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More often than not, seasoned web masters prefer to place file repositories outside the site's root (usually, outside the web server's root as well!) in order to deter potential crackers and "leechers" from having direct access to those files. Such repositories can include downloads, image galleries, media (audio and video) or controlled access documents files. As you know, the application will normally only backup file under the configured site's root, which means these files are not going to be backed up.

Using the off-site directories inclusion, the application can be instructed to look for files in arbitrary locations, even if they are outside the site's root (hence the name). All the directories included with this filter will be placed in the archive as subdirectories of another folder, in order to avoid directory name clashes. We call this folder the "virtual folder", because it doesn't physically exist on the server, it only exists inside the backup archive.

For example, if you want to backup an off-site directory named images , if we weren't using the virtual folder it's contents would end up being backed up (and subsequently restored!) inside the existing images directory inside your site's root. This is something you wouldn't like to happen. If your virtual folder is called my_offsite_includes , this directory would end up being backed up as something like my_offsite_includes\1-images . Notice the number and the dash before the actual directory name? This is a smart feature which allows you to backup many directories of the same name. You could, for instance, backup two directories named images , confident that there would be no name clash inside the archive.

Since keeping track of these folders is a pain, the application includes a readme.html text file inside the virtual folder which tells you which backed up folder corresponds to which physical folder, making it easy for you to restore these directories to their rightful place.

At first you are presented with a grid view, listing all the off-site inclusions you may have already added. Next to each row and on the left hand side of it you will find two icons:

When a row enters the edit mode, the pencil icon changes to two different icons:

You will also observe that the path to the external directory has also turned to an edit box with a folder icon on its left. You can type in the absolute path to the external directory using the edit box, or click on the folder icon to launch a visual folder browser, much like the one you use to select an output directory in the application's Configuration page. If you choose to use the edit box, you can use the following variables:

To the right of the directory you will see another field called Virtual Directory. This is the name of the subdirectory where the application stores the files and folders of these off-site directory's files. Normally, the subdirectory is placed inside the virtual directory for external files, as defined in your backup profile's configuration. If you do not enter a directory name the application will use an automatically generated, guaranteed to be unique, name. This name is a random value followed by a dash and the name of the off-site directory you are defining.