Excuse me while I rant!

« I’m taking a leap in the dark! A 1950’s Christmas and a dance for you! »

posted by Babs on Thursday, 25 December 2008

What a Christmas present!

The only reason I have not put my ‘Frustrated Babs’ doodle here is because it’s Christmas, and I didn’t want to spoil the Christmas mood.

About a week ago, I updated my Photo Blog to WordPress 2.7. I chose just the one so I could be sure it would go OK, and to give me a chance to get used to the changes. It all went fine, thankfully.

Late Christmas Eve, well early Christmas day really, I decided to update my other two blogs. I thought I would do it while it was quiet in blog land. I chose Simplycats first . I followed the prompts, and clicked the link to check it was all OK. FATAL ERROR! My blog had vanished! I followed all the instructions in order to recover my previous backup. I had several long, boring and less than successful attempts to get the directory back. Finally I did it. By now it was Christmas day afternoon! I had had 2 hours sleep, and been to the Christmas morning church service in between though. Now I had to replace the database. I stared at the database that I had to empty. Should I, shouldn’t I? The instructions clearly said ‘Empty the database’ and who was I to doubt their superior knowledge? I nervously emptied it, as instructed, and imported the old one – many, MANY times! It will not complete! It times out every time.

I now have half a blog. Well half a blog that is no blog at all actually! The part of the database that wouldn’t import is the user info and posts. You’ve got it. I can’t sign in! In effect, I have no blog!

It all looks very pretty with it’s header and side bars with all the widgets intact, even though they are now on the wrong side, but as they say in Yorkshire, “There’s nowt else there”

I am now at a loss as to what to do, or where to go for help! In all my Twenty years with computers, I have never been this helpless! I have always fixed my own system problems, never had to send my computer to a hospital or had a house call! What is it with WordPress?

Will they ever make it user friendly?

If anybody has arrived here because they have discovered Simplycats is not functioning. I am sorry. I will do my best to get it up and running again very soon. Until then, I will cry and pout.

Stumble it!

35 Comments for “Excuse me while I rant!”

Lauren | 25 December 2008 at 21:20

I’m sorry that is happening to you. That totally sucks!

Lauren´s last blog post..Achmed Jingle Bombs
Kathy | 25 December 2008 at 21:50

Oh, Babs. I can’t tell you how sorry I am to read this. I don’t know why WordPress can’t be more user-friendly either. It’s insanity, really. I will pray to St. Isodore (patron saint of computers and the internet) and perhaps arrange an intercession. I wish I could help you, but I would be of little use, as this is so specific to your blog.

Crossing fingers and toes for you!!! This isn’t exactly a Merry Christmas, is it?

Kathy´s last blog post..Weirdest Trip Memento I’ve Ever Saved
Black Cat | 25 December 2008 at 22:06

Oh Babs, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what to suggest as I don’t know anything about Wordpress. I back up my posts to Word so if worst came to worst I could possibly restore them, though the comments would be lost of course (except sometimes when I back up late). I guess you will have tried all the help forums etc. I wonder if Ana could help? I think she helped you set up the site and she might know how to get out of a pickle.

What a Christmas! I hope you’ve managed to have some enjoyment since church – like a nice meal?

I’ve got a problem too; the sound’s half gone on my telly, I’ve only got the left channel! Oh well,these things always happen at Christmas!

Take care:) xxx

Black Cat´s last blog post..Doodle Week: Wednesday – Gingerbread
Eric and Flynn | 25 December 2008 at 22:14

Oh no! We hope you can get it up and running again. Our mum wants to change our blog over to the newer blogger so we can change our header and use page elements etc. She just knows that something will go wrong, so what she will probably do in the New Year is start another blog with a very similar name and run the two with the same posts for a while, then when she is sure it is okay she will just use the new blog and have a link to the old one.That way she hopes she will save her sanity.

Eric and Flynn´s last blog post..Merry Christmas
beetle | 25 December 2008 at 23:28

Lauren: It certainly does suck – big time!

Kathy: I had to Google St Isodore :O) Mo has just prayed for it also! Oh it IS a happy Christmas! It hasn’t got me down. There are far worse things in the world than a lost blog eh?

Black Cat: I do have a full back up but can’t load it because it doesn’t recognise my user name.
Half a telly, is better than half a radio, is better than half an ipod, is better than none! Ha ha ha! I hope you get it fixed.

Eric & Flynn: Changing blogs over is always a worry. I’m sure it will go well. Blogger is not as delicate as WordPress! I’m sure doing it that way will save your mum’s sanity
Mrs. Mecomber | 26 December 2008 at 1:38

Ouch! I am very sorry to read of your problems. Yes, wordpress is a royal pain! Very difficult and touchy software, I agree. It is too bad there isn’t much else besides it and Blogger.

Nonetheless, I hope you get this all worked out. Take care.

Mrs. Mecomber´s last blog post..Where’s That Holiday “Team Player” Spirit??
beetle | 26 December 2008 at 3:32

Mrs Mecomber: Thank you, I’m still working on it. I managed to get everything back (including access) but no posts were showing. That is an improvement at least :O)
Vampy Vic | 26 December 2008 at 7:25

Oh this is horrible! We shudder to think what would we do if it all went “poof”.
I think I am going to have to research this backing up business.
Oh I hope you find the solution soon ) Poor thing….

Vampy Vic´s last blog post..Christmas in Australia
Tricia | 26 December 2008 at 8:15

I’m really not sure what to suggest to help you, but I was wondering how you were updating – manually? Using Fantastico to update or using the Wordpress automatic update plugin? Knowing how you updated might help me or someone else come up with an idea for you.

Since you have access to your blog now you might want to try going to google and viewing the cache of your site. You could copy one post at a time from google cache and recover them that way. You can also see if your site has been archived in the “Way back Machine”. If it is you might be able to get some of your posts back that way too. http://www.archive.org/index.php

Tricia´s last blog post..Dogs don’t make good Christmas ornaments
Lee | 26 December 2008 at 12:34

Sorry to hear of your Christmas challenge. It sounds like you had a plug-in that wasn’t compatible. Most of the issues I ran into during the move to 2.7 were with plug-ins for the comment area, which had major changes with 2.7.

The good news is that when you get the upgrade finished, it really is more user friendly. The upgrade process from that point forward is completely automated. And that goes for plug-in updates as well.

Just a thought, and forgive me if you already did this, but when you make your update, be sure to turn all plug-ins off and then turn them on one at a time after you do the upgrade.

Good luck, Babs.

Lee´s last blog post..Dona Nobis Pacem – Merry Christmas
Babs - beetle | 26 December 2008 at 12:45

Vampy Vic: I am almost there but the database is obviously damaged and I have no idea how to fix that.

Lee: I can’t believe I didn’t do that! Especially after losing my other blog over a dodgy plug-in. I just need to find out where the database is and if I can replace it or even if it’s backed up in the full directory back-up I have.

Babs – beetle´s last blog post..Excuse me while I rant!
Daisy the Curly Cat | 26 December 2008 at 14:57

Oh noes! This is terrible news. Computers are hard.

I noticed something interesting though. I went to see how Simply Cats is looking now, and all the posts show up in my feed reader. Then, when I go to the blog, it is as you say, just the sidebar stuff. I do not know what this means, except maybe all the posts are somewhere.

I hope you can get everything fixed up!

Daisy the Curly Cat´s last blog post..Happy Boxing Day!
Kathy | 26 December 2008 at 15:49

Babs, I remember a scare I had with the plug-in that generated my name in handwriting at the bottom of all my posts. That plug-in, after upgrade, went wonky such that all my post content vanished, leaving only the post titles. When I disabled that plug-in, all my content showed up again and I regained consciousness.

As Daisy said, your posts are probably still around, but perhaps something is making them hidden. Plug-ins are such a nightmare, look there first.

Kathy´s last blog post..Weirdest Trip Memento I’ve Ever Saved
Comedy Plus | 26 December 2008 at 15:57

I’m so sorry honey. WordPress is indeed difficult. I just use the free blogger and that’s frustrating at times. Big hug honey. I hope you can work this out shortly.

Comedy Plus´s last blog post..The Day After Christmas
Ana | 26 December 2008 at 17:35

databases… a nightmare… a demolished a few and got them up again, I don’t know how, but sometimes I also needed some of the geeks to help me… well… did you login through PHP myAdmin (lol, I guessed it was called like that)?

Ana´s last blog post..Merry Christmas from the Cats to you!
Ana | 26 December 2008 at 17:37

PS: I forgot the login…

Ana´s last blog post..Merry Christmas from the Cats to you!
Natural | 26 December 2008 at 18:19

i shouldn’t read stories like this without wearing an adult diaper first….very scary. i don’t like losing info. or having things messed up either…a half a blog? i haven’t updated to 2.7 yet..i can’t wait. sorry babs.

Natural´s last blog post..Should You Care What Other People Think?
JD at I Do Things | 26 December 2008 at 19:57

Oh, Babs! I’m so sorry. This is every blogger’s worst nightmare, and you’ve had more than your share of WP problems. There’s GOT to be someone out there who can help you — someone who’s an expert in WP or databases or SOMEthing. I don’t have the first idea what to suggest, but as others before me said, I bet it does have something to do with plugins. I’m praying to Kathy’s god of technical stuff and Gus and Pru are crossing their paws.

JD at I Do Things´s last blog post..I Thought I Had a Holiday Bladder Infection (but I don’t) so you don’t have to
beetle | 26 December 2008 at 20:22

Tricia: Hi. I updated using Fantastio. I think I know what may have caused it originally. I believe it was a text widget that I meant to remove, but forgot. The problem I am faced with now, I think is a damaged database. All of my posts and comments are there in the blog, but will not show up. I tried to post this morning and it went through OK, but still can’t be seen.

Daisy, Kathy: I really think that it was the same dodgy text widget (that I meant to delete) that caused the original problem. Now I need to find out how to replace, or fix a damaged database. All the posts are there, and in the database. It’s very frustrating.

Sandee: Thanks Sandee, I expect It’ll get sorted soon. As it’s Christmas, I haven’t had the time to spend on it.

Ana: Yes I did log-in there and tried to import the old database back-up. It did help a lot, but won’t show the posts.

Natural: I waited and thought it would go smoothly, I just forgot to remove a troublesome widget first.
beetle | 26 December 2008 at 20:25

JD: I’m sure I will find someone who can help eventually. I haven’t even looked yet! It’s Boxing day in the UK. Still our Christmas, and we’ve been out all day feasting it up :O)
meleah rebeccah | 26 December 2008 at 20:43

OH NO!!!!!! I would be FLIPPING OUT! Oh I do hope this gets resolved sooner than later! How awful for you.

meleah rebeccah´s last blog post..Friday Funnies: Golfballs and Butter Cups
beetle | 26 December 2008 at 21:33

Meleah: Love the new avatar! I think I would be very freaked out if it were this blog!
Ivanhoe | 27 December 2008 at 0:27

Awwww… I’m sorry & I wish I could help, but I don’t have much copmuter fixing experience. My laptop is still at doctor’s. sigh.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas though besides the blog problem )

Ivanhoe´s last blog post..Happy Holidays
Jeff | 27 December 2008 at 0:49

Looking good to me. Did you get everything fixed or am I just that unobservant?

Jeff´s last blog post..You can’t make this stuff up
beetle | 27 December 2008 at 2:53

Ivanhoe: I had a lovely Christmas, thank you :O)

Jeff: Hmmm… Wrong blog ha ha! It’s my Simplycats blog that’s gone
Sniffie and the Florida Furkids | 27 December 2008 at 2:55

That’s awful. Mom would be furry upset if that happened to her. She was a teeny tiny bit upset when Allie stepped on the power supply and shut everything off while she was doing a major video upload….just a teeny bit upset…..after all…we’re too cute to be mad at for long.

Sniffie and the Florida Furkids

Sniffie and the Florida Furkids´s last blog post..Santa was furry good to us!
beetle | 27 December 2008 at 3:17

Sniffie and the Florida Furkids: Ha ha! Sukie usually walks on the keyboard and zaps stuff that I’m working on. Your right though. How can we get mad at you cute kitties?
Sassy Pants | 27 December 2008 at 3:57

Eep! That sucks so bad. I’ve had laptops mess up on me and I’ve lost all my writing before, so I can imagine how much it sucks.

Sassy Pants´s last blog post..206.174.94.32
Lady Banana | 27 December 2008 at 15:48

Grrrr, that is sooo very annoying, I dread anything happening like that! I hope you get it all sorted as soon and as smoothly as possible!
beetle | 27 December 2008 at 16:19

Sassy Pants: It’s not good but I think I’m going to take a major step to try and fix it.

Lady Banana: I’m gonna try recovering it with one last attempt!
Swubird | 27 December 2008 at 17:04

Babs:

Sorry to hear about your problems. This stuff is way way over my head. That’s why I stick with Blogger.

Happyy trails.

Swubird´s last blog post..SURFER CHICKS
Jeff | 27 December 2008 at 19:23

Oops! So you’re saying I should read ALL the words in your posts? Come on… who has time for that?!

Jeff´s last blog post..You can’t make this stuff up
beetle | 27 December 2008 at 20:49

Swubird: It’s definitely a steep learning curve!

Jeff: Ha ha ha! I had a good chuckle at your expense I think I may have been guilty of that myself once or twice – but never your blog, of course!
Maureen | 28 December 2008 at 4:01

Yikes! Makes me glad I didn’t switch from Blogger. So sorry to hear of your problems! WP sounds way too complex for me.

Hope Simply Cats is back soon!

Maureen´s last blog post..Boxing Day
Jason | 19 January 2009 at 23:52

My word was “Love” which basically tells me that the word generator doesn’t work and was created by optimists and/or hippies

Jason´s last blog post..Barack Obama is Not Your Messiah