Doodle Site Vault: Free WordPress Backup and Migration Plugin

Looking for a WordPress backup and migration plugin that combines full-site archives, standard .wpress exports, encrypted backups and practical recovery tools? Doodle Site Vault 2.1.0 brings those workflows together in an independent, GPL-licensed plugin you can download and evaluate on a staging site.

This guide explains what the plugin backs up, how its archive formats differ, how to install and use it, and what the local test results actually prove. It also covers the limits that matter before you migrate a live website.

Important: Doodle Site Vault is not affiliated with ServMask and does not bundle or bypass its paid extensions. A backup plugin is not a replacement for independent host-level backups or a realistic restore drill.

Download Doodle Site Vault 2.1.0

Use the plugin ZIP for installation. The separate QA bundle contains test scripts, logs and screenshots; it is not an installable WordPress plugin.

Included documentation: V2.1-GUIDE.md, V2-GUIDE.md, QUICKSTART.md, TEST-REPORT.md, source-file checksums and the GPL license. Read the guides before running a destructive restore.

What is Doodle Site Vault?

Doodle Site Vault is a WordPress backup and migration plugin for administrators who want downloadable archives, staging-first migration and recovery options without a plugin-imposed license size cap. It combines a WordPress dashboard with WP-CLI commands for larger jobs and more advanced operations.

Its dashboard supports backup creation, chunked imports, archive downloads, restore options, scheduling, dry-run verification, activity records and health checks. The CLI adds workflows such as incremental backup creation, cloud transfers, paired site-to-site delivery and optional core recovery.

The project is particularly useful for developers, agencies and technically comfortable site owners who can evaluate the documentation and test a complete restore. It should not be treated as universally compatible software or a guarantee that a migration will succeed on every host.

What does a full WordPress backup include?

A useful WordPress backup needs more than a copy of the uploads folder. Website content, settings and accounts live in the database, while themes, plugins, media and configuration depend on the filesystem.

With the full-directory options selected, Doodle Site Vault can archive:

• WordPress database tables belonging to the relevant site or supported network prefix.
• Media and uploads, including supported network child-site uploads.
• Themes, plugins and must-use plugins.
• Language files and custom wp-content files.
• WordPress core and root files as recovery data.
• Configuration and supported drop-in files as recovery payloads.
• The plugin’s own files when the full wp-content option is enabled.

“Full backup” still has boundaries. Symlinks and special files are skipped, exclusion rules can omit paths or tables, and unrelated databases or files outside the selected WordPress scope are not automatically captured. Nonstandard external uploads and unsupported database structures require a different or separately validated workflow.

A full archive also does not mean every archived file should be installed blindly at the destination. Preserving destination database credentials and routing configuration is essential when moving between servers.

WPRESS vs DSV: which backup format should you choose?

The plugin supports two different archive workflows. They are not interchangeable labels for the same file.

On small screens, swipe the comparison table horizontally.

Choose WPRESS for standard single-site portability

If you need a standard WordPress wpress backup, the dashboard can create a real uncompressed, unencrypted WPRESS export. This is not a renamed DSV file. The project includes a separate encoder and decoder for the supported archive contract.

Local tests confirmed that the unmodified free All-in-One WP Migration 7.112 plugin could import a Doodle-produced archive. A native-generated archive was also imported back into Doodle Site Vault. That is a specific interoperability result—not a promise that every archive, extension or hosting environment is supported.

Security reminder: an unencrypted archive can contain database data and configuration secrets. Do not place your website backups in a public download directory. The public downloads on this page are the plugin package and its test documentation, not a backup of a customer’s website.

Choose DSV for encryption and advanced recovery

Use DSV when you need password-protected backups, incremental chains or supported network recovery. Archive encryption is optional and requires a password of at least 12 characters. Store that password separately: there is no recovery key for a lost archive password.

An incremental DSV archive can depend on earlier backups. Keep its complete ancestor chain or materialize it into a standalone archive before moving it independently.

Advanced features in this WordPress backup and migration plugin

1. Restore dry-runs and saved verification reports

Version 2.1 adds a Verify dry-run action that checks the archive before live staging or installation. It validates record integrity, file-chunk ordering, supported table schemas, target paths and duplicate destination aliases under the current site’s preflight constraints.

A successful inspection saves the archive’s SHA-256 fingerprint, verification time, file counts, uncompressed file bytes, database row/table counts and source/destination WordPress versions. It creates private inspection files but does not change live files, live tables, users or the maintenance state.

Dry-run verification is not a malware scan or application compatibility certificate. A saved report’s freshness check uses size and modification time; rerun verification to check the actual current bytes.

2. Browser uploads that resume after a reload

Large uploads are split into chunks. If the connection fails or the page reloads, return using the same browser, site and account, reselect the original file and continue from the server’s committed offset.

The browser retains an upload identifier and a sampled file fingerprint—not passwords, cloud credentials or the complete archive contents. The sample helps match the selected file; it is not a substitute for full archive verification. Resume fingerprinting normally needs HTTPS or localhost Web Crypto support.

Unfinished reservations expire after 24 hours of inactivity, and the dashboard provides an abort action. Uploading an archive never restores a website automatically.

3. Incremental file snapshots with full database snapshots

The incremental workflow stores references to unchanged files, archives changed files and records deletions. It can reduce repeated file-backup work and archive size when most site files remain unchanged.

This is incremental file backup, not incremental database replication. Database snapshots remain complete. SQLite3 is required for the file manifests, while the website database remains MySQL/MariaDB. The CLI handles incremental creation and standalone materialization.

4. Optional encrypted scheduled uploads to S3/R2

Automatic off-site delivery is disabled by default. When explicitly enabled with complete provider settings and a protected scheduled encryption password, newly created encrypted scheduled backups can enter a separate off-site queue.

The queue uses multipart checkpoints, up to three automatic attempts, delayed retries and interruption watchdogs. Pending or failed items protect their local backups from deletion and retention until you finish or cancel the queue item.

Cloud failures do not invalidate a completed local backup. However, live provider permissions, HTTPS behavior, bucket policies and credentials still need testing. Cancelling a queue item does not automatically abort a provider-side multipart upload; use the documented CLI cleanup and sensible bucket expiration policies.

5. Serialization-aware migration and prefix mapping

When restoring to another supported installation, the plugin can replace source URLs and content paths, remap the destination table prefix and update WordPress role/capability keys. Additional find-and-replace pairs are available for appropriate migration data.

Serialized arrays and strings are handled without blindly corrupting their lengths. Serialized objects remain unchanged and are reported rather than instantiated. Check plugin-specific settings and custom data after migration.

6. Recovery journaling, diagnostics and paired transfers

Staged restoration, per-file journals and retained original tables/files support explicit recovery and rollback. A private activity log and health panel help inspect job states, storage, runtime, maintenance locks and cron events.

WP-CLI also supports expiring, quota-limited HMAC-authenticated archive transfers between paired sites. Transfer and destination restoration remain separate actions. Same-topology whole-network DSV recovery is available under the documented main-site and topology restrictions.

Requirements and installation

The plugin declares WordPress 6.4+ and PHP 8.1+ as minimums. These declarations are not an exhaustive tested-version matrix. Confirm the needed PHP extensions, a 64-bit environment, MySQL/MariaDB, filesystem permissions and sufficient private disk space. Incremental manifests require SQLite3.

1. Take an independent host backup. Do not use the migration tool you are evaluating as your only recovery plan.
2. Use a staging installation first. Finish, cancel or roll back existing plugin jobs before upgrading.
3. Download doodle-site-vault-2.1.0.zip using the plugin button above.
4. In WordPress, open Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, select the ZIP and install it. Replace the installed version if upgrading.
5. Activate the plugin and open Site Vault.
6. Configure durable private storage outside the web root and review the included guides.

For durable storage, a server administrator can add a suitable, PHP-writable path in wp-config.php:

define('DSV_STORAGE_DIR', '/private/backups/your-site');

This is an example, not a path that exists automatically on your host. The default temporary storage may be removed by the hosting provider. Backups, conversion, materialization, staging and original-file recovery copies can require several times the compressed archive size.

How to create a WordPress backup with Doodle Site Vault

1. Open Site Vault → Create a backup.
2. Select the final format: standard .wpress for supported single-site interoperability, or .dsv for encryption and advanced recovery.
3. Enable the required components. For a full recovery archive, select WordPress core/root files and all wp-content files alongside the database.
4. Review exclusions. Exclude old backup directories where appropriate to avoid repeatedly backing up large existing archives.
5. If using DSV encryption, choose a strong password and store it separately.
6. Create the backup and keep the browser tab open during interactive jobs.
7. Download an off-site copy, verify it and retain an independent host backup.

There is no artificial total archive license cap, but PHP, web-server, database, format, memory and storage limits still apply. Larger backups and conversions are better handled through WP-CLI.

How to verify and restore a backup on another website

A WordPress backup and migration plugin is only useful if you can restore its archives reliably. Treat restoration as a controlled deployment—not a casual upload.

1. Prepare a compatible destination staging site with an independent host backup and adequate private storage.
2. Install Doodle Site Vault and upload the trusted archive. For an incremental archive, ensure all required ancestors are available.
3. Enter the archive password where applicable and run Verify dry-run.
4. Read the saved report and any warnings. Confirm your target’s database and network topology are supported.
5. Review URL replacement and additional replacement rules. Keep source URLs only for an appropriate same-domain restore.
6. Confirm the destructive restore only after reviewing the consequences.
7. When restoration finishes, sign in with the source-site account if the database was restored, clear caches and validate the site’s behavior.

Restoring a database replaces destination users and passwords with source users and passwords. Destination wp-config.php and root routing files are not blindly overwritten. Optional root/drop-in restoration and private recovery extraction use the documented CLI workflows.

Validate media, permalinks, forms, checkout, user roles, scheduled tasks and third-party integrations. Rollback can overwrite changes made since restoration; recovery is not an atomic whole-site transaction.

How to schedule encrypted off-site WordPress backups

Start by setting the backup interval, local retention count and optional notification address. In Advanced settings, configure a protected scheduled password if you want encrypted scheduled archives.

For automatic S3/R2 delivery, add the endpoint, region, bucket, object prefix and credentials, then explicitly enable the off-site setting. Only appropriate newly created encrypted scheduled backups are automatically queued; ordinary manual backups remain local unless you send them explicitly.

Use real server cron for dependable timing. WP-Cron depends on traffic, and actual email delivery depends on the host/mail configuration. For long-running cloud operations, test WP-CLI/server-cron execution against your provider’s limits.

Useful operational commands include:

wp dsv health
wp dsv archives
wp dsv verify ARCHIVE_ID --password-env=DSV_PASSWORD
wp dsv cloud_queue
wp dsv cloud_retry ARCHIVE_ID

Replace archive identifiers with real IDs. Supply archive passwords through the documented environment-variable workflow rather than exposing them in command arguments. CLI cloud subcommands use underscores.

Has Doodle Site Vault been tested?

The 2.1 release passed 188 automated assertions across 19 local test suites, plus PHP/JavaScript syntax checks and CLI/recovery-loader smoke tests. Some assertions repeat job-completion checks; the number is not a claim of 188 independent scenarios or complete code coverage.

The controlled environment used WordPress 7.1.3, PHP 8.5.9 and MariaDB 10.5.29 on Linux, with separate single-site destinations, disposable native-import sites and matching subdirectory multisite networks.

• Backup, encryption, corruption rejection, staging and rollback checks passed.
• Incremental file snapshots, materialization and scheduled encryption passed.
• Cross-site URL/path/table-prefix/role migration and network recovery passed under the fixtures.
• Dashboard downloads, range requests and reload-resumable uploads passed.
• An approximately 181 MiB full recovery WPRESS archive was accepted by the unmodified free ServMask importer; reverse native-to-Doodle migration also passed.
• Cloud multipart/ranged transfers passed against a local S3 emulator, and one deterministic request signature matched an independent botocore oracle.

The update also corrected completion-hook failures misreporting successful jobs, upload locking/finalization issues, duplicate destination paths and overly broad filtering of legitimate custom database tables.

What these tests do not guarantee

No customer hosting environment, live AWS/R2 account, multi-gigabyte stress workload, Windows deployment, full crash/power-loss matrix or arbitrary third-party plugin combination was certified. Matching subdirectory network tests do not validate every mapped-domain or subdomain setup.

Views, foreign keys, unsupported SQL constructs, nonstandard external uploads, bounded archive records and converter statements can restrict compatibility. Busy transactional sites also need a coherent backup strategy; the plugin does not promise a live-order-consistent snapshot.

Read TEST-REPORT.md and both guides for the precise scope. If you need help planning staging, storage or hosting, explore our hosting and cloud services or contact The Tetra Technology.

Frequently asked questions

Is Doodle Site Vault free to download?

Yes. The plugin ZIP on this page is available to download, and the project is GPL-licensed. It does not impose a plugin license-key archive-size cap. Hosting, storage and cloud-provider costs still apply where relevant.

Can it create a single .wpress backup file?

Yes. The dashboard supports a real standard uncompressed, unencrypted WPRESS export. For encryption, incremental chains or supported network recovery, use DSV instead.

Can I import the backup anywhere?

Not universally. A destination must satisfy the documented WordPress, PHP, database, topology, storage and filesystem constraints. Standard single-site WPRESS interoperability was locally tested with the unmodified free All-in-One WP Migration 7.112 plugin; unsupported extension formats are not covered.

Does a native WPRESS import restore WordPress core and wp-config.php?

Not from this project’s recovery extras. The archive can contain root/core/config recovery payloads, but the native ServMask importer restores database and site content rather than installing those extras. Doodle Site Vault provides separate documented extraction and explicit CLI recovery workflows.

Are WPRESS backups encrypted?

The supported standard WPRESS exports are not encrypted. Choose password-protected DSV for encrypted archives and keep both passwords and backups private.

Can I resume an interrupted upload?

Yes, with the documented browser-resume workflow: use the same browser, site and account, reselect the unchanged original file and continue while the reservation is valid. Server reservations expire after 24 hours of inactivity. Final WPRESS conversion is still a synchronous step.

Does it include every paid ServMask feature?

No. Doodle Site Vault is independent software with its own feature set. It does not bundle paid ServMask extension code or bypass licenses. Google Drive/Dropbox OAuth, every extension format and every commercial workflow are not included.

Is it safe to restore directly to production?

Use staging first. Restoration can overwrite files, replace database tables and change login accounts. Keep an independent host backup, perform a realistic verify/restore/rollback drill and validate the actual site’s integrations before production.

Download, verify and test on staging

If you want a WordPress backup and migration plugin with full-site recovery archives, standard WPRESS support and additional verification tools, Doodle Site Vault 2.1 is ready to evaluate. Download the installable package, review the documentation and make a successful staging restore—not just archive creation—your acceptance milestone.

For more project downloads and technical resources, browse our free resources. For a general backup-planning reference, see the official WordPress backup documentation.