The latest updates for UpdraftCentral (0.8.13) have now been released. This new release comes loaded with many new features, fixes and tweaks.

One of the new features in this update now allows you to upload your plugins and themes while they are still in their zip format. To do this, you first need to install UpdraftCentral Premium. Once this is installed, just press the ‘Plugins’ or ‘Themes’ menu item, then select ‘Install Plugins’ and you will now be able to drag and drag your zip file and upload it directly.

Another new feature in this update gives users even more control over remote storage options. Anytime you create a backup with UpdraftCentral, you can now select which of the remote storage locations you would like to send the backup to. Just open the following dialogue box in UpdraftCentral and you can select or deselect the remote storage options of your choice.

In addition to these new updates, we have also made various tweaks and fixes to keep UpdraftCentral running smooth and compatible with future WordPress and PHP releases.

• FEATURE: Added the ability to choose the remote storage locations you want to send your backup to in the “Backup Now” modal
• FIX: Fix scheduled commands execution through WP cron
• FIX: Fix can’t delete backup item without refreshing the list after a successful restore process
• FIX: Fix layout/css glitch on the backup settings page
• FIX: Fix popper.js related error and warning
• TWEAK: Improve UX and accessibility with better keyboard navigation
• TWEAK: Register updates retrieval to run in the background
• TWEAK: Add editor class for page and post modules
• TWEAK: Add new error message to the rpcerrors collection
• TWEAK: Show upload errors in dialog as well as in browser console if debug level is set
• TWEAK: Improve JavaScript’s compatibility with minification and merging, in particular WP-Optimize
• TWEAK: Add REST controller files for page and post modules
• TWEAK: Add internal capability to install plugin or theme through zip file
• TWEAK: Upgrade Bootstrap and Bootbox libraries to current versions
• TWEAK: Force the connection method ‘via_mothership’ if the command is in the UpdraftClone namespace

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The latest updates for UpdraftPlus (1.16.24 and 1.16.25) have now been released. These latest releases come with many new features, fixes and tweaks including the newly added ability to choose the remote storage locations that you would like to send your backups to in the “Backup Now” modal. This new feature gives users the ability to make a quick backup to just one of your backup storage destinations should you need to backup to just one location. 

This update also gives users the option to configure a remote backup storage location (that may be disabled in your settings) and select it to upload to this storage location. This can be particularly useful if you are using UpdraftValt for your main scheduled backups, but still want to make a one off backup that could (for example) include temporary theme changes that you do not want to store alongside your regular backups.

As part of this update we are also improving our database backup and restore code so that it will now support migration between different ‘generate columns’ syntaxes of MySQL and MariaDB. This will help with migrations between different servers when users are using different databases. We have also added other useful improvements to the update including; handling binary data during backup and added support for the AWS Miland and Cape Town endpoints. 

In addition to these new updates, we have also made various tweaks and fixes to keep UpdraftPlus running smooth and compatible with future WordPress and PHP releases.

1.16.25 

• FIX: Dropbox since 1.16.24 was only deleting one backup files archive out of the set. i.e. Excess archives remained on Dropbox. These have to be deleted manually.
• TWEAK: Add version to CSS and JS within filenames to prevent old versions being served after update on sites which have customisations to remove the query string

1.16.24 

• FEATURE: Support migration between different “generate columns” syntaxes of MySQL and MariaDB
• FEATURE: Added the ability to choose the remote storage locations you want to send your backup to in the “Backup Now” modal
• FIX: If non-WordPress tables are selected in the advanced ‘Backup Now’ options, then back them up (even if the saved setting to back them up is off). i.e. “Backup Now” over-ride options should have been taking priority.
• FIX: Failure to restore database ‘view’ in some rare circumstances due to the nonexistent DEFINER account and lack of privileges
• TWEAK: Handle binary data during backup
• TWEAK: Add strack_st to the lists of large logging tables and tables not requiring search/replace
• TWEAK: Make search and replace case insensitive when operating on URLs
• TWEAK: The incremental backup notice logic
• TWEAK: Update bundled updater class (YahnisElsts/plugin-update-checker) (paid versions) to version 4.9
• TWEAK: Add another tweak to paid versions’ update checking time algorithm
• TWEAK: Add the options_exist() method to backup modules that did not have it
• TWEAK: During manual backup uploads, check if the last 4 bytes are string “null” (caused by an error in uploading to Dropbox) and if so remove them. Prevents an unnecessary message about unexpected data.
• TWEAK: Show the backup label (if specified) in the UI backup progress indicator
• TWEAK: Added the facility to clear the list of existing migration sites
• TWEAK: Create default instance labels
• TWEAK: Bring list of debugging plugins up to date
• TWEAK: Add support for the AWS Milan and Cape Town endpoints (and correct a couple of existing endpoints that had wrong references)

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WP-Optimize is our popular all-in-one WordPress performance and optimisation plugin that cleans your database, compresses your large images and caches your site. As you may have seen in our recent blog, in addition to these features WP-Optimize have now released a new Minify feature that can help make your website run even faster. This new Minify feature is all about increasing the speed of users’ WordPress site.

How does Minify work?

Minify works by combining and minifying the static assets of your website, including CSS and JavaScript files. By removing the unnecessary characters in these static assets, Minify deletes characters such as line breaks and white space from your website’s code; the deletion of which can help your site to load faster by further saving space. Minify also ensures that your files are merged into as few files as possible. This reduces the amount of load on your web server and can be quicker to load fewer files.

Users can also defer the loading of any CSS or JavaScript file. This means any large or extraneous CSS or JavaScript file can be loaded independently from the core of your WordPress site; giving users quicker access to your site.

WP-Optimize Minify has been built and designed to work seamlessly with your website and the overall WP-Optimize optimization process. By activating and using Minify, you should find that everything on your site still acts and behaves in exactly the same way that it always has, with the one difference being that it will now hopefully run faster due to the removal of all the unnecessary information.  

Is Minify easy to use?

We have designed the Minify feature to be easy to use regardless of a user’s level of skill and knowledge. For most people, all you have to do is toggle the main switch to “enable minify”. 

WP-Optimize will then automatically take care of all your minification needs. 

What if I have issues using Minify?

While simply just turning on Minify will get great results and be sufficient for most users, there will be a small number of users that may find that due to their specific website design, the appearance of the site may have altered. While the possibility of this happening will be rare, there is a very small chance it could happen. Should you find yourself in this position, just toggle the “enable minify” switch again to turn off the feature and your site will revert back to its original state. We then recommend visiting our support forum and ask for help on how to configure Minify to work on your site.

Individual control

With WP-Optimize Minify, you also have the option of adjusting the settings specifically for your website. To change the settings to best suit you and your site, you can go into the HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Fonts, Settings or Advanced tabs to change the settings, creating specific rules for your site.

Should you wish to undo any of the changes you made, we designed Minify so that any changes you may make will not be permanent and can be rolled back by just removing your changes. 

Using the Minify feature is completely risk free and is another important and proven way to speed up your page loading times.

We designed the Minify feature to be simple to use and intuitive. Just install WP-Optimize and start using it today.

The post WP-Optimize updated with new Minify feature appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.

There’s nothing more distressing for a site manager then having something go wrong with your WordPress site. Whether it’s unexpected file changes, malware, errors, plugin updates, or something else entirely, the fix sadly may not be simple. Due to all the potential issues a WordPress site faces, it can be a valuable lifeline to easily and quickly restore your site to a healthier point in time by using UpdraftPlus.

In this guide, we’ll be providing you with step-by-step instructions detailing how you can restore your WordPress site to a previous date using the UpdraftPlus WordPress backup plugin. As a bonus, we’ll outline why you might need to restore your WordPress site with a few examples you might find familiar.

Why you might need to restore your WordPress site

Before we outline how you can restore your site, it’s worth looking into some of the reasons why you might need to do it. Restoring your WordPress site to a previous date isn’t something that should be done lightly, but there are a few very valid and common reasons why you might need to. Here are a few you might recognise:

Your site has been hacked or compromised

WordPress itself is a secure content management system on which you can build your website. However, without proper management, it can be prone to attacks by bots and/or hackers. 

Any of the following could give these bots or hackers an easy way into your website to spread malware, change access, steal user data or change files:

• WordPress, plugins or themes have not been updated – Most plugins need to be kept up to date to remain secure and free from the latest vulnerabilities. By not updating plugins, website owners can leave their site unintentionally vulnerable.
• Weak passwords and usernames are still being used – a weak or common username or password combination is enough for bots to gain access to your site. Even keeping the username ‘admin’ on your site can leave you open to easy access.

Should you site become compromised in this way, then a backup and restore plugin like UpdraftPlus can restore your sites content. With an additional add-on, UpdraftPlus can also restore your WordPress core and non-standard files too.

Major changes were made and files are overwritten

In the management of your WordPress site, sometimes things can get out of hand and mistakes can be made. For example, you have a developer or member of your team working on making improvements to your site but they forget to save an older version of the file they’re working on, just in case they make a mistake. 

By making the wrong kind of changes, your developer has created an error on a major file, with you site now inaccessible to visitors. By using a backup and restore plugin though, you’re able to restore your WordPress site to a previous date, before the error was created and the file was changed.

Pro tip: When either making changes to your website yourself or having a developer help you, we always recommend creating a clone/staging environment for your site. This way any changes you make won’t affect your live site. You can do this easily with UpdraftClone.

As a bonus, UpdraftPlus can be set up to perform automatic backups when plugins, themes and WordPress core updates run. This means that keeping your site up to date and secure has never been easier.

How to restore your WordPress site to a previous date

If you recognise any of the above situations and need to restore your WordPress site to a previous date, then the following step-by-step instructions will help.

Note: UpdraftPlus can only restore your site to a previous date if you already had UpdraftPlus installed and performing scheduled backups. If you do not have UpdraftPlus installed, it is recommend that you contact your hosting provider, who can hopefully help you.

To save your future-self time, money and a serious headache, get UpdraftPlus installed (it’s free) on your site to give you peace of mind.

UpdraftPlus not only restores your WordPress site to a previous date, but it also:

• Performs backups of all your WordPress files, databases, plugins and themes.
• Implements scheduled backups every 4, 8 or 12 hours, daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly (set by you).
• Restores backups directly from your WordPress control panel.
• Lets you store your backups remotely on Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and more.

Installing UpdraftPlus

Installing UpdraftPlus takes just a minute or two and is as simple as adding any other plugin to your site. To install, follow these steps:

1.In your WordPress dashboard go to Plugins > Add New.

2. Type UpdraftPlus into the search bar.

3. Find the UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin and press Install Now and then Activate.

How to use UpdraftPlus to restore your WordPress site

In this example, we have UpdraftPlus installed, set up and running and have already backed up our site in Google Drive (our storage of choice). If you need a little more help, read this guide to understand how to get UpdraftPlus up and running and backing up your site.

To restore your site, do the following:

1. Go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups in your WordPress menu. This will open your UpdraftPlus settings page.

2. Scroll down the page until you reach the Existing Backups section.

3. Find the backup from the date you want to restore and press the blue Restore button.

4. You will then be shown a popup which will ask you which elements of your database you want to restore. Select the ones that apply and press Restore.

When your restore is complete, a message will pop up telling you the “Restore has been successful”.

That’s it!, Restoring your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus is easy and hassle-free. Plus, you can configure how often you would like your backups to take place. This is handy if you have a very active site that’s updated regularly, allowing you to create daily updates to help give you peace of mind.

Summary: Restoring your WordPress site to a previous date 

In this guide, you’ve learned why having the ability to restore your WordPress site is important and how to get it done quickly and easily using UpdraftPlus.

The investment you make in backing up your website so you can restore it to a previous date should you ever need to, will not only save you time but money also. 

Having the ability to restore your WordPress site will help you avoid costly developer fees and website downtime. UpdraftPlus makes this process simple and easy to do.

The plugin featured in this guide:

Get UpdraftPlus for free – Schedule regular backups of your WordPress site and restore it from those backups in your WordPress control panel.

The post How to restore your WordPress site to a previous date appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.

The current enforced working from home guidelines in place are in place in an attempt to slow the spread of Covid-19. They have now become a way of life for many, with a growing number of people in the UK and around the world now using the internet to provide not just entertainment, but work and education also. This extra demand on bandwidth and associated infrastructure has caused problems for many and include the recent Virgin internet outage, which left 43,00 users in the UK without an internet connection. Along with these outages, many internet users have also complained about the reduction in internet speeds that have seemed to have been put into effect to combat overuse. 

Why do you have a slow internet connection?

While the increase in the use of the internet by those homeschooling or binge watching Netflix accounts for the increase in demand, there may be some tips and tricks you can employ to help improve and hopefully speed up your internet connection. 

The first thing to consider is the physical location of your internet server. If it is located too far away from your primary device, your home network connection could suffer due to potentially passing through many different devices before reaching your primary device. Also try to ensure that your router is as far away as possible from other devices, such as mobile phones, baby monitors, stereos, smart TVs and speakers, as these devices could interfere with the signal. 

If it is not practical to move the router or bring your device closer, one way to help fix this would be to use a WiFi signal booster. A WiFi signal booster will extend your home network coverage by boosting or amplifying your router’s wireless internet signal. A WiFi signal booster can help to efficiently extend your wireless network, which will be of particular use if you have set-up a temporary office, such as in an attic or garden shed.

Other options you can also try

It is also worth remembering that you should try rebooting your router occasionally as it can help clear specific malware (malicious software that has been designed to cause damage to your device or server) or use a wired ethernet connection directly with the router. 

Also ensure that you regularly check your computer is updated with the latest antivirus software. While most antivirus protection programmes will carry out this task automatically, it is essential that you keep your computer’s protection up to date, which will help stop new threats slipping past your defences and potentially slowing your computer down.

In the UK, OFCOM have released a 7 point ‘Stay connected during the coronavirus’ guide that further details everything you can do to help limit the strain on your internet. As well as moving your router clear of other devices, OFCOM also recommend that you use a landline when making calls if possible, turn off devices such as tablets and smartphones that you are not using (as they will often use WiFi in the background), try a wired ethernet cable to get better speeds, plug your router directly into your main phone socket and get advice from your broadband provider.   

Making your site faster

With millions of extra people using and putting a strain on the internet every day, a scenario could arise where it is possible that your website’s users will experience periods where your site will be slow and unresponsive.

While we are unable to make the internet run faster, WP-Optimize has put in a lot of time and effort trying to do the next best thing. If you want your website to run faster and remain usable, installing WP-Optimize on your WordPress site is a great place to start. WP-Optimize is a revolutionary, all in one plugin that cleans your website’s database, compresses images (which slow loading speed) and caches your site. By improving your website’s performance, WP-Optimize can also help boost SEO, reduce visitor bounce rate and reduce server resources.

For further details on how to improve your website’s speed using WP-Optimize, be sure to check out this blog. In this blog you will discover the best way to set-up and optimize the plugin. 

If you have any questions or comments regarding WP-Optimize, please leave a message in the comment section below.

The post How millions working from home has slowed the internet and how WP-Optimize is working hard to help appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.

Since its launch in September 2018, UpdraftClone has been helping to revolutionise how people ‘copy and paste’ WordPress sites. While this clone feature was launched to allow users to create a ready-hosted cloned site instantly from UpdraftPlus, there have been some users that have requested the ability to generate larger clones. 

Following these requests, many people will be pleased to hear that launching soon, users of UpdraftClone will now be able to boot larger clones should they need to. This new feature will be of particular use to users that have a site larger than 25GB (the smallest clone size). UpdraftClone will also automatically choose the correct size of the clone should the user select an existing backup. As the larger clones take up more server space, they will cost a little extra in tokens to run and renew. 

We have also extended the larger clone option to existing clones. To increase the size of your existing clones, just go to your UpdraftPlus account “My-Clones” page and click on “Manage Clone” for the clone that you wish to resize. An option will then appear allowing the user to increase the size of the existing clone, should you require more space. 

If you have any questions, be sure to share them with us in the comment section below. 

The post Clones have just got bigger appeared first on UpdraftPlus. UpdraftPlus – Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.