Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya mencadangkan foto sebelum membuat unggahan baru. - I back up photos before making a new upload.

Yes. In Indonesian tech/UI, mencadangkan means “to back up (data),” e.g., you’ll see Cadangkan & sinkronkan in Google Photos. In everyday speech, people also use the loanword: membackup or informal nge-backup. All are understood; mencadangkan is the standard/neutral choice.

Note: In Malaysian Malay, mencadangkan often means “to suggest.” In Indonesian, “to suggest” is usually menyarankan/ mengusulkan, so there’s no ambiguity here.

Why “membuat unggahan baru” instead of just “mengunggah”?

membuat unggahan baru = “make a new upload/post” (focus on the resulting post as an object).
mengunggah = “to upload” (focus on the action).

Both are fine. A more direct, often more idiomatic version is:

Saya mencadangkan foto sebelum mengunggahnya. (“…before uploading them/it.”)

If you mean a social-media post, people also say:

…sebelum membuat postingan baru or …sebelum memposting (more colloquial/loan-based).

Is “mencadangkan foto” natural, or should it be “mencadangkan data”?

It’s natural. Foto are a kind of data; UIs and documentation say mencadangkan foto or cadangkan foto. Other natural options:

membackup foto (very common in speech, informal)
membuat cadangan foto (more formal/manual-like)

Who is the subject of “membuat” in “sebelum membuat…”? Why is there no “saya” there?

Indonesian often omits repeated subjects. The subject of membuat is understood to be the same as the subject of the main clause (saya). You can add it for clarity or emphasis:

…sebelum saya membuat unggahan baru.

Does this sentence describe a past action, a current one, or a habit?

Indonesian verbs don’t mark tense; context decides.

Past/completed: Saya sudah/tadi mencadangkan foto…
Habit: Saya biasanya/selalu mencadangkan foto…
Future/intended: Saya akan/ingin mencadangkan foto… Sebelum only indicates sequence.

Should it be “foto” or “foto-foto” if I mean multiple photos?

Indonesian doesn’t require plural marking; foto can be singular or plural. To be explicit:

Reduplication: foto-foto
Quantifiers: banyak foto, semua foto, beberapa foto
Possessive: foto-foto saya (“my photos”)

What’s the difference between “foto” and “gambar”?

foto = a photograph (camera/phone).
gambar = any picture/image (drawing, icon, diagram), and sometimes photos in casual speech. In tech contexts, gambar can mean generic image files. If you specifically mean photos, foto is clearer.

Is “unggahan” a noun? How is it related to “mengunggah”?

Yes. Base unggah (“upload”) + suffix -an → unggahan (“an upload; the uploaded item”). The verb with meN- is mengunggah (“to upload”).

Verb: mengunggah foto
Noun/result: unggahan baru

Can I move the “before…” part to the front?

Yes:

Sebelum membuat unggahan baru, saya mencadangkan foto. A comma after the introductory clause is normal in writing.

Does “baru” here mean “new” or “just”?

Here, baru is an adjective: unggahan baru = “a new upload/post.” As an adverb, baru means “just/only just”:

Saya baru mengunggah. = “I just uploaded.”

How formal is “saya”? Could I say “aku” or “gue”?

saya = polite/neutral, safe in most situations.
aku = informal/intimate but widely acceptable among peers.
gue/gua (Jakarta slang) = very informal. So with friends you could say: Aku mencadangkan foto sebelum…

How would I say “back up my photos to the cloud before…”?

Use a destination with ke:

Saya mencadangkan foto-foto saya ke penyimpanan awan sebelum mengunggahnya.
Colloquial/brand: …ke cloud/ke Google Drive/ke iCloud… Use ke (“to”) for destination; di (“at/in”) for location.

How do I say “first” or “first of all” in this sentence?

Common choices:

terlebih dahulu (polite/formal): Saya terlebih dahulu mencadangkan foto sebelum…
dulu (informal/neutral): Saya mencadangkan foto dulu sebelum… Both mean “first, before doing the next thing.”

If I want to refer back to the photos or the upload with “it/them,” how do I do that?

Attach -nya:

Upload them/it: sebelum mengunggahnya (refers to the photos; number is unspecified).
The upload (as a noun): unggahannya = “the upload” (already known). Avoid sebelum membuat unggahannya unless a specific upload is already understood.

Can I say “sebelum mengunggah yang baru”?

Yes. yang baru stands for “a new one.” Examples:

Saya mencadangkan foto sebelum mengunggah yang baru. If you mean a new photo specifically, make it explicit:
…sebelum mengunggah foto yang baru.

Why is it “mengunggah” with “ng” after “me-”?

It’s from the prefix meN-, which assimilates to the first sound of the base:

meN- + unggah → mengunggah
meN- + cadang + -kan → mencadangkan This is regular Indonesian morphology.