Description
Backup Copilot is a powerful yet simple WordPress database backup and restore plugin that helps you create secure backup points, migrate your website, and restore your WordPress installation with ease.
Key Features
- One-Click Database Backup – Create complete WordPress database backups instantly
- Site Migration Made Easy – Export and import your entire WordPress site to any location
- Instant Restore – Roll back to any backup point with a single click
- Advanced Backup Options – Customize what gets backed up (database, themes, plugins, media)
- Find & Replace URLs – Automatically update URLs when migrating to new domain
- WordPress Multisite Support – Full support for WordPress multisite installations
- Secure Storage – Backups stored in hidden
.bkpsdirectory - Progress Tracking – Real-time backup creation progress
- Access Control – Limit plugin access to specific admin users
- Zero Configuration – Works out of the box with sensible defaults
Perfect For
- Website Migrations – Move your WordPress site to a new host or domain
- Development Workflow – Create restore points during development
- Site Transfers – Clone your site to staging or production environments
- Pre-Update Safety – Backup before WordPress core, theme, or plugin updates
- Client Handoffs – Transfer WordPress sites between developers
- Regular Backups – Create scheduled backup points for peace of mind
How It Works
Creating Backups
- Click “Create” to store backup on server
- Click “Export” to download backup immediately
- Add optional notes to identify your backups
- Use advanced options to customize backup contents
Migrating Your Site
- Export backup from source site
- Install Backup Copilot on destination site
- Upload backup file
- Restore with one click
Managing Backups
- View all backups with creation date and size
- Download individual components (database, wp-content)
- Generate full backup archives for transfer
- Restore any backup point instantly
- Delete old backups to save space
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ADVANCED OPTIONS
Customize your backups with powerful advanced options:
- Save .htaccess – Include server configuration in backups
- Save wp-config.php – Include WordPress configuration
- Find & Replace URLs – Update database URLs for migrations (export only)
- Media Library – Include/exclude wp-content/uploads
- Themes – Include active and inactive themes
- Plugins – Include active and inactive plugins
- Must-Use Plugins – Include wp-content/mu-plugins
- Cache – Include/exclude wp-content/cache
- 3rd-party Backups – Include other backup plugin files
- Database – Include/exclude database tables
- WP-Content – Include/exclude entire wp-content directory
WORDPRESS MULTISITE SUPPORT
Full WordPress multisite compatibility:
- Super Admin – Create full network backups from main site
- Site Admin – Create site-specific backups with own database tables
- Granular Access – Control which admin users can access Backup Copilot
- Network Isolation – Each site’s backups remain separate
USER ACCESS CONTROL
Restrict plugin access for enhanced security:
- Enable/disable access per admin user
- Perfect for multi-admin WordPress sites
- Control access in WordPress multisite networks
- Manage permissions from user profile pages
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- Maximum Backup Size: 500MB (optimal for most shared hosting)
- Storage Location: Hidden
.bkpsdirectory in WordPress root - Database Engine: Uses mysqldump via PHP for reliable exports
- Compression: ZIP compression for efficient storage
- Naming: UUID-based backup identification
- Security: WP nonce verification, capability checks, sanitized inputs
REQUIREMENTS
Your server must meet these requirements:
- PHP ZipArchive extension
- Database connection with backup privileges
- Write permissions on WordPress root directory
- Write permissions on wp-content directory
The plugin will display status checks on the main page. If any check fails, contact your hosting provider.
DOCUMENTATION
For detailed documentation, video tutorials, and support visit:
Backup Copilot Documentation
BACKUP COPILOT PRO
Coming soon with premium features:
- Cloud Storage – Save backups to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3
- Scheduled Backups – Automated daily, weekly, monthly backups
- Email Notifications – Get notified when backups complete
- WP to Multisite – Convert standard WordPress to multisite
- PHP Configuration Manager – Manage PHP settings from WordPress admin
- Larger Backups – Support for sites over 500MB
- Priority Support – Get help directly from the developer
Join Newsletter to be notified when Pro version launches.
Screenshots
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Installation
Automatic Installation
- Go to Plugins > Add New
- Search for Backup Copilot
- Click Install Now
- Click Activate
Manual Installation
- Download the plugin ZIP file
- Go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- Choose the downloaded ZIP file
- Click Install Now
- Click Activate
After Activation
- Go to Backup Copilot in the WordPress admin menu
- Verify all system checks show [OK]
- Create your first backup!
FAQ-e
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Are backups deleted when I deactivate the plugin?
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No. All backups remain on your server in the
.bkpsdirectory. Only the “Delete” action removes backup files. -
Why does the plugin modify PHP configuration?
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To ensure backups aren’t corrupted, we temporarily adjust PHP settings during backup operations. These are restored when the plugin is deactivated.
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What are the backup size limitations?
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Maximum backup size is 500MB. This works reliably on most shared hosting environments. Some managed hosts (like WPEngine) may have additional timeout restrictions.
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Does it store data in the WordPress database?
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No data is stored for standard WordPress installations. For multisite, we store only a boolean flag per backup UUID for network isolation.
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Can I use this with WordPress Multisite?
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Yes! Full multisite support included. Super Admins can backup entire networks, Site Admins can backup individual sites.
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Where are backups stored?
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In a hidden
.bkpsdirectory in your WordPress root. You may need to enable “Show hidden files” in your FTP client to see it. -
Who can access the plugin?
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Only Administrator and Super Administrator roles by default. You can further restrict access using the user permission setting.
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Do you offer support?
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Yes! Use the Support Forum or contact us directly.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Backup Copilot – Database Backup & Restore” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Backup Copilot – Database Backup & Restore” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
This is a major rewrite of Backup Copilot with significant improvements to code quality, architecture, and user experience.
- New – Modern modular JavaScript architecture with webpack bundling
- New – SCSS-based styling system with variables and componentization
- New – WordPress dashboard widget showing backup stats and recent backups
- New – Display wp-config.php and .htaccess file icons in backup listings
- New – Improved button visibility – show restore/download for any backup type
- New – Fresh UUID generation for each backup prevents overwrites
- New – Enhanced backup creation logic for selective content options
- New – Onboarding notice for new users with quick start guide
- New – Gulp and webpack build system for asset compilation
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New – npm package management for development dependencies
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Improved – Complete codebase refactoring following WordPress coding standards
- Improved – Object-oriented architecture with proper namespacing
- Improved – Database backup now uses UUID filenames for consistency
- Improved – Download URL generation with proper slash handling for Windows servers
- Improved – Advanced options now work correctly for all combinations
- Improved – ZIP creation logic – no longer requires “content” checkbox for selective backups
- Improved – Folder filtering in ZIP archives respects selection accurately
- Improved – File icon display logic includes all backup file types
- Improved – HTML structure and layout for backup listings (single table instead of multiple)
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Improved – Security enhancements throughout codebase
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Fixed – Themes + plugins only backup now creates proper ZIP files
- Fixed – Media/uploads backup now includes files correctly
- Fixed – UUID reuse causing backup overwrites
- Fixed – Button visibility logic changed from AND to OR for file checks
- Fixed – SQL filename now uses UUID instead of database name
- Fixed – Backup restoration file path references
- Fixed – Download backup file path references
- Fixed – View file existence checks for UUID-based naming
- Fixed – Multisite backup file checking logic
- Fixed – Dashboard widget recent backups glob pattern with trailing slash
- Fixed – Orphaned file display from root .bkps directory
- Fixed – HTML table structure causing layout breaks
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Fixed – Removed error_log call from production code
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Updated – Plugin class renamed from backup-copilot.php to class-backup-copilot.php
- Updated – Multisite class renamed to class-bkpc-multisite.php for consistency
- Updated – Asset file paths from
assets/build/toassets/dist/ - Updated – JavaScript file from backup-copilot.min.js to bkpc-admin.min.js
- Updated – CSS file from backup-copilot.min.css to bkpc-admin.min.css
- Updated – Localization script handle to match new naming convention
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Updated – Dashboard CSS enqueuing for widget display
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Developer – New gulpfile.js for task automation
- Developer – New webpack.config.js for JavaScript bundling
- Developer – New package.json with all development dependencies
- Developer – Split JavaScript into modular files (core, ajax-handler, actions, ui)
- Developer – Split SCSS into modular files (base, admin components)
- Developer – Added npm scripts:
npm run build,npm run watch - Developer – Removed old rebuild.bat and watch.bat files
0.6.2
- Update – Test and verify functionality with WordPress 6.4
0.6.0
- Update – Test and check functionality with WordPress 6.1
0.5.0
- New – Add full WordPress multisite support
- New – Super Admin can create full multisite backups for main blog
- Update – Blog backups created only for site uploads and site-specific database tables
0.4.0
- New – Visualize system and configuration information
- New – Add 500MB max upload file size and max post file size (within .htaccess, php.ini, and .user.ini)
- New – Add step by step notification for backup export
- Update – Re-work export to download process
- Update – Automate plugin asset build files creation
- Update – Move all Ajax methods into separate file
- Fix – Time elapsed as human-readable string
0.3.0
- New – Add upper limit of 500MB for backups
- Update – Find and replace to match URLs only
- Update – Single admin access for WordPress multisite
- Update – Limit .htaccess and wp-config.php save only for local backups
- Fix – Multisite support download links for actions
0.2.0
- New – Added WordPress multisite support and checks when displaying backups
- Fix – Restrict access to Administrator users on sites with multi-admin users
0.1.0
- Initial release and first commit into WordPress.org SVN