WordPress MU

Is there a method, or a plugin, that will allow a user to back up (and restore!) a specific page?

We're using WPMU as a CMS, with multiple Authors on any given site. These authors conceivably might accidentally delete a page, or otherwise destroy information. I'd like to have some option, as the site Admin, other than restoring the entire db.

Note that I'm primarily concerned about pages here, not posts.

-= Skip =-

There is a built-in revisioning system in WordPress. So as users change the page, a previous version is also stored. It is usually enabled by default, but if it isn't, you can enable it by adding define('WP_POST_REVISIONS', true); to your wp-config.php file.

Well if you want to point this out to a client as being a problem and hopefully they'll think twice before doing it again, I'd point them to Google and hope there's a page cached in there for them. That's the educational solution.

I would just copy and paste the material out of the site backup myself though. Ours are done every day and stored offsite. Should be fairly easy to unzip, find the database and copy and paste it for the client.

That's good information. I'd forgotten about the versioning.

I'm thinking of how to communicate this change to our users. In the old page-based approach, IT did backups. If you mucked up something, you could request a restore--of a page, a folder, a whole site. IT was the one responsible for backups.

Now, IT can only be responsible for disaster recovery. We'll back up the database and the server, but users are responsible for their own data.

That's fine to say, but practically speaking, we have to tell the users *how* to be responsible for their own data. They don't have access to the db, so that's out. I *think* versioning should be sufficient, but I'll ask the Presently Gathered: is it?

Is the versioning WPMU does for static pages sufficient? How far back do the versions go? I'm assuming that the Roles extend to control over versions so that only Editors and Administrators get to do this. But that's fine.

Again for context, I'm in IT at a university and we're looking at using WPMU fairly widely for many departments.

I work at the University of Maine and face the same situation you do. The versioning, as far as I know, goes along until you delete the DB records or until the DB is full. I don't think there is a restriction that WordPress imposes.

At UMaine, that's how we do the "minor" backups. We also do as you say...full DB backups on a regular basis. We have one member of our staff who can sit down with folks and show them how to use the version system. So far it has worked out well for us.

Which campus Tim? I'm married to a Mainer from Augusta.

I know it a bit off topic but its late here ;-)

Steve,

Small world ;) I work at the flagship campus in Orono.

Great, Tim! Thanks for that feedback. Much appreciated.

I'd like to have some option, as the site Admin, other than restoring the entire db.

I've been using WPMU as CMS for non-profits. As Site Admin, I get the DB backups emailed to me for the respective sub-blogs/sites. I have however requested that the respected Admins export their XML backup at least once a month. It proved handy at least 5 times for me for an organization where an Admin for two sub-sites messed up. He just emailed the XML's of the two sub-sites from previous month to me. I just made new XML's specifically with only info needed and imported it to the respective sub-sites/blogs.

+1 for WPMU automated XML backup plugin :-)

+1 for WPMU automated XML backup plugin :-)

I'm not familiar with such a plugin and google has failed me. Have a link?

kgraeme - no plugin yet. just thinking about it.

Here's one. I'm not at all familiar with it, however.

Gotcha, mercime. I've seen some bash scripts to do it for standalone WP, but it's a little trickier when the site to backup isn't pre-defined.

Tim, Lester Chan's WP-DBManager is even more full featured and can be set to automatically email db backups. I'm a little wary though of putting it on my production servers simply because it does give a web interface to doing things like dropping tables. I know rationally that if a site-admin account got compromised that they can wreak havok on the sites anyway, but somehow a push button page to drop tables just freaks me out.

@sknox - nobody's pointed this out yet because you may already know, but it bears pointing out. :)

users can only delete the pages they are author of. That's it.

kgraeme, I agree. I try to avoid anything that gives anyone else access to messing with stuff. At least if I screw something up, I can usually fix it...

(okay, more reading in the thread..)

"we have to tell the users *how* to be responsible for their own data."

Tell them to periodically do an Export. It essentially "backs up" all posts, pages and comments.

"Tell them to periodically do an Export. It essentially "backs up" all posts, pages and comments."
Yup, and I place the instruction IN CAPS to export the XML monthly using free Admin Message plugin across all subblogs. It is soooo much easier retrieving "lost" posts/pages from XML than DB, but that's just me :-)

tim.moore - the DB plugin you posted by filosofo only backups tables no drop capability at all. I have used them in a couple of WPMU 2.8.4 installs, DB backups emailed to blog admins.

mercime - it's not just you, that is easier. :D