Getting started
From download to first backup. Ten minutes if your hosting gives you SSH access; the app walks you through each step and checks its own work.
1. Install
- macOS — open the
.dmgand drag WPdesktopmanager to Applications. The app is signed and notarised; it opens without warnings on macOS 12 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel. - Windows — run the installer. Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. The Windows build is not yet code-signed, so SmartScreen may show a warning the first time; choose More info → Run anyway. Download it only from wpdesktopmanager.com.
- Linux — a single binary; make it executable and run it. It needs GTK 3 and WebKitGTK, which desktop distributions have.
Downloads are on the download page. macOS, Windows and Linux are all supported; if you would like a hand with installing or starting the app, ask and give your OS version.
2. Activate
The first time the app opens it asks for your licence key, which starts with WPDM. Polar emailed it to you when you started the trial or bought a licence. Paste it and press Activate. The licence covers one computer; further computers are seats you add from the customer portal. See Licence and computers.
3. Add a server
A server is the machine your sites live on. One server usually holds several sites, and it is set up once. Go to Servers in the rail and press Add server. The wizard has five steps: details, identity, key, access, done. What each one asks for, and why, is on the Servers and SSH page.
~/.ssh/config: those servers appear in the list without any setup.4. Add a site
Go to Sites and press Add site. Pick the server, then either type the WordPress folder or press Find WordPress… and let the app look in the usual places. Test connection checks SSH, the folder, and the tools on the server before you save. Details on the Sites page.
5. Make the first backup
Open the site, go to its Backups tab, keep the scope on Full and press Backup Full. The progress bar walks four steps — check tools, archive files, export database, refresh list — and the new backup appears at the top of the table with its size. Open its details (the ⓘ button) to see the files and their checksums, and Open folder to see them on disk.
6. Set a schedule
On the site's Overview, the Automatic backups module has three choices: how often, at what hour, how many to keep. Then, in Preferences (⌘,), turn on Also run when the app is closed so the schedule runs even when the window is not open. See Scheduled backups.