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Any PHP experts here? Or anyone?

by wally247
12 replies
Hey,

I've destroyed my clients site and I'm sick. I used this cloning tool called WP Twin to clone my client site.

I've used this thing 50 times before and never an issue. So I download the clone which is just all of the WP files right.

I wanted to deploy the cloned files on a test site because I always do that to make sure it's working properly. But instead I deployed the clone on the working site by HUGE ACCIDENT.

But that really should not have mattered...I would think it would just have replaced the site with a working version (the clone)


But now WP Twin is not working like it always has. I called Godaddy where the domain is hosted and he said the database is gone...and I have no idea how that could have happened....I was NOWHERE NEAR the database.


But if I understand right the .wpt file that you download with WP Twin has the database in it anyway, so I am totally lost and unhappy.


If there is anybody out there who may have a clue I would so appreciate your help. I am screwed here if I don't figure this out.

Thanks a lot
#experts #php
  • Profile picture of the author wally247
    OH yea.

    Godaddy said they would "try" to "find" the sql database and restore it......for $150! And they didn't make it seem like it was even a sure thing.


    Wow. You destroy your website on accident and .......forget it, I'm hammered now.
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  • Profile picture of the author topnichewebsites
    I did see online there was an update to WP-Twin 2.7 to fix problems with GD. Do you have the version or higher ?
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    • Profile picture of the author wally247
      I was using version 2.7 but upgraded to 3.5 last night. Neither one of them helped me though...just kept screwing up everything they touched.


      Godaddy helped me for free for a bit, showing me where they store their back ups. But when I did a restore for the DB it was still screwed up, so I had to drop $150 for them to mess with it....it's still not fixed
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeOranguu
        I'm sorry to tell you that if the DB is wiped and there isn't a backup anywhere then you in a creek without a paddle.

        If you're lucky someone has an export somehwere, or an old version that can be restored. However if there isn't then it will be best to make the apologies to the client and offer them as much help as you can to stay in their good books.

        I once wiped an entire clients database of 2000 odd posts in my early days as a developer, luckily though i had backups. You always need to have backups, it's so important.

        I suggest you use an automatic WordPress DB backup plugin on future installs, that way you will always have a backup and if this happens again you can simply import the backup and act like nothing ever happend.

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        If you don't mind me asking, send me a copy of that sql backup you have in PM. If they have backups then nothing should be a mess and it is a simple task to put the backup in. However you normally need to do some spring cleaning first.

        Did you have any errors when you tried to restore? Do you have access to PHPmyadmin? I could possibly help if you do have the backup.

        Regardless you know where i am should you need any pointers, etc.
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        • Profile picture of the author wally247
          I AM A MORON!


          If you use WP Twin, here is a lesson that will save you $150, the urge to jump out of a window and more anxiety than you could ever imagine.


          Ready?


          Don't change the file names of your WP Twin clones. They HAVE to start with wptwin-blabla.wpt or the PHP file doesn't recognize them properly. I didn't know that, and usually never change the names....this time I did, and I also had changed my other clones for easier filing.


          So that's why none of them worked. As soon as I changed everything back the clone worked perfectly and I have a site again.


          Thanks guys for helping me out though, I do appreciate it!

          Wally
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          • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
            Originally Posted by wally247 View Post

            As soon as I changed everything back the clone worked perfectly and I have a site again.
            So maybe I'm misunderstanding something here: The database was in fact sitting there, untouched, the entire time? And your host couldn't point this out, even after you shelled out $150? Or...?
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            • Profile picture of the author wally247
              Originally Posted by David Beroff View Post

              So maybe I'm misunderstanding something here: The database was in fact sitting there, untouched, the entire time? And your host couldn't point this out, even after you shelled out $150? Or...?

              No.

              The database was wiped out on the Godaddy end of things, because of whatever I did wrong when I tried to "Deploy" the site by accident. I meant to deploy the clone on a test site as I always do, which you do by typing in www.yoursite.com/wptwindeploy.php

              Instead of doing that, I put in www.clientsite.com/wptwindeploy.php and overwrote the site with the clone.


              That would have actually been fine, but I named the clone something that I shouldn't have, making the PHP not able to properly read whatever files are in the clone.


              The database is in those files. So in essence, yes, the whole time the DB was safe, but it was not on Godaddy's end.


              They gave me a refund though since I figured it out.


              A lot of people bash Godaddy, but they were pretty good to me trying to help me figure it out. I was not happy that they charge the $150 to retrieve the DB but if that was my only option I would have gladly paid it to get the site back.


              w
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  • Profile picture of the author topnichewebsites
    The DB was wiped off GD server but when he downloaded the file from WP-Twin he had change the name of the file. So when he went to restore it, it wouldn't work. Changing the name back to what the script name it work just fine.

    GD and bluehost do have problems time to time with cloning scripts.
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  • Profile picture of the author mmchael
    Wally - please run daily backups of Databases and WordPress files and set automated FTP download of them all. I have seen too many painful situations and many panic attacks from too many people with similar issues.

    We see many customers run into similar problems. We run regular backups and images and pull them out without fees as we know how painful it is but we always recommend people run their own backups and backups on backups. Even with the best setups, processes and procedures Murphy's law will still hit. Before doing anything make a copy of files. It's so easy for things to go wrong.

    Another good simple option is run your dev environment from a directory with DropBox and you can use use DropBox versioning to grab files if you mess up without backups.
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    • Profile picture of the author wally247
      Thanks,

      I will. I won't ever touch a site again unless I have a manual back up that I have done....never again will I go through that.
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      • Profile picture of the author adenicol
        There are a lot of plugins to do database backups but the only thing I ever really trust is a physical backup I do myself. My advice in the future is log into the godaddy back end, launch the phpmysql and then do an export of the database. Then you can just restore it from the phpmysql as well. Nice and easy.
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  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    No here is a lesson for you. Before you do anything major to a clients site make a backup copy of the database and of the site. I can honestly say as I freelance programmer for over 5 years I have never failed to make a copy before I started working.
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