Our old archive is gone - the domain unexpectedly went down and we were given no warnings about it. It's completely unavailable, if not outright deleted at this point. *major woes* We did do regular backups (.sql) and I have the most recent one, but that's ALL I've got. And, we are hardly master coders or anything, we just got this job because no one else was doing it.
We have secured new space and will be installing the latest version of eFiction there, and I'm fairly confidant of that part going smoothly. *crosses fingers*
However I've searched and searched through the wiki and the forums here for any directions and/or advice on what to do/expect when going through this process with a completely new install + backup files. If my search-fu has failed, please point me in the right direction! If not, please consider the following concerns, most of which stem from a lack of understanding of what, exactly, the back up backs up:
1. Categories: must be recreated?
2. Members: must be recreated? Do all our 200~ members have to rejoin the new archive when it is up and running?
3. Errors based on missmatching data: we had a TON of pairings listed, and I'm not even sure I have a list of the full run. If a story is uploaded via the back up that features a pairing that we forgot to include, what will break? The whole system? The story itself?
Just in general, if anyone has words of wisdom to share as we go into this process, they would be very welcome. Thank you so much.
....Mikey
Do you remember how your archive was set up? If the story texts (chapters) were stored in the database, you can use the .sql backup to restore the database from the old archive. If not, your stories are lost unless you also have the stories folder backed up. What version of eFiction were you previously using? If you were using 3.x, what you should do is:
1. Install eFiction following the instructions in the readme using the same sitekey as your old archive (you can find this in the .sql file in the information backed up for the settings table). Confirm this has worked by going to the site before continuing!
2. Using phpmyadmin, drop the tables created by the install and replace them with your .sql backup.
3. Go to your site and let it perform the upgrade.
If your stories were stored in the database, you're done except for recreating your skins. If your stories were stored as files, you're going to have to delete all your stories, reviews, etc. and start over like a new archive. However, doing it this way will let you preserve your member's information and the archive setup (categories, characters, etc.) and save you time setting this back up.
If you need to start over:
1. Empty the following tables in phpmyadmin: stories, chapters, reviews, favorites.
2. Edit the stats table to reset your stories, chapters, reviews info to 0.
3. Run the recalculate functions in the archive maintenance section in the admin area.
There might be more to tables to empty, but I think that will reset you back to a new archive with your members and archive set up intact.
Do you remember how your archive was set up? ...
Thank you so much! This gives us some pointers on what to do; once we get to the actual install point I'm sure we'll have more questions, but this is really EXACTLY the kind of insight and advice we were looking for. Much appreciated!
...Mikey
