How our backup system works (comprehensive guide)

Introduction

Staq will automatically backup your site without you making any configurations to each site on both staging and production sites.

Backup System – Separation

When a backup is made, we separate each backup with the following:

• Plugins
• Themes
• Database
• File Content, which includes all uploaded files, images and etc.

We separate them so that when you request to restore your site from a backup, you can select what you want to restore i.e. restore plugins only.

Backup Process

Each month, the system will take a full backup of your website.

Each day, we will backup all incremental changes that relate to your:

• content i.e. images, file uploads and etc
• theme changes
• plugin changes

We will perform a full database backup daily.

Backup Retention

Our backup system will keep all automatic backups up to 14 days.

If you make a manual backup, this is held indefinitely until you manually delete it. Additional costs may apply.

Where backups are stored

To ensure maximum security and safety, all backups are retained and offloaded to AWS S3 buckets and away from the server. These are essentially offsite backups. This is stored inside your local region i.e. if your site is deployed within the Sydney region, the AWS S3 region is also Sydney.

External Backups

In early 2025, Staq will release an external backup or external offload backup feature that allows you to register your own AWS S3 account and the system will automatically push the backups to your own AWS account.

It will only support AWS S3 because if we allowed other backup services, we will need to charge for transfer/bandwidth costs for it to exit the local region of the AWS network which is out of our control. As long as your own AWS S3 account exists in the same local region as our AWS S3 account, this will be considered an internal transfer which is free.

What files we do not backup

• There are plugins that do not follow the good practices suggested by the WordPress community and create cache content inside the plugin’s folder. For example, the widely used plugin Formidable Forms plugin usually creates CSS  files under the path formidable/css in order to cache its content. The following is a list of such files that Staq bypasses during the backup process in order to save resources:
  • salient/css/salient-dynamic-styles.css
  • all-in-one-wp-migration/storage/
  • akeebabackupwp/(helpers|app)/.*.php
  • formidable(-pro)?/css/formidableforms.css
  • formidable-activecampaign/css/frmactivecampaign.css
  • *.(min|slim).(css|js) inside plugins that appear on the Plugins Exclusion List (see below).
• All plugins and themes that were added to your website via Git integration are not backed up due to the fact it is an advanced feature, and for security reasons users are expected to control their changes without the interference of Staq algorithms.
• Any files under /vendor/ or /vendor_prefixed/ sub-directories inside the plugin or theme are excluded from comparison.
• Explicitly downgrading a plugin or theme by editing the metadata file will cause it to be excluded from comparison.

Data generated from these plugins that we will not backup

• Import / Export
  • import-xml-feed
  • wordpress-importer
  • wordpress-exporter
  • wordpress-starter
  • all-in-one-wp-migration
  • all-in-one-wp-migration-unlimited-extension
  • All-In-One-WP-Migration-With-Import-master
  • all-in-one-wp-migration-dropbox-extension
  • staq-migrator
  • wp-staq-migrator
  • duplicator
  • duplicator-pro
  • backupbuddy
  • akeebabackupwp
  • wp-all-export
  • backwpup
  • wp-import-export-lite
• Optimizers & Cachers
  • wp-rocket
  • wp-fastest-cache
  • w3-total-cache
  • sg-cachepess
  • litespeed-cache
  • flying-scripts
  • autoptimize
  • wp-super-cache
• Security
  • password-protected
  • akismet
  • wp-defender
  • updraftplus
  • wordfence
  • cleantalk-spam-protect
  • ithemes-security
  • ithemes-security-pro
  • really-simple-ssl
  • limit-login-attempts-reloaded
  • limit-login-attempts
  • safe-svg
  • cloudflare-flexible-ssl
  • S3MediaVault
  • S3MediaVaultPro
• SEO
  • all-in-one-seo-pack
  • wordpress-seo
  • all-in-one-seo-pack-pro
  • wp-seopress-pro
  • seo-by-rank-math
• Forms & Addons
  • formidable
  • formidable-pro
  • formidable-stripe
  • formidable-api
  • formidable-views
  • formidable-woocommerce
  • formidable-dates
  • formidable-mailchimp
  • formidable-bootstrap
  • formidable-paypal
  • formidable-autoresponder
  • formidable-quizzes
  • formidable-zapier
  • formidable-activecampaign
  • formidable-modal
  • forminator
  • form-vibes
  • gravityforms
  • gravityformsmailchimp
  • gravityformscampaignmonitor
  • gravityformshubspot
  • gravityformspaypal
  • gravityformsstripe
  • gravityformszapier
  • gravityformspartialentries
  • gravityformsuserregistration
  • wpforms-lite
  • ninja-forms
  • caldera-forms
  • contact-form-7
  • contact-form-cfdb7
  • contact-form-7-success-page-redirect
  • contact-form-7-multi-step-modules
  • contact-form-7-datepicker
  • contact-form-submissions
  • contact-form-7-to-database-extension
  • wpcf7-redirect
• WooCommerce & Addons
  • woocommerce
  • woocommerce-admin
  • woocommerce-checkout-manager
  • woocommerce-gateway-stripe
  • woocommerce-delivery-notes
  • woocommerce-pdf-invoices
  • woocommerce-pdf-invoices-packing-slips
  • woocommerce-google-adwords-conversion-tracking-tag
  • woocommerce-google-analytics-integration
  • woocommerce-tm-extra-product-options
  • woocommerce
  • ajax-search-for-woocommerce
  • woocommerce-easy-booking-system
  • added-to-cart-popup-woocommerce
  • woocommerce-google-adwords-conversion-tracking-tag
  • change-woocommerce-add-to-cart-button-text
  • facebook-for-woocommerce
  • woocommerce-shipping-australia-post
  • learndash-woocommerce
  • ajax-search-for-woocommerce-premium
  • rcp-woocommerce-member-discounts
  • woocommerce-clear-cart
  • mailchimp-for-woocommerce
  • woocommerce-gateway-paypal-express-checkout
  • oxygen-woocommerce
  • phone-orders-for-woocommerce-pro
  • custom-add-to-cart-button-for-woocommerce
  • woocommerce-services
  • ti-woocommerce-wishlist
  • variation-swatches-for-woocommerce-pro
  • yith-woocommerce-wishlist
  • print-invoices-packing-slip-labels-for-woocommerce
  • woo-cart-redirect-to-checkout-page
  • woo-extra-product-options
  • woo-order-export-lite
  • woo-stripe-payment
  • import-woo-records-custom
  • woo-cart-redirect-to-checkout-page
  • woo-pdf-invoice-builder
  • wccp-pro
  • wc-fields-factory
• Email
  • wp-mail-smtp
  • post-smtp
  • pdf-viewer
  • email-log
  • smtp-mailer
  • wp-mail-logging
  • welcome-email-editor
  • wp-html-mail
  • mailpoet
  • wpforms
• Page Builders & Addons
  • bb-plugin
  • bb-theme-builder
  • bbpowerpack
  • bb-flexbox
  • oxygen-gutenberg
  • oxygen
  • elementor
  • elementor-pro
  • anwp-post-grid-for-elementor
  • addon-elements-for-elementor-page-builder
  • visibility-logic-elementor
  • piotnet-addons-for-elementor-pro
  • addons-for-elementor
  • make-column-clickable-elementor
  • addons-for-elementor
  • js_composer
  • fusion-builder
  • fusion-core
  • thrive-visual-editor
  • divi-builder
• Posts & Pages
  • advanced-custom-fields
  • advanced-custom-fields-pro
  • duplicate-post
  • duplicate-page
  • disable-comments
  • postpage-specific-custom-css
• Sitemap
  • sitemap
  • www-xml-sitemap-generator-org
  • xml-sitemap-feed
  • google-sitemap-generator
  • simple-wp-sitemap
• Google Integrations
  • google-analytics-for-wordpress
  • duracelltomi-google-tag-manager
  • google-site-kit
  • google-apps-login
  • google-drive-embedder
  • ga-google-analytics
  • google-analytics-dashboard-for-wp
• Fonts
  • use-any-font
  • font-awesome
  • custom-fonts
  • custom-typekit-fonts
• Image Optimizers
  • shortpixel-adaptive-images
  • robin-image-optimizer
  • regenerate-thumbnails
  • ewww-image-optimizer
  • wp-smushit
  • imagify
• Membership
  • restrict-user-access
  • restrict-content-pro
  • simple-membership
• Jetpack & Addons
  • jetpack
  • jet-blocks
  • jet-engine
  • jet-smart-filters
• Nav & Menu
  • wp-nav-plus
  • nav-menu-images
  • hide-admin-bar-based-on-user-roles
• Social
  • official-facebook-pixel
  • facebook-messenger-customer-chat
  • custom-facebook-feed
  • free-facebook-reviews-and-recommendations-widgets
  • wd-facebook-feed
  • instagram-feed
  • instagram-feed-pro
  • business-reviews-bundle
  • widget-google-reviews
  • wp-social-reviews
  • wp-reviews-plugin-for-google
  • wp-business-reviews
• Sliders & Popups
  • wp-review-slider-pro-premium
  • slider-revolution-search-replace
  • LayerSlider
  • wp-slick-slider-and-image-carousel
  • revslider
  • wp-logo-showcase-responsive-slider-slider
  • slide-anything
  • slideshow-gallery
  • popup-maker
  • responsive-lightbox
  • accordions
  • ml-slider
• Redirections
  • redirection
  • all-404-redirect-to-homepage
  • simple-301-redirects
  • 404-to-homepage
  • 404-to-301
• Headers & Footers
  • header-footer
  • header-footer-code-manager
  • insert-headers-and-footers
  • oh-add-script-header-footer
• Others
  • code-snippets
  • insert-php
  • envato-market
  • wp-php-version-display
  • wp-phpmyadmin-extension
  • wp-file-manager
  • file-manager-advanced
  • advanced-cron-manager
  • wp-serverinfo
  • string-locator
  • tinymce-advanced
  • schema-and-structured-data-for-wp
  • custom-css-js
  • classic-editor

Known Themes Exclusion List

• twenty-twenty-two
• twentytwenty
• twentytwentyone
• twentytwentytwo
• twentynineteen
• twentyeightteen
• twentyseventeen
• twentysixteen
• twentyfifteen
• twentyfourteen
• bb-theme
• Divi
• hello-elementor
• buddyboss-theme
• astra
• generatepress
• new-blog
• new-blog-lite
• tm-beans
• thrive-theme
• blog-kit
• coldlaser
• bridge-core
• bridge
• martfury
• Avada

Recommendations

In spite of the fact that Staq backs up files, developers should refrain from bad practices that can cause your website harm in the future.

• You should NEVER edit global plugins or themes deployed on individual websites because the next time an update happens your changes might break the website.
• You should NEVER edit third party plugins or themes directly as your changes might break the website whenever an update is installed.
• You should always create a new child theme and rely on WordPress hooks whenever you want to extend your plugin(s) functionality.
• You should always create a new plugin and rely on WordPress hooks whenever you want to extend your plugin(s) functionality.
• If you want to keep track of your changes, we highly recommend you to use the Git integration feature now available on Staq. If Git is not an option, then you better use File Manager instead of connecting to the server remotely.

Do you backup the core WordPress files?

No. The reason is that Staq does not allow you to modify core WordPress files for security reasons. Therefore, since we only use the files from WordPress, there isn’t any point backing these files since you can downgrade/upgrade WordPress files which at any time inside the Staq Panel.