Once you have a structure and data it is vital to be able to recover if it is lost. Backing up the structure and the data is easy so do it regularly. There are better ways to back up MySQL data but this one is very, very easy.
You can back up:
- the whole server (or that bit you have privileges to access)
- the whole of a database
- a single table
In each case you can back up just the structure or the structure and the data.
To do it click on one of three things:
- the Home icon (top, far left) if you want to back up everything
- on the database which you want to backup (in the list on the left after you click Home)
- on the table name you want to back up (tables are listed on the left once you have selected a database)
Choose Export at the top and then tick Save As File. Once you press Go the data should be backed up to your usual download location. Open the file in a text editor (Windows users use WorPad not Notepad) and see your data.
PHP scripts time out after a while (sometimes 2 minutes - see PHP.INI settings) so this is not a good method for backing up large databases. See this more detailed blog entry about how to back up MySQL with PHPMyAdmin Export for solutions.
Make sure you back up your data regularly and before making big changes.
