Maintaining wordpress for clients

  • bl v

    (@vidyab)


    11 years, 8 months ago

    I have recently started using wordpress to build simple websites for clients- with few static pages, few plugins & a blog page.
    The issue I am having is whether I need to keep updating and backing up the database on a regular basis. With my hand coded websites, I design , install and there is no maintenance involved – but I like wordpress it can seamless integrate the website and blog.. Can any one give me an idea of how many hours does one spend on maintaining a clients wp site, is it important to keep updating(even for a simple website), any suggestions? THANKS!

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Amy Hendrix (sabreuse)

    (@sabreuse)

    11 years, 8 months ago

    Yes, it is always important to keep updated: both non-core (plugins and themes) and core updates may include security fixes.

    The best thing to do is train your clients to always keep updated themselves. It’s their site and their responsibility; updating is a matter of clicking a link: there’s no reason they should have to call you in to do something like this. If they choose not to do so themselves, sell them a maintenance contract.

    Thread Starter bl v

    (@vidyab)

    11 years, 8 months ago

    Thanks Amy. Is it important to to backup the database every time you upgrade? This would be a bit too technical for some clients.

    Amy Hendrix (sabreuse)

    (@sabreuse)

    11 years, 8 months ago

    To be honest, I don’t generally do it for upgrades, and it’s very rarely a problem — but I do set up automatic backups. There are a number of plugins that will do it on a schedule of your choice, and most of them give you a choice to email a zip file or save it to the server; even if your clients need your help to restore, they have a copy of the latest backup in the (very rare, IME!!) event that something goes wrong.

    esmi

    (@esmi)

    11 years, 8 months ago

    I actually do backup the database just before an upgrade but I use http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/dbc-backup/ which, apart from running scheduled backups, allows me to backup on demand. It usually takes less than 30 seconds.

    The Mighty

    (@mightiest)

    11 years, 8 months ago

    Yes, backup, backup and backup !!
    Better spend your a couple of minutes to backup than regret and take your a couple of hours to working from the beginning.

    I have some clients and I ALWAYS backup the database regularly. And on some sites I also backup the files (wp-content folder). I always do it using plugins and set them to automatic.

    As Amy said, I ask my clients some money for this regular maintenance.

    Good luck !! 🙂

    Thread Starter bl v

    (@vidyab)

    11 years, 7 months ago

    Thanks for your helpful replies- Am researching backup programs now- any suggestions? Thanks,.

    The Mighty

    (@mightiest)

    11 years, 7 months ago

    There are many good plugins for these purposes, but I use this for database backup AND this for backup the WP files.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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