More often than not, seasoned web masters prefer to place file repositories outside the site's root (usually, outside the web server's root as well!) in order to deter potential crackers and "leechers" from having direct access to those files. Such repositories can include downloads, image galleries, media (audio and video) or controled access documents files. As you know, JoomlaPack will only backup file under the site's root, which made these files impossible to backup. Not any more!

Using the off-site directories inclusion, JoomlaPack can be instructed to look for files in arbitrary locations, even if they are outside the site's root (hence the name). All the directories included with this filter will be placed in the archive as subdirectories of another folder, in order to avoid directory name clashes. We call this folder the "virtual folder", because it doesn't physically exist on the server, it only exists inside the backup archive.

For example, if you want to backup an off-site directory named images , if we weren't using the virtual folder it's contents would end up being backed up (and subsequently restored!) inside the Joomla! images directory. This is something you'd like to happen. If your virtual folder is called my_offsite_includes , this directory would end up being backed up as something like my_offsite_includes\1-images . Notice the number and the dash before the actual directory name? This is a smart feature which allows you to backup many directories of the same name. You could, for instance, backup two directories named images , confident that there would be no name clash inside the archive.

Since keeping track of these folders is a pain, JoomlaPack includes a readme.txt text file inside the virtual folder which tells you which backed up folder corresponds to which physical folder, making it easy for you to restore these directories to their rightful place.

	Important
	JoomlaPack will not automatically restore the off-site directories to their original location. Since JoomlaPack is meant for backing up, restoring and migrating sites to another host we chose not to automatically restore off-site directories, as this would break the migration process. A future version of JoomlaPack might address this issue more elegantly. We are open to suggestions!

The main page of this feature is a standard Joomla! back-end list page, showing all the configured off-site directories. The directory column shows the absolute path to the directory you have entered. Clicking on it will show the editor page.

You are provided with the standard administrator list controls, namely adding a new directory definition with the New button, copying a definition with the Copy button and completely removing a definition with the Delete button.

Important

The availability of this feature is subject to host restrictions, especially the open_basedir restrictions. Many hosts disallow access to folders outside the site's root. Make sure to check with your host beforehand. Another common grief might be the permissions of the directory itself , not those of its contained files! The directory permissions must allow browse access (the execution bit must be set). Other Joomla! components using this directory may be able to work even if this condition is not met, simply because they know the filenames they want to access beforehand, whereas JoomlaPack has to determine them, hence it has to browse the directory, therefore it needs the necessary permissions! If this doesn't make sense to use, please read our chapter on permissions before trying to use this feature !

The only thing you have to enter in the editor page is the absolute path to the directory you want to be backed up. On Windows hosts it will be something like C:\path\to\a\directory whereas on Linux (and other UNIX-based OSes) hosts it will be something like /path/to/a/directory .

In order to help you acquire a valid path, JoomlaPack offers you two buttons: clicking on the Check directory access button will try to access the directory in order to read its contents and inform you of the result of this operation. The Reset to site's root button will replace the text in the box with the absolute path to the site's root. This is the easiest way to determine the absolute path to a directory if all you know is, for example, it's name and that it's one level above the site's root!