I tried some plugins promising that they will backup a WordPress database, only to discover how many problems they were able to cause. I need a plugin first of all able to create a reliable backup, then zip it and put it somewhere on the server, even restore it, if I need a restoration.

The plugin that worked best for me was WordPress Database Manager (wp-dbmanager). It can also email the backups, but I’m not interested in that. Another great (for me) option is that WP DBManager will backup only the database – not any files you may have uploaded at your domain.

Unfortunately WP DBManager did not repair the overhead of my database tables, as it claimed it could do, a task that remains assigned to PHPmyAdmin. However, I was not interested in a repair or optimize plugin — just a backup and restore, and this is what WP DBManager does best.

Features: optimize database [not reliable] * repair database [not reliable] * backup database * restore database * delete backup database * drop/empty tables * schedule automatic backups * option to compress the backup * multiple backup versions.

• Download the WP-DBManager plugin
• Project site