ruh roh Sammy??? help!!

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so I used ftp to upload the forum folder to a folder on my computer but I see nothing about the messages already there what am I missing? I think we may have talked about this before? I may be away for a few days so I hope it stays up there until I can get to it again! THANKS FOR ANY INPUT or direction where to look on this subject. 

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BEFORE you do anything, DO A BACKUP.  Call it:  BU-01-22-07-not working for fastest reference. You may delete this later but at least you will be sure WHICH folder to delete.

IMPORTANT RULE:   DO NOT delete files or overwrite when troubleshooting. Instead rename so if you have a mismatch of some sort you can come back to it

2 ways to handle it:

1) One more drastic/faster.  Go to your CURRENT installation folder.  Change the name of your default folder to xdefault.  Now copy the other default folder to the current installation folder.  Notice I said COPY.  If you start back up again with your original formatting, all of it working, you could delete the xdefault folder.  BACKUP AT THIS POINT.   If in a real hurry, I would do this.

Hi Sam, Were you saying that I go to my host server and create another folder named backupSMF or what ever - and then copy all of my files from the forum into it for a back up? I really want to back up asap so I can start playing with mods.

And lets say a mod causes aproblem and I loose everything in the active folder- then to keep my forum address the same I would then delete the corrupt file and rename the folder where the back up is to the name of the previously active folder?

I don't know why I am having such a tough time understanding this aspect of it but I felt it was worth asking again before I do anything. Thanks if you can reply.. 

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hmm still wondering can any one  else let me know if it seems I understood how to back up correctly? This is a terrible thing not to know lol I always just backed up my Cute files on my computer but trying to backup the forum that way doesn't seem to work.
 

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Sorry Wanda.  I peeked in from work but did not have the time to answer.
When I came back, I could not find the thread!   Forgot to mark it unread!

The data for the forum is in your MYSQL database.

I created a SECOND SMF forum in my Fantastico and updated it.  It is my testing forum.  No real data just temporary posts.  Just a place for me to play and update to see how it will react on the REAL forum. Changes are made to that one.  If it works, I apply it here!

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lol No problem Sammy i was hoping it was because you were away having fun on vacation or something!

Unfortunately this subject remains in the dense zone of my mind.. So since I don't have fantastico at godaddy - then would I just go back to their equivalent and download another smf forum into another folder and add mods there to test the accumulative effects of them?

And is there then any way to back up the MYSQL data base? Because what happens if something does corrupt the smf forum? Would a new download be able to read from that data base so that messages aren't lost?

This is my first non on-site hosted forum such as an msn group or on that level ( can you tell??lol ) I wish I had a better understanding of it but I'm still a newbie at heart .. thanks if you can let me know the answers to my questions. I am missing something basic to the whole concept I am sure. But I trust your answers whether I understand the whys or not.

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OK I still haven't figured out how to back up my forum!!! GRR its mostly a time thing for me I can't seem to get the easy kindergarten instructions that I need. BUT this is to let you all know that you can visit now without registering at http://savetheferry.org/forum/index.php - I had to keep it hidden until I was sure about what I had done but we have about 17 members and I am going on a radio show to talk about it wednessday so I hope to have many more soon. And of course if you would like to join you are more than welcome!! MORE! than welcome. :0)

Oh .. and Sam if you read this - if you have a local talk show you might could get yourself on it to talk about web mastering you know a lot of shows are looking for anything interesting to cover.. just an idea you would be great!

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The files should already be on your computer.
The database can be backed up in cpanel > backup > download database.
Or in PhpMyAdmin you can backup the database
See this example

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oh my gosh that just confused me even more - I look at that and my brain gets scrambled  but I will come back to this post in a few days when I have a quieter mind and give it another go so THANKS VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One thing I found on the admin board was the maintenance area and I did one of the back ups there and chose to back up everything and it uploaded to my computer.

For now, if the forum crashed would I be able to reload from that? I don't know what I am doing sometimes, I just do things because something or someone I trust says that I should and I find that I am able to without giving it much thought. 

Thanks again - I bet when I finally do "get it" I will really feel like a dummy then for it taking me so long