Whilst there are an endless number of plugins and scripts out there that will allow you to do this task, knowing how to clone a WordPress blog is an important skill, as this not only allows you to be able to backup your blog when you need to, but it will also allow you to reverse the process and quickly deploy a well configured blog when the need arises. Lets go over the process as if we were using a C-Panel based hosting account
To start the process off, you are going to need to be able to back up your static website files. This is quite easy to do, and involves either accessing your website via FTP and dragging those files from within your domain to a local destination, or you can simply select all static files within C-Panel (if that is what you are running), compress them into a ZIP file, and download to a local destination. Personally, I prefer the latter, as this means less time spent on the task. Put simply, there is nothing more time consuming than having to transfer 600 or more files via FTP to a remote destination.
Next step involves backing up your database files. In order to know which database to backup, I highly recommend verifying this by opening your WP-config file, and checking the database name. However, in order to back the database, this can be done using phpMYadmin within your C-Panel account. This should be done by selecting the database, then clicking the Export button. As a preference, I generally download it as a.sql file, and keep it local with my website files backup.
It is worth me mentioning at this point that there are many other automates solutions that will allow you to backup your WordPress blog. Some are automatic, others require user interaction. I actually use a plugin myself in order to schedule backups. That said, your choice is a highly preferential decision, and one that needs to be made.
Here’s the deal. When it comes down to the bottom line of all of this, you need to understand fluently how to clone a WordPress blog. In fact, many (myself included) would claim that this skill is just as important as blog creation itself. There is nothing worse than losing a blog. Trust me when I say that, I have experienced it, and as a means of teaching you the lessons that I have learned the hard way, here’s how it is. You need to be able to backup your WordPress blog. Practice it. It’s a skill that you need now more than ever.
If you’re really wishing to discover how to clone a WordPress blog, then I highly recommend that you read www.ryantmalone.com to find out how it is done in much greater detail.