CUNY Academic Commons

Unfortunately, backup plugins like Steve suggests are not compatible with the Commons hosting configuration and its Multisite setup. The real problem is on the import end of things, but even if we could isolate the export functionality for these plugins, there would still be compatibility issue because of the way we store user accounts and other global data.

In any case, the export formats generated by these plugins are intended for import into another WordPress installation, and as such I'm not sure they're ideally suited for archival purposes. Have you considered tools that create static versions of a site? We have one tool on the Commons called 'Export WP Page to Static HTML/CSS'. I think Ray or Scott may have done some work around these plugins in the past, and perhaps they can share some insight.

Maybe they could use the Anthologize plugin?

He tried Export, but reports"after the “Export HTML” step, I clicked “Download” and it went to a 404."

I've taken a look and that plugin does have some problems.

I've found another called Simply Static https://wordpress.org/plugins/simply-static/ and added it to the site. At a glance, it appears to be a good option, exporting a zip file containing a complete copy of a site.

He replied "Thank you! So far Simply Static has been looking good.
Steve"