a one (oh okay, maybe two) click backup thing for your iBlog stuff.

by Paul Baily

Freeware, source available on request.

The latest version is here, version history is here.

Please note: this script is not produced or supported by Lifli Software, the developers of iBlog. Additionally, I don't work for them. Just like you, I'm a fan of their app iBlog. I thought I'd write this script to help people who may be unsure of where iBlog keeps its secrets to have a safe backup of their blog in case Unfortunate Things Happen.

Introduction:

Thanks for taking a look at iBlog Backup!

As the name suggests, iBlog Backup is a simple AppleScript app that does just two things:

1. it backs up your iBlog stuff, and (wait for it...)

2. it restores your iBlog stuff.

Requirements:

- Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) or later, runs even better under Panther.

- iBlog 1.2 or later - may also work with earlier versions but has not been tested.

Quick Start:

0. Read the obligatory disclaimer here. No really. It's okay, I'll wait...

1. Download iBlog Backup, double click the disk image, then drag the iBlog Backup icon to some place convenient on your hard disk. Any place will do.

2. Run it and you'll be asked to set a couple of simple preferences. After that, click the Backup button and a short time later you're done.

3. Any time you launch iBlog Backup after that you'll have three simple options, Backup, Restore, and modify Preferences, as seen above. That's where the one or two click part comes in.

Please see the included ReadMe for more details.

Future Plans:

- Rewrite in AppleScript Studio to make the user interface more flexible, as well as providing more feedback on what iBlog Backup is up to when it's doing its thing. (Note to self: start learning AppleScript Studio.)

- Scheduled backups

- Replace Finder deletes with shell 'rm' commands to get rid of the incessant click effects. :-)

- Your ideas here!

Here's what people have been saying about iBlog Backup:

<still night, crickets chirping...>

Feedback is welcome. :-)

Let me at it!

Version 1.0.4 can be downloaded here.

Version History:

v 1.0.4 - Increased timeouts to cater for massive blogs under Jaguar - 20040823 -PB
v 1.0.3 - Further tuning for Jaguar under high load, more helpful error messages (that you'll hopefully never see :-) - 20040418 -PB
v 1.0.2 - Now able to work with Mac OS 9 and earlier backup servers, further tuning for backing up over slower links - 20040407 -PB
v 1.0.1 - Fine tuning to improve reliability of backups with busy/slower Macs. - 20040406 -PB
v 1.0.0 - Jaguar tweaks finalised, added Jaguar to Panther migrate routines, more testing - 20040404 -PB
v 0.9.0 - In 0.8.0 the Jag backup routine is inefficient: 4 writes as opposed to three, this time skip the temp copy and go direct to image.
v 0.8.0 - Now really should work under Jag. :-) (thanks for testing this Suzane Leblanc & icerabbit!) - 20040403 -PB
v 0.7.0 - documentation complete, even more testing, initial public release - 20040329 -PB
v 0.6.0 - prefs handling complete, script commenting complete, sanity checks, final testing - 20040328 -PB
v 0.5.0 - restore routine complete - 20040328 -PB
v 0.4.0 - backup routine complete - 20040328 -PB
v 0.3.0 - switched to using a local temp directory in case destination is a slow link away (e.g. iDisk) - 20040328 -PB
v 0.2.0 - backup, verify, rotation, destinations complete - 20040328 -PB
v 0.1.0 - initial write - 20040327 -PB

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER:

This script is in no way intended to be a substitute for a good backup regime. It is intended solely to provide an easy mechanism that may assist in the backup and restore of your iBlog data. It works for me, and I've done a lot of testing to ensure that it works for you too. That said, I may not have the same setup as you. Things may go wrong, bad things may happen: you may lose data, you may start liking bad music, your cat may decide it likes clawing your sofa instead of its scratch pole, you may start liking reality TV.

You get the idea: I've done the best I can to make this reliable and safe, but the risk is ultimately yours. By using this script you understand and agree that any data loss resulting directly or indirectly from anything this script tries to do is very unfortunate, but is not my responsibility. Use at your own risk. [back]