> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.daftplug.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Take your first backup, verify it, and set up the ones that run without you.

## 1. Take a backup now

Go to **Snapshotify > Backups** and select **Create Backup**.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Give it a title">
    Something you will recognize later. "Before plugin update" beats "Backup 3".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Leave Full-Site Backup on">
    It excludes nothing, which is what you want for a first backup and for anything you might restore from.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a location">
    Local, or a connected cloud provider on Pro.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start Backup">
    Progress is shown as it runs. You can close the tab; the job continues.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Take a backup before anything risky: a plugin update, a theme change, a migration, or your own experiment. That is the moment a backup earns its existence, and it is the moment people skip it.
</Tip>

## 2. Verify it

An unverified backup is a hope, not a backup.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Check the row">
    It should show a size, a date, its contents, and its location. A size of zero or a missing contents badge means something went wrong.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the activity log">
    Select the log for that backup. It records each stage, and any warning that did not stop the job.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Download it">
    Confirm the archive downloads and opens as a ZIP. Inside you should see `database.sql`, `manifest.json`, and your files.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  The only complete verification is a restore. If a working backup genuinely matters to you, restore one onto a staging site once and confirm the result. Everyone intends to do this and almost nobody does, which is why people discover a broken backup at the worst possible moment.
</Warning>

## 3. Get it off the server

A backup stored on the same server as the site does not survive the failure that destroys the server. It protects you from your own mistakes, not from your host.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Download it" icon="download">
    Free. Manual, but it works, and the archive is a plain ZIP.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect cloud storage" icon="cloud" href="/snapshotify/guides/cloud-storage">
    Pro. Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox, automatically.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## 4. Put it on a schedule

Manual backups depend on you remembering at the right moment. Scheduling is Pro, and it is most of the reason to have Pro.

Go to **Settings > General**.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Turn on Scheduled Backups">
    Choose daily, weekly, or monthly.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Match the frequency to how often you would mind losing work">
    A store taking daily orders should back up daily. A brochure site that changes twice a year does not need daily backups.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set exclusions if you need them">
    Leave Full-Site on unless size is a real problem. Excluding the media library is the usual first choice, since media rarely changes and is often most of the size.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 5. Set retention

Also on **Settings > General**. **Auto-Remove Backups** keeps the most recent few and deletes the rest, defaulting to three.

<Warning>
  Retention deletes permanently. Set the count to a number of *periods* you would want to go back through: three daily backups is three days of history, which is not long if you do not notice a problem immediately.
</Warning>

## 6. Turn on notifications

**Settings > Notifications**. Off by default.

A scheduled backup that quietly fails every week is worse than no schedule, because you believe you are covered. Enable notifications and, at minimum, keep **backup failed** on.

<Tip>
  Send them to an address a person reads. A backup failure notice in an unmonitored inbox is the same as no notice.
</Tip>

## A reasonable setup

For most sites:

| Setting           | Value                        |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------- |
| Scheduled backups | Weekly, or daily for a store |
| Scope             | Full site                    |
| Location          | A cloud provider             |
| Keep latest       | 5 or more                    |
| Notifications     | On, at least for failures    |

Plus a manual backup before anything you would not want to undo by hand.