP but i beleive its quicker and easier via phpMyAdmin.

Open it up and click on your database name in the left hand navigation bar then click on EXPORT (top tab), Highlight the table/s you want to back up (usually all of them lol), select "STRUCTURE" and "DATA" radio button, select "Enclose table and field names with backquotes" then select "Save as file" and "zipped" check boxes and click "Go" and a zipped archive file will be generated.

It sounds more complicated than it is, after a couple of times it becomes a second nature routine for you.

[Miss Chatterbox]

That's excellent advice! Thank you so much! It's just what I wanted. Rep left!