Title: Backup Question/Clarification Last modified: August 18, 2016 --- # Backup Question/Clarification * Resolved [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/) * Hi all, I’m doing my first backup using phpMyAdmin and I am reading the Codex but slightly confused as to the instructions: * [http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Backups](http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Backups) * I am at the part near the bottom where it says: * “This shows only default tables. You may have more tables — this would happen if you have any statistics plugins or anti-spam plugins.” * Ok, I have 12 tables instead of the default 9 and they all have “wp” in front of them. I am going to assume that that’s because the extra three belong to a Slim-Stat which I am not using in any case. * So, when I check all 12 do I then hit the “Export” Tab at the very top (the picture shows it as being circled) and proceed with the following instructions? * 1. Select ONLY those that hold your WordPress site. 2. Check the “Add DROP TABLE” box. 3. Check the “Complete inserts” box. 4. Check the “Save as File” box 5. Check the “None” for compression. If your database is very large use a compression method. 6. Click Go. The data will now be saved into your computer. * Thanks! Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total) * Thread Starter [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506744) * Never mind!!! Stupid me!!! Another self-embarassment on WP’s support forums! I found the answer!!! * Thread Starter [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506746) * Wait a sec…should I select all of the 12 wp files or just the default tables ( which number 9 in total?) * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506749) * do you have any other web apps running on that domain? Like phpBB, or any other forum, another blog app, a CMS? * If not, select everything. * common-sense rule: if you backup everything you cant lose anything. * [holly2000](https://wordpress.org/support/users/holly2000/) * (@holly2000) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506751) * Anything that has a wp- in front of it is part of your site. Chances are if you are not running other database programs EVERYTHING here is part of your wordpress site. Many plugins like galleries are going to add tables to your database, not just stats plugins. * The emphasis on this wording (as I understand it): the fear is you will include tables which are not part of your WordPress site, then you would not be able to restore your WP database without overwriting all the other tables. If you have a mailing list, for example, this might be something you would want to backup seperately. * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506752) * >Anything that has a wp- in front of it is part of your site. * and just to clarify what holly2000 said .. the common prefix is wp_ not wp- * Thread Starter [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506754) * LOL! Thanks whooami…that was what I did…I simply checked/selected everything and saved it. It was saved under (I guess) the default “wordpress.sql” on my desktop. The entire file is about 8 megs whereas in phpMyAdmin it shows it as 1.9 megs. * Is that normal? * And, no, no other web apps running. My blog is pretty simple with only posts and comments and a three-column theme. It’s running off of my own Mac right now but I am moving it over to A Small Orange today for its own domain. * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506758) * size: * yes, its just a text file. * aso is nice, you will like it. i moved to there about 2 months ago purely for financial reasons. I had my blog back up and running in no time. * you used phpmyadmin to connect to mysql running on your os10? or? * mysql is all flat text files on the server 🙂 did you know that? * Thread Starter [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506759) * Holly…I was just worried that there were these extra tables and I wasn’t too sure what to do with them. * whooami..thanks! That clarifies the .sql file size. And, yes, I am using phpMyAdmin to connect to the mySql database running off of Personal Websharing on OS X. It’s pretty easy but I didn’t want to mess up anything which is why I am moving to ASO. * I also wanted a proper domain name and it turned out that while it was just a bit more expensive, I could get a domain name and ASO’s Tiny account for around US$10 more than simply paying for dynamic DNS. * [holly2000](https://wordpress.org/support/users/holly2000/) * (@holly2000) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506763) * Yeah, sometimes the WordPress docs “famous easy 5-step how-tos” are too brief for instruction maniacs like me. 😉 I have a serious case of “but what if” worries. I just meant to reassure you that the world won’t explode if you back-up extra tables (your wordpress won’t explode either, probably). It is only a concern if for some reason you had several different database uses. Whooami’s advice is the best: Backup everything and do it often! * Thread Starter [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506772) * LOL! You got that right about being an instruction maniac! I’m at the Restoring Backup stage right now and it’s nerve-wracking despite having two backup files and my original site still functioning. * Almost done now…almost done… * Thread Starter [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506777) * Ok…slight problem now. I am getting the dreaded “Error Establishing a Database Connection” message. * When I type in the url for my website “www.steppingforth.com” everything looks normal but when I click on the “Login” button it gives me the above error. The url that comes up is also “[http://ironmac.blogdns.com/blog/wp-login.php”](http://ironmac.blogdns.com/blog/wp-login.php”); which is the url for the blog on my own machine here. * I’ve cleared my browser’s cache and it doesn’t make a difference. Any suggestions? Thanks! * Thread Starter [ironmac](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ironmac/) * (@ironmac) * [19 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506778) * Some additional info: * This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config. php file is incorrect or we can’t contact the database server at localhost. This could mean your host’s database server is down. * Not sure why the browser is going to localhost. * [justvegan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/justvegan/) * (@justvegan) * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506930) * Hey IronMac, * Did you ever resolve this issue and, if so, what did you do to fix it? I am just getting ready to backup my database for the first time and I can use all the advise I can get. 🙂 * Thanks in advance, * Randy W. Sandberg [http://www.AbolitionistApproach.com](http://www.AbolitionistApproach.com) Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total) The topic ‘Backup Question/Clarification’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [Backing](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/backing/) * [phpmyadmin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/phpmyadmin/) * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 13 replies * 4 participants * Last reply from: [justvegan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/justvegan/) * Last activity: [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-questionclarification/#post-506930) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics