Quick Start, Your First BackupPRO
Get your first WordPress backup running in about 10 minutes. This walkthrough covers applying your license, connecting a cloud destination, running a manual backup, verifying it worked, and setting up automatic scheduled backups.
Every step here works on all SiteVault Pro tiers (Pro, Business, and Agency). Business+ tiers add Site Health monitoring and Slack/Discord alerts on top, those are covered in their own guides once you’re past this Quick Start.
Before you start
Make sure the following are in place. If any are missing, fix them first, the rest of the guide assumes they’re done.
WordPress 5.8+ and PHP 7.4+
SiteVault Pro requires WordPress 5.8 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer. Check Tools > Site Health > Info for your current versions.
Plugin installed and activated
Upload the SiteVault Pro zip from your account, install it, and activate it. A new SiteVault menu will appear in the WordPress sidebar.
License key handy
Find your license key in your Royal Plugins account: my.royalplugins.com/my-account/licenses/. You’ll paste it in Step 1.
A cloud storage account (recommended)
Optional but strongly recommended. Dropbox and Google Drive connect in one click via OAuth. Amazon S3, DO Spaces, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, OneDrive, Google Cloud Storage, and FTP/SFTP all work too.
Step 1, Apply your Pro license
Activating your license unlocks all the Pro-tier features and turns on automatic plugin updates for future releases.
Open the License page
Go to SiteVault > License in your WordPress admin sidebar.
Paste your license key
Paste the key from your Royal Plugins account into the License Key field and click Activate License. The status indicator turns green when activation succeeds.
Confirm activation
Head back to SiteVault > Dashboard. The Setup Status widget at the top should now show your Pro tier, and the top header bar shows “SiteVault” as the active brand mark.
The most common cause is a typo. Copy and paste the key rather than typing it. If your key still won’t activate, confirm the site URL matches an active seat on your license page.
Step 2, Connect a cloud destination
Off-site copies protect you against server outages, hosting-account issues, and physical disasters affecting your data center. A local-only backup can be useful, but a lost server means a lost backup too.
Open the Cloud Storage page
Go to SiteVault > Cloud Storage. You’ll see two provider groups: Quick Connect (one-click OAuth, no API keys to paste) and Bring Your Own Credentials (paste keys from the provider’s console).
Choose a provider and click Connect
Quick Connect options: Dropbox and Google Drive. Bring Your Own Credentials options: Amazon S3, S3 Compatible (DO Spaces, Cloudflare R2, Wasabi, Backblaze B2), Google Cloud Storage, OneDrive, and FTP/SFTP. If you’re just getting started and don’t already have S3 keys handy, Dropbox or Google Drive is the fastest path.
Complete the OAuth flow (Quick Connect) or paste credentials (Bring Your Own)
For OAuth providers, you’ll be redirected to the provider’s login screen. Approve access and you’ll return to SiteVault. For paste-key providers, a modal opens with the fields the provider needs (bucket name, region, access key, secret, endpoint URL for S3-compatible services).
Test the connection
Once the provider is saved, the Connected Providers table shows a Test button on each row alongside Sync Now and Delete. Click Test to confirm the credentials work. A green success means you’re ready for Step 3.
Providers like DigitalOcean Spaces, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, and Wasabi all use the S3 API but each needs its own endpoint URL. Pick S3 Compatible under Bring Your Own Credentials and enter the endpoint from your provider’s console. A dedicated guide for setting up each of these providers is on the way, check the Troubleshooting section of the SiteVault docs hub.
Step 3, Run your first backup
With the license active (and a cloud destination optional), you’re ready to create your first backup. This runs synchronously in the background with a live progress bar.
Open the Backups page
Go to SiteVault > Backups. The top of the page shows the site’s current time and a large gold Backup Now button.
Click Backup Now
A backup-type selection modal opens. You’ll see four options: Full Backup (database + all files + uploads), Database Only, Files Only, and Incremental (changed files since the last backup).
Choose Full Backup for the first run
Select Full Backup. This gives you a complete, self-contained snapshot you can use to restore or migrate the entire site. Once you have one full backup as a baseline, later scheduled backups can be Incremental to save time and disk space.
Click Start Backup
The modal closes and a progress bar takes over the top of the page. The bar updates in real time as SiteVault packages your database, files, and uploads into a ZIP archive. How long this takes depends on your database size, total file count, and server speed.
Wait for completion
You can safely navigate around your admin while the backup runs, it completes in the background. When it finishes, the progress bar disappears and the new backup appears at the top of the backup list below.
Step 4, Verify the backup
A backup that doesn’t restore is not a backup. Confirm your first backup landed correctly before you rely on it.
Check the Dashboard
Go to SiteVault > Dashboard. The Last Successful Backup widget shows your backup’s name, type, size, timestamp, and cloud sync status (with a green cloud icon if it made it off-site).
Check the Backups list
Back on SiteVault > Backups, the new backup should appear at the top of the list with a green “completed” status pill, its final size, and per-row action buttons for Download, Restore, and Delete.
Download and open the ZIP
Click Download to grab a local copy. Open the ZIP and confirm it contains a database.sql (or similar) file and your wp-content directory tree. If you can browse the archive contents, the backup is valid.
(Optional) Do a test restore on a staging site
The most thorough verification is a restore. If you have a staging site handy, upload the backup ZIP there and click Restore from the Backups page. If the staging site comes up with your content intact, your backup is proven restorable. Do not test-restore on production, if the restore fails halfway through, you’d damage the live site.
If your backup shows completed locally but the cloud icon on the Dashboard is missing or amber, the cloud upload didn’t succeed. See Understanding Cloud Sync Failure Alerts for common causes and fixes.
Step 5, Schedule automatic backups
Manual backups are useful, but the real value of a backup plugin comes from consistent, unattended automation. Set up at least one schedule so future backups happen without you clicking anything.
Open the Schedules page
Go to SiteVault > Schedules. The Create Schedule form is at the top of the page.
Fill in the schedule details
Give the schedule a memorable name (like “Nightly full backup”). Pick a Backup Type (Full, Database Only, Files Only, or Incremental), a Frequency (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly), and a Time for the run.
Set a Retention count
Retention controls how many backup files SiteVault keeps for this schedule before deleting the oldest. A common starting point is 7 for daily backups and 4 for weekly. Higher retention means more disk usage, and more restore points if something goes wrong.
Save the schedule
Click Save. The schedule appears in the list below the form, showing its next run time. It executes via WordPress cron on the frequency you selected.
For most sites: one Daily Full backup at a low-traffic time (like 3 AM site time) with 7-day retention, plus one Weekly Full backup on Sunday with 4-week retention. This gives you a week of daily rollback points and a month of weekly rollback points without excessive disk usage.
What’s next
You’ve done the essentials. Here are the guides most SiteVault Pro customers read next:
- Understanding cloud sync failure alerts, what to do when SiteVault warns you that a cloud provider stopped syncing.
- Diagnosing stuck or stalled backups, the triage playbook if a backup is taking too long or shows as in-progress with no visible movement.
- Disaster recovery, how to restore your site when the WordPress admin is not accessible.
- Migration troubleshooting, fixes for issues that come up when moving a site to a new host.
- Site Health Monitor, Business+ health-monitoring feature (SSL, disk, PHP errors, database, plugin updates, Core Web Vitals).
FAQ
How long does the first backup take?
It depends on your database size, total file count, and server speed. Small brochure sites usually finish in a few minutes. Sites with large media libraries, big databases, or slow hosting can take significantly longer. The progress bar on the Backups page updates in real time so you can see where the backup is.
Do I need a cloud storage account to run my first backup?
No. Your first backup is written to the WordPress site itself, under wp-content/uploads/sitevault/backups/. Cloud storage is optional but recommended, because a local-only backup does not protect you if the server itself becomes unreachable. Connect Dropbox or Google Drive via one-click OAuth for the fastest cloud setup.
What is the difference between Full, Database Only, Files Only, and Incremental?
Full backs up your database, all WordPress files (core, plugins, themes), and your uploads folder. Database Only backs up just the wp_ tables. Files Only backs up the file tree without the database. Incremental captures only files that changed since the last backup, which makes it fast for scheduled runs. For your first backup, choose Full.
Where is the backup file stored on my site?
Backups are stored in wp-content/uploads/sitevault/backups/ with directory-level access protection so they cannot be downloaded by URL guessers. If you configured a cloud provider, a copy is also uploaded there. The Backups page lists every backup with its name, type, size, date, and cloud sync status.
Can I run multiple backups at once?
SiteVault tracks each backup’s status as it runs. If a backup is already in progress when you trigger another, the plugin recognizes the existing run and does not start a second parallel job. Wait for the running backup to complete before triggering the next one.
Does the backup run while I’m using the admin?
Yes. Backups run in the background via WordPress’s async task system, so you can navigate around your admin, publish posts, or even log out without interrupting the backup. Only the progress bar on the Backups page changes visibly during the run.
What happens if my server runs out of disk space mid-backup?
The backup fails and its temporary working directory is cleaned up automatically. The backup row shows a “failed” status with the disk-full error. Free up space (or lower your retention count on the Schedules page) and re-run manually.
Should I use Incremental backups from day one?
Not for your very first backup. Incremental needs a Full backup as its baseline. Once you have one successful Full, subsequent scheduled runs can safely use Incremental to skip files that haven’t changed, which makes them much faster.