Back up a forum before you install anything (10 minutes, once)

Every install guide on this site says "back up first", so here is what that actually means, in the order that matters.

What you are protecting

Piece	What is in it	What breaks without it
Database	Posts, users, forums, settings, and the add-on tables	Everything that is content. This is the one that cannot be rebuilt.
Files	The forum software, add-on files, uploads, avatars, attachments, styles	Attachments and images are user content and cannot be rebuilt either.
config file	`config.php` / `wp-config.php` — database credentials	The ability to reconnect a restored database to the files.

1. Dump the database

If you have SSH:

mysqldump --single-transaction --default-character-set=utf8mb4 \
  -u USER -p DBNAME | gzip > forum-$(date +%F).sql.gz

If you do not, phpMyAdmin works: select the database → Export → method Quick → format SQL → Go. cPanel's Backup tool does the same thing with a button, and can also produce a full home-directory archive.

2. Copy the files

Compress the forum directory with your host's file manager, or over SSH:

tar -czf forum-files-$(date +%F).tar.gz /path/to/forum/public_html

If your host offers a one-click "full account backup", take that too — it is the version that includes the home directory outside the web root, which is where some platforms keep attachments.

3. Get the copy off the server

A backup that lives on the same disk as the thing it protects is not a backup. Download it, or push it to storage you control. Two copies in two places is the minimum worth having.

4. Restore it once, now, while nothing is broken

This is the step everyone skips and the only one that proves anything. On a spare database, import the dump and see that it completes. A backup that has never been restored is a guess.

If you cannot test the restore, at least open the dump and check three things: it is not zero bytes, it has CREATE TABLE statements near the top, and it ends with something that looks like a finished dump rather than cutting off mid-INSERT.

Then install

With the dump in hand, a bad add-on costs you a restore instead of an evening. Now read the guide for your platform: MyBB, phpBB, WordPress, XenForo, vBulletin.