diff --git a/CTFd/__init__.py b/CTFd/__init__.py
index 1dd466c0..63fd3473 100644
--- a/CTFd/__init__.py
+++ b/CTFd/__init__.py
@@ -41,14 +41,20 @@ def create_app(config='CTFd.config.Config'):
         if url.drivername == 'postgres':
             url.drivername = 'postgresql'
 
+        if url.drivername.startswith('mysql'):
+            url.query['charset'] = 'utf8mb4'
+
         # Creates database if the database database does not exist
         if not database_exists(url):
             if url.drivername.startswith('mysql'):
-                url.query['charset'] = 'utf8mb4'
                 create_database(url, encoding='utf8mb4')
             else:
                 create_database(url)
 
+        # This allows any changes to the SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI to get pushed back in
+        # This is mostly so we can force MySQL's charset
+        app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = str(url)
+
         # Register database
         db.init_app(app)
 
diff --git a/CTFd/admin/__init__.py b/CTFd/admin/__init__.py
index 2775dff0..cd40e896 100644
--- a/CTFd/admin/__init__.py
+++ b/CTFd/admin/__init__.py
@@ -63,11 +63,8 @@ def admin_import_ctf():
             import_ctf(backup, segments=segments.split(','))
         else:
             import_ctf(backup)
-    except TypeError:
-        errors.append('The backup file is invalid')
-    except IntegrityError as e:
-        errors.append(e.message)
     except Exception as e:
+        print(e)
         errors.append(type(e).__name__)
 
     if errors:
diff --git a/CTFd/utils.py b/CTFd/utils.py
index d785c179..ac4f3681 100644
--- a/CTFd/utils.py
+++ b/CTFd/utils.py
@@ -792,6 +792,15 @@ def import_ctf(backup, segments=None, erase=False):
                 saved = json.loads(data)
                 for entry in saved['results']:
                     entry_id = entry.pop('id', None)
+                    # This is a hack to get SQlite to properly accept datetime values from dataset
+                    # See Issue #246
+                    if get_config('SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI').startswith('sqlite'):
+                        for k, v in entry.items():
+                            if isinstance(v, six.string_types):
+                                try:
+                                    entry[k] = datetime.datetime.strptime(v, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S')
+                                except ValueError as e:
+                                    pass
                     table.insert(entry)
             else:
                 continue
diff --git a/export.py b/export.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7d62895a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/export.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+from CTFd import create_app
+from CTFd.utils import ctf_name, export_ctf
+
+import datetime
+import sys
+import shutil
+import zipfile
+
+
+app = create_app()
+with app.app_context():
+    backup = export_ctf()
+
+    if len(sys.argv) > 1:
+        with open(sys.argv[1], 'wb') as target:
+            shutil.copyfileobj(backup, target)
+    else:
+        ctf_name = ctf_name()
+        day = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
+        full_name = "{}.{}.zip".format(ctf_name, day)
+
+        with open(full_name, 'wb') as target:
+            shutil.copyfileobj(backup, target)