[Forum] How to get a site up and running off ftp files???

[GMislandguy]

WARNING ROOKIE MESSING THINGS UP!!

Help needed. lol.

I have a vb forum that I upgraded to vb4 suite from a vb 3.8 forum.

The upgrade didn't go smoothly as several features no longer worked and others don't work like they were suppose to.

So it order to try to fix things I played by deleteing the database, loading a new copy of vb4 and then tried to reload the files from a copy of the files from the OLD site that I downloaded using FTP.

After awhile of playing around with uploading edited, reloading files. All I get now is database errors.

So my question is how can I reload the site to the server using the FTP files I have of the OLD site.

I tried uploading and running the install.php. That just gave me a brand new forum with none of our old posts/data.

So I tried running the upgrade.php.

I get the same results. Just takes me back to the new forum that was created.

All the old site files are on the server and I can read them but I can't access them from the site.

How do I fix this?? Even if I could get back to where I was BEFORE I tried to fix things would be better then where I am now.

[HoddzDJ]

By the sounds of things, you deleted the old database for 3.8 and if this is the case there is no way you will be getting any of the information back unless you ask your host for a back-up that they have of the database. This is why you are getting no posts/members or anything. All of the information is in the database and not on the files so you kind of did things backwards.

If I read and understood correctly, you deleted the old database, and then installed a new one from vB4. So then you have a vB4 Database with vB3.8 files. You're bound to get errors with that. The best thing you can do is email/ring your host and ask them if they have a backup of the old 3.8 database and see if they can re-instate it. If they can, then upload vB4 and run the upgrade script and follow it all through. If you have Mods installed on your board then it is highly likely that most of them will cease to work after you upgrade to vB4. Head over to vB.org and see if any of them have been upgraded to run on vB4.

[GMislandguy]

Just to be totally clear.

I had a site running vb3.8
I upgraded to vb4 suite
After upgrade many features no longer worked right. The CMS page was a mess the CMS widgets overlapped the page content.
I tried to fix by manual editing files. It didn't work.
After 2 weeks of running this upgraded version of VB4 I decided to copy the files on the database by FTP.
I then delete all files on my database and reinstall VB4 suite with a default CMS module.

Now I want to add all the files I was using before.

Are you saying even though I was running the site as a vb4 for 2weeks it still was only a 3.8 site on the db??

Just for my own info/knowledge. You can't back up your site by downloading all the files from your server by using a ftp client?? Because I thought that is how you were suppose to do it, according to the upgrade instructions posted by TLM.

Thank you for the reply.

[HoddzDJ]

You can't copy the files from a database via FTP, you have to do that using your cPanel from :2082. Unless you mean on your server, as I think you're getting mixed up with the difference between a 'database' and a 'host.'

Yes, you have downloaded a back up from the FTP, but this hasn't downloaded the database information as I have outlined above. The main data is stored in the database, and the relayed onto the files. So, in effect, if you delete the database you have deleted your whole community even though you have the files still on the server.

If you have downloaded a backup of 3.8 from your host then you will indeed have a backup. But, if you don't have the database to go with it then you are pretty stuck. You will need to contact your host as soon as you can and see if they have a backup of the database previous to deleting it and starting again. As most hosts will over-write backups it is possible that they may not have one that old.

[GMislandguy]

LMFAO!!! I love being a rookie. I stayed up all night worked 12 hours straight only to find out I destroyed 2 months hard work and thousands of posts.

Oh well, the darn thing never worked right since the upgrade anyway.

I guess this is as good reason as any to start fresh. lol.

Thanks again for the reply even if it wasn't the answer I was hoping for. lol.