Updating the PHP version on your live website risks breaking something you don’t expect.  That’s why it’s best practice to test any PHP update on a test sandbox version of your website.  

We are happy to announce that the latest update for UpdraftPlus makes it very easy. This new update includes the added ability to let you run tests on PHP 8.0 using our UpdraftClone feature. 

Using UpdraftClone, you can now duplicate your site to a sandbox test version using PHP 8.0 when using WordPress 5.6+. 

We have developed this new update as we know that while setting up a new PHP install can be time-consuming and replacing your current one could break your site, UpdraftClone makes it easier to test these new things out in a disposable sandbox – Removing any potential risk to your live site. 

Of course, the beauty of UpdraftClone is it’s easy to test your site in whichever PHP or WordPress version you like.

As well as cloning your existing site, it’s also possible to use UpdraftClone to create instant blank WordPress installs if you want to create new test sites from scratch or test things in your choice of PHP or WordPress version, including PHP 8.0.  

The change-log for other changes in the latest update is as follows:

• TWEAK: Don’t repeat sending the ‘upload_complete’ command to a remote send destination after it succeeded the first time
• TWEAK: Update the udrpc library
• TWEAK: In UpdraftClone, delay the temporary_clone_ready_for_restore signal until the browser connection is closed (preventing a loss of response)

 

The post Test PHP 8.0 on your WordPress site in just a couple of clicks, without the risk of breaking it appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.

Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year! A time when people eagerly check websites and seek out the best deals available.

Though this Black Friday shopping season is not like any we have experienced in the past, you can still take advantage of our big savings from the comfort and safety of your own home.

With demand for these deals sure to be high and following the massive success of our previous Black Friday events, the below deals will run to the end of the month so everyone has the opportunity to take advantage of the sales event!

We have put together a whole host of amazing deals so everyone can now get any or all of the following Black Friday offers:

20% off UpdraftPlus Premium subscription. Use the code: BFsale2020

20% off Easy Updates Manager: Use the code: EUM20BF

20% off WP-Optimize: Use the code: WPO20BF

20% off UpdraftCentral: Use the code: Central20BF

20% off UpdraftClones: Use the code: BFclone20

All discount codes are valid until the end of November 2020

The post Black Friday 2020 – The sale starts now appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.

Backups are one of, if not the most important part of setting up a WordPress site. Disaster can strike at any moment. Be it an errant plugin update or a malicious hack; your website and data is always just one click away from potentially being gone forever. There are ways to limit any potential damage done however, as there are WordPress backup plugins available that can regularly and automatically backup your WordPress website for you.

But given there are so many backup plugins out there, how can you be sure you are installing the right one with all the features you need? Firstly, you need to be sure that the backup plugin you are installing is highly rated and trusted by the larger WordPress community. 

UpdraftPlus has been listed on WP.org since its launch and has (to date) amassed over 3 million active downloads and has a top 5 star rating on the WordPress platform. To date, Akeeka backup for WordPress (both the free and premium versions) have never been listed on WP.org. As a potential Akeeba user, you will have no reference on which to judge the quality of the product or have any idea how many people are using it to successfully back up their websites.

The free version of UpdraftPlus also offers a wide range of essential features that Akeeba does not. Without the following features, users of Akeeba leave themselves open to a wide range of potential issues that are not present when using UpdraftPlus.

Ad-blocker: Most modern websites are flooded with adverts, making them next to unusable without one of the many ad-blockers that are currently on the market.

Installing an ad-blocker on your web-browser is a matter of course for pretty much everyone who uses the internet. However, with the free version of Akeeba WordPress backup, you will find that it will block the use of some features within its plugin, such as “buttons not working” if your ad-blocker is running. 

If you are anything like us, you probably prefer your websites and plugins with limited, non intrusive adverts. UpdraftPlus is free from all external advertising and as such, there is no need to turn off your ad blocker to use the full range of features with the UpdraftPlus plugin.

Remote Cloud storage backup – The free version of UpdraftPlus offers remote cloud storage to many of the biggest and best services, including DropBox, Google Drive and Amazon S3. To send backups to a remote storage location with Akeeba however, you will be forced to purchase the premium version. It is important to remember that you should never store the backup in the same server as the website (as Akeeba does) – as this backup can easily be deleted or corrupted. We have also compiled a series of ‘how-to’ videos and written instructions on how to configure your remote cloud storage options with UpdraftPlus; so you are not left trying to figure things out for yourself. 

Scheduled Backups – One of the most widely used and liked features of UpdraftPlus is the ability to backup your WordPress website as and when you decide, via an easy to use backup schedule option. If you are running a WordPress based store for example, this feature is essential as your stock, orders and featured products could change on an hourly basis. With Akeeba, you can only backup your site with a manual request. Some bad timing or simply forgetting to backup your site could result in you losing days, weeks or even months of work. 

Unlike Akeeba, with UpdraftPlus you never have to worry about remembering to run a backup, as you can set your backups to schedule from an hourly to monthly basis. This feature will hopefully give you the peace of mind to continue your work and improve your sales, safe in the knowledge that your site is being safely backed up should the worst happen.

Download UpdraftPlus today for the highest rated and most popular WordPress backup plugin.

 

The post WordPress backup plugins – UpdraftPlus vs. Akeeba comparison appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.

The latest updates for UpdraftPlus 1.16.34 has now been released. The new version has a few performance tweaks that addresses a bug fix and compatibility issues, which will help improve UpdraftPlus for all it’s users. 

Future versions of WordPress will use JQuery 3.0; in our continued effort to keep UpdraftPlus compatible with current and future versions of WordPress we have updated the UpdraftPlus code, so that it can work with all versions of JQuery.

We have also improved our error reporting when using UpdraftPlus to browse your servers file system when trying to backup more files. This will help you and our support team to better identify any issues encountered with file system permissions.

The change-log for the latest update is as follows:

1.16.34

• TWEAK: On sites with enormous numbers of tables (e.g. very large multisites), counting the already-backed-up tables when resuming took unnecessarily long since 1.16.30
• TWEAK: Update jQuery document ready style to the one not deprecated in jQuery 3.0
• TWEAK: While using the file tree browser return an error if we are unable to open a directory

The post UpdraftPlus 1.16.34 Update Released appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.