Restoring a website from a backup, step by step

When something goes wrong, a calm, practised restore gets the site back quickly. Work through these steps in order.

1. Put the site into maintenance mode
2. Restore the files
3. Restore the database
4. Check the home page, a post and the contact form
5. Take the site out of maintenance mode

Keep a note of when the backup was taken, so you know which changes need to be made again afterwards.