BlogBackupOnline.com is a free service that backups my blog on a daily basis. It currently has all 549 posts from this blog, starting with my Initial Post on 9/7/2003 (this post will be number 550). When I found this service in May 2007, I had it run a full backup of my blog. Once the full backup was completed, it was set to check my RSS feed for new posts on a daily basis.
Why did I worry about backing up my blog in May 2007? To be perfectly honest, I really wasn't worried ... I just found a new blog related 'widget' to play with and had to try it out!
Images from my account BlogBackupOnline account(click to enlarge):
The image showing the Info tab (left image) shows Blog status (URL, Title, Blog type, # of posts and Space used) as well as the Images and feeds discovered within the blog. The Dashboard image on the right is more basic information, but allows for adding new blogs to backup and manage the backup settings of the blogs already listed.
When setting up a blog for backup, the userid/password combo for posting entries is not requested/required. If I wanted to backup a buddy's (bubby's) blog, I could do that very easily.
The reason the space used for my 549 posts is only 1.49MB is due to the fact all of the images from my posts are stored remotely away from the actual blogspot.com address for my blog. Their FAQ page advises they are working on adding support for pictures and videos as well.
How can this help you? (besides if your blog host trashes your blog)
If you are currently using a hosting service such as Blogger, LiveJournal, Wordpress, etc and decide to move to your own domain, BlogBackupOnline has the ability to restore your previous posts to the same blog or a new blog. (Blogger and the other major blog engines can be used to blog to a different domain).
After logging into the system, the Restore Wizard is as simple as:
1. On the Restore tab, input the URL and select the type of blog you are restoring to
2. Decide "Restore all my blog entries" or "Select blog entries to restore"
If the second option is used, click Load blog entries, then select the entries.
3. Input the Username and Password needed to post to the 'receiving' blog
(Yep, I like long passwords!)
4. Confirm your settings and click the Start Restore button
You can use the Log tab to determine the status of the restore process, as well as the daily backup actions:
The only issue that I am aware with in regards to the restore is the fact that Blogger (blogspot.com) will only allow the Restore Wizard to restore 50 posts per day until all have been transferred.
In case you were wondering, I am not affiliated with BlogBackupOnline in any way, other than as a very satisfied user of their service. If you spend any time blogging, you owe it to yourself to go check this free service out.
Note: I keep a 'test blog' with Blogger that has the exact same template code as this blog. When I try anything new out (Windows Live Writer, Restore Wizard from BlogBackupOnline, new ways of embedding videos, etc) or I feel like tweaking the blog template, I have a playground for the trials. I have been involved with "Testing in Production" before, and it isn't any fun when things go south (which happens much too often with new technology).
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