BlogZapper Version 2: Wordpress Blog Cloner, Backup Utility - Back Up, Restore Or Clone In Seconds!

[cringwall]

A Quick And Easy Wordpress Backup Solution - Now Improved!

Carl Ringwall here. Do you need help backing up, restoring or cloning Wordpress blogs? Are you setting up lots of blogs - and wish for a way to set up a 'base' install, with all your favorite plugins, themes, etc - and then cloning that setup to multiple domains?

Have you wanted to move to a different web host, but felt that migrating a blog would be too much of a hassle?


Introducing BlogZapper

BlogZapper is a simple to use utility that allows you to copy, clone, backup and restore a Wordpress blog quickly and easily. You can see how it works here:

Watch The video:

YouTube - Clone Wordpress - BlogZapper

Step 1: Upload zap.php AND the folder 'zapinc' to the root of your WordPress blog that you with to back up:




Step 2: Run the zap.php:



Step 3: Select Your Compression Method & click Create Backup





Step 4: Download the blog backup file





Step 5: Upload the backup file, zap.php AND the folder 'zapinc' to new host where you want your blog



Step 6: Run zap.php in new host account:




Step 6: Enter Your Database Details:



Now view your cloned blog:





BlogZapper is great for anyone who needs a quick, affordable utility to backup, restore and clone Wordpress.

Requirement: PHP 5 web host, with ZipArchive or .tar access enabled. Here is free test file you can download, install to your web host and see if your host supports either compression method.

Like all my offers, you have a 30 day, no quibble guarantee.

[abundantliving]

Does it also back up content that has been added automatically (dripped into) to the blog?

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by abundantliving

Does it also back up content that has been added automatically (dripped into) to the blog?

It backs up everything - posts, pages, comments, regardless of the source.

[benz1]

Hi Carl, this looks interesting. I assume it does a search & replace in the database to change the values to the new ones? Have done this manually in the past but found that on some themes, mainly premium ones with lots of theme options, or sites with a complex sidebar setup, that it sometimes causes problems in the options table with unpredictable results. Has the script been tested in all scenarios?

Would be good to offer an option to not import posts if setting up a new sites based on an exiting one, and would be even better if you could select which pages to import, e.g., might be good to import generic pages such as T&Cs and Privacy policy but not specific ones relating to the old site if not applicable to the new one. I know they're easy enough to remove manually but would be a neat feature that would save a bit of time :-)

Benz1

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by benz1

Hi Carl, this looks interesting. I assume it does a search & replace in the database to change the values to the new ones? Have done this manually in the past but found that on some themes, mainly premium ones with lots of theme options, or sites with a complex sidebar setup, that it sometimes causes problems in the options table with unpredictable results. Has the script been tested in all scenarios?

Would be good to offer an option to not import posts if setting up a new sites based on an exiting one, and would be even better if you could select which pages to import, e.g., might be good to import generic pages such as T&Cs and Privacy policy but not specific ones relating to the old site if not applicable to the new one. I know they're easy enough to remove manually but would be a neat feature that would save a bit of time :-)

Benz1

Hi, well I can't say I've tested every possible scenario, but the script has been tested with a variety of setups with lots of different users.

As far as the features suggestions, they are all valid, but would add a level of complexity to the product that would make it too expensive and complex. There are expensive products that do this already - my aim is to create a simple to use utility that will work for most marketers.

Thanks for your input.

[Hutchirg]

Carl this WP plugin does have it's own niche... great WSO!

He's what I'm doing now. I setup a default blog with all my plugins which I have and configure the setting for each one of my plugins because copying does not include the setting inside of the plugins. Then I restore (copy to next domain blog and configure each plugin setting again) This is what takes most of my time. I have some pretty advance plugins.

Can your WP Plugin backup and restore do this. I mean if I set my setting for my plugins will they be restore also:
EXAMPLE
"Autopost plugin that set to post everyother day."

Once I restore the blog do I have to restore plugin "everyother day" settings?

If yes, this would be great because I can setup a default blog and have your program clone it and restore it at my new blogs on the fly and before I start my actual post therefore content would not be a factor if that was a challenge for some people.

For me this is the value of this plugin if it does that.

But it's still is a great wp plugin .... :>)

Randy

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by Hutchirg

Carl this WP plugin does have it's own niche... great WSO!

He's what I'm doing now. I setup a default blog with all my plugins which I have and configure the setting for each one of my plugins because copying does not include the setting inside of the plugins. Then I restore (copy to next domain blog and configure each plugin setting again) This is what takes most of my time. I have some pretty advance plugins.

Can your WP Plugin backup and restore do this. I mean if I set my setting for my plugins will they be restore also:
EXAMPLE
"Autopost plugin that set to post everyother day."

Once I restore the blog do I have to restore plugin "everyother day" settings?

If yes, this would be great because I can setup a default blog and have your program clone it and restore it at my new blogs on the fly and before I start my actual post therefore content would not be a factor if that was a challenge for some people.

For me this is the value of this plugin if it does that.

But it's still is a great wp plugin .... :>)

Randy

Hi Randy,

Just to clarify - this is a standalone script - does not operate as a WP Plugin... but does require the wp-config.php and it does back up ALL the data for your WP installation, posts, settings, etc. I use this the way you suggest - as a 'base' install with my plugins set the way I like.

The only plugins this won't handle are ones that store their data outside the WP main DB...

[abundantliving]

I just want to make sure I understand correctly...

I can use this to back up my wordpress installations on a regular basis (like weekly or monthly) and it will save everything... including any content that has been added to the blog since the previous backup.

Is this correct?

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by abundantliving

I just want to make sure I understand correctly...

I can use this to back up my wordpress installations on a regular basis (like weekly or monthly) and it will save everything... including any content that has been added to the blog since the previous backup.

Is this correct?

Yes, you can run it as often as you wish - and each time it runs it takes a current snapshot of all the data in the wp blog that you can download for safe keeping.

[abundantliving]

Thanks for the quick response. I've been looking for something that does this. SOLD!
:-)

[LisaSchwartz]

Oh I am really liking this. This is just what I need , to presevere my plugin settings and do this once only. Perfect. I'm hitting the buy button. Not to mention an easy way to port client sites while they are being built.

[Dee Scofield]

I volunteered to beta test this, just because it sounded so interesting. I'm glad to see that the final version has finally been released, this is a really cool tool! It was very easy to figure out how to set it up, and you really do get a complete "clone" of the source blog you use.

Besides cloning your own blogs so that you can set up your sites faster, I think it'd be great for anyone who creates blogs and then sells multiple copies of them to other warriors. Instead of dealing with support issues when people can't figure out how to get their sites set up, all you have to do is get their ftp info and in literally about 5 minutes you can just do it FOR them.

But to me, probably the biggest benefit to this is how easy it is to recreate your entire blog, if you use this to back up regularly. I had a site hacked once and lost a lot of money while waiting for it to be fixed. With this I wouldn't even have had to contact my host, I could have been up and running again immediately.

[gcintermed]

It would be even neater if you didn't need to manually set up a new database for the destination blog... Or am I asking for too much?

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by gcintermed

It would be even neater if you didn't need to manually set up a new database for the destination blog... Or am I asking for too much?

That's the part I intentionally left out because so many web hosts use different mechanisms to set up mysql databases. To implement this, it would have to be a 'cpanel' only solution - and a lot more expensive to boot.

[josher]

Originally Posted by cringwall

That's the part I intentionally left out because so many web hosts use different mechanisms to set up mysql databases. To implement this, it would have to be a 'cpanel' only solution - and a lot more expensive to boot.

This is nice. This shows that there are many ways to skin a cat.

[kd777]

Hi Carl,

Looks promising. But how about (lifetime) updates? Are they included?

Thank you very much in advance!

Best,
Klaus Dahl

[caowner]

Can you transfer an addon domain to another hosting company or only top level domains?

[cringwall]

All users will get updates for life - that is my policy on all my products.

As far as domain transfer, that is handled by your domain registrar - my script only is for backing up and restoring Wordpress content.

[caowner]

I meant a wordpress blog on an addon domain

[kd777]

Thank you very much, Carl! I appreciate that.

Best,
Klaus Dahl

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by caowner

I meant a wordpress blog on an addon domain

You can backup WP on addon domains and restore to root - and vice versa.

[surferket]

Your $37 offer here is also the price on your main site so this is not a WF offer. It would be nice if you offer a limited time discount for members here.

Thanks

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by surferket

Your $37 offer here is also the price on your main site so this is not a WF offer. It would be nice if you offer a limited time discount for members here.

Thanks

My blog readers are getting this offer, too. It's as cheap as it's going to get...

[MGunn]

Guys and Gals, listen up!

I make a full time income with niche blogs. I have bought and tried almost EVERY CLONE TOOL THAT EXISTS. None of them , and I MEAN NONE, can touch this!!

It's AMAZING! You Don't even have to install WordPress first!

I had only a couple of small problems:
1) If you are using a plugin that alters your .htaccess file (like ReviewAzon) it breaks your cloned blog when you first try to access the URL. Just delete your .htaccess and you're in business.

2) A couple of plugins (SexyBookmarks) were acting weird. I just deactivated the plugin and then turned it back on and they worked fine.

3) For this test I used the FlexSqueeze Theme. The clone process didn't properly place two text widgits in the "Featured" Header section. Again, an easy fix.

All in all these little fixes took 60 seconds, maybe.

GET THIS!!!!!

[cringwall]

Wow - I can't do better than that, thank you for your kind words!

[pegasusuk]

No mention of license is it that we can use it on any blog that we own, and use it to flip as long as it is removed after we have flipped it ...?

Second question where the hell were you on Saturday when I had to move 4 Blogs from Hostgator to my new hosting...!

[BullDawgDany]

I have question in regards to database size.

If the blog has alot of posts/comments the database will be very large. I know in phpmyadmin there is a limitation of 2 Megs on doing backups. Will this be a problem using your program?

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by pegasusuk

No mention of license is it that we can use it on any blog that we own, and use it to flip as long as it is removed after we have flipped it ...?

Second question where the hell were you on Saturday when I had to move 4 Blogs from Hostgator to my new hosting...!

I was feverishly getting BlogZapper ready for release!

You can use BlogZapper for any blog you personally own. You don't have the rights to give it away with your sold blogs.

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by Internet_BullDawg

I have question in regards to database size.

If the blog has alot of posts/comments the database will be very large. I know in phpmyadmin there is a limitation of 2 Megs on doing backups. Will this be a problem using your program?

Depending on the speed of your server, and the php timeout, there will be an upper limit on the db size. I'd say 2 meg is going to be tops for most hosts. If your db is larger than that, you'd best be on a dedicated or vps server with more capacity anyway.

Not to dodge the question, but I don't really know what the upper limit on the DB size will be with all the other variables that are involved.

[Khal]

Originally Posted by cringwall

Not to dodge the question, but I don't really know what the upper limit on the DB size will be with all the other variables that are involved.

Can you tell me then the maximum database size that you used BlogZapper with.

I've got blogs with really big database sizes. I'm talking 300, 400 and even 500 MB in size.

Khal

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by Khal

Can you tell me then the maximum database size that you used BlogZapper with.

I've got blogs with really big database sizes. I'm talking 300, 400 and even 500 MB in size.

Khal

We tested on up to 8 mb with some speed issues. 500mb is going to be too big, unless you are on a hoss of a server.

[Khal]

Thanks for your reply.
This is not going to be of any use to me.

[MGunn]

In case it matters to anyone, I tested this on one of my blogs with 100+ pages of content and over 800 comments. It worked like a charm. The back up took about 6 nimutes and the clone took about 10 minutes.

This was on a shared hosting account on HostGator.

[steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve]

Hi Carl

I was wondering...have you tested this out on any kind of Wordpress site such as a site that's been generated by Headway or Thesis? These themes can't be backed up normally because the data isn't stored within the .php files and is saved something else (not sure where) because you edit the site from within Wordpress itself. Do you know if it's possible to backup sites that have used these kind of themes?

Let me know asap.

Thanks
Steve.

[MGunn]

I did my tests with the theme FlexSqueeze which is similar to the themes you described. It worked with the only challenge was that it lost a couple of text widgets in the header section which was no big deal for me as those widgets would be different for each theme (in my case anyway)

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve

Hi Carl

I was wondering...have you tested this out on any kind of Wordpress site such as a site that's been generated by Headway or Thesis? These themes can't be backed up normally because the data isn't stored within the .php files and is saved something else (not sure where) because you edit the site from within Wordpress itself. Do you know if it's possible to backup sites that have used these kind of themes?

Let me know asap.

Thanks
Steve.

Hi Steve,

If the data is the the core blog's database and the files are in the normal wp directories, it should work just fine.

[mike_f]

Same question here..has anyone tested with Thesis Theme? It happened to be my "base theme" and I would like to confirm it is working fine (even with minor tweak) before purchase this. In the past, I had issue with cloning the setting of Thesis theme but not sure exactly the root cause (in the end, hired someone to manually cloning them).

Thanks.

Originally Posted by steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve

Hi Carl

I was wondering...have you tested this out on any kind of Wordpress site such as a site that's been generated by Headway or Thesis? These themes can't be backed up normally because the data isn't stored within the .php files and is saved something else (not sure where) because you edit the site from within Wordpress itself. Do you know if it's possible to backup sites that have used these kind of themes?

Let me know asap.

Thanks
Steve.

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by mike_f

Same question here..has anyone tested with Thesis Theme? It happened to be my "base theme" and I would like to confirm it is working fine (even with minor tweak) before purchase this. In the past, I had issue with cloning the setting of Thesis theme but not sure exactly the root cause (in the end, hired someone to manually cloning them).

Thanks.

My blog runs Thesis, I'll test it for you today and let you know.

[steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve]

That would be great Carl, thanks

Steve.

[NicheCowboy]

looks sweet. I just picked it up!

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve

That would be great Carl, thanks

Steve.

I backed up my Thesis blog and restored with no issues.

[steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve]

Thanks Carl, will see about picking it up tomorrow. Bed for now, but this looks amazing.

Cheers.
Steve.

[johnchan]

Hi Carl,


Does it matter what version of Wordpress we're trying to clone or backup please?

I have a few Wordpress blogs in Chinese built in very early versions - it'd be nice to have them backed up like this.

Thanks.

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by johnchan

Hi Carl,


Does it matter what version of Wordpress we're trying to clone or backup please?

I have a few Wordpress blogs in Chinese built in very early versions - it'd be nice to have them backed up like this.

Thanks.

It was tested with v 2.5 - 3.0 - can't vouch for earlier versions.

[Raych]

Very nice!

Which hosting companies can this software run on?

[2stayhome]

Carl,

I haven't bought yet so this may be included somewhere in whatever is included in the download materials. But I have a question about using the Restore aspect of the plugin.

I have a site with about 50 - 60 pages that needs a serious makeover. It gets a good deal of converting traffic everyday so I've been hesitant to mess with the site ... until I found this offer.

This is how I envision being able to use your plugin - clone the existing site to a test domain where I will then update my WP and plugin versions, add or delete other plugins, and set up redirects for pages I no longer want. After making sure everything works correctly on the test domain I would then "restore" to the existing domain with minimal downtime.

Will your plugin work as I envision? Is there anything special I would need to know to basically override the existing information that will still be there? I presume I would use the same database when restoring? (Actually a video of the restore process would be great!)

I have never moved a site or restored one so am not sure of the process.

Thanks!

Cindy

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by Raych

Very nice!

Which hosting companies can this software run on?

I know Hostgator and Steafast work - you can download the test file in above and test on your server for no charge.

[cringwall]

Originally Posted by 2stayhome

Carl,

I haven't bought yet so this may be included somewhere in whatever is included in the download materials. But I have a question about using the Restore aspect of the plugin.

I have a site with about 50 - 60 pages that needs a serious makeover. It gets a good deal of converting traffic everyday so I've been hesitant to mess with the site ... until I found this offer.

This is how I envision being able to use your plugin - clone the existing site to a test domain where I will then update my WP and plugin versions, add or delete other plugins, and set up redirects for pages I no longer want. After making sure everything works correctly on the test domain I would then "restore" to the existing domain with minimal downtime.

Will your plugin work as I envision? Is there anything special I would need to know to basically override the existing information that will still be there? I presume I would use the same database when restoring? (Actually a video of the restore process would be great!)

I have never moved a site or restored one so am not sure of the process.

Thanks!

Cindy

BlogZapper is designed to restore to a blank domain and database. I would not use it to overwrite an existing set of files and db...you would have to clear off your files, and I would create a new db to hold the modified site, keep your old db in case you need it.

[2stayhome]

Originally Posted by cringwall

BlogZapper is designed to restore to a blank domain and database. I would not use it to overwrite an existing set of files and db...you would have to clear off your files, and I would create a new db to hold the modified site, keep your old db in case you need it.

Can you give a more detailed explanation of that process or at least point me in the direction of some non-technical directions? To me, "restore" would mean re-using the existing domain at least so I'm unclear as to how I would be able to use this.

Along a similar line, if I used BlogZapper to back up my site and then it got hacked, how would I use the backup to restore my site?

Thanks.

Cindy

[sparkingproducts]

is this better than backup buddy? I was looking at that for a long time now...and then I saw this. Comparison?