When you unzip your backup file, what do you have? The file structure of your WordPress installation + a <something>.sql file?
If that’s the case, it should be relatively painless to revert to your database from a few days ago (the time of your last clean backup). If you have access to phpMyAdmin, that’d make things even easier for you.
If you don’t know how to do any of that, here’s some help.
It is literally just a page of code. I don’t really understand what it contains-starts like this…
— MySQL dump 10.13 Distrib 5.5.33, for Linux (x86_64)
—
— Host: localhost Database: cl49-a-wordp-1zz
— ——————————————————
— Server version 5.5.31
/*!40101 SET @OLD_CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT=@@CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT */;
/*!40101 SET @OLD_CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS=@@CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS */;
/*!40101 SET @OLD_COLLATION_CONNECTION=@@COLLATION_CONNECTION */;
/*!40101 SET NAMES utf8 */;
/*!40103 SET @OLD_TIME_ZONE=@@TIME_ZONE */;
/*!40103 SET TIME_ZONE=’+00:00′ */;
/*!40014 SET @OLD_UNIQUE_CHECKS=@@UNIQUE_CHECKS, UNIQUE_CHECKS=0 */;
/*!40014 SET @OLD_FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=@@FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS, FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=0 */;
/*!40101 SET @OLD_SQL_MODE=@@SQL_MODE, SQL_MODE=’NO_AUTO_VALUE_ON_ZERO’ */;
/*!40111 SET @OLD_SQL_NOTES=@@SQL_NOTES, SQL_NOTES=0 */;
Does this look like the file that you suggested?
That looks like the top of a backed-up database. Can you create a new, second database and then import that file there via phpMyAdmin. If successful, change the database entry in your wp-config.php file to point to the new database and you should be right back to where you were at the time of the last back up.
Thanks for your help-I’m not very tech savvy at all! I think I may be able to access phpMyAdmin via my CPanel. I haven’t used it before though and don’t understand. How would I create a second database? I also don’t really understand how to change the database entry in wp-config. Obviously I don’t want to make things worse!
Do you think that this would definitely restore my plugins file?
Thanks again-i do really appreciate this!
Normally, you’d log into your hosting account (cPanel maybe) and navigate to where you can administer databases. You may be allowed unlimited databases or a finite number but usually more than one. Create the new database, you may have to supply a user name and password or it may be given to you.
Once done, visit phpmyAdmin and click on the new database. Go to import and import your saved sql file.
Then, in the root of your WordPress site, find wp-config.php. Back it up first, maybe by downloading it, then edit it. You’ll see entries for Database and User near the top.
I have in my cpanel mySQL databases-I will use that-but there is unfortunately not a phpmyadmin. What can you suggest instead? thanks for spelling it out-i needed it!
Hmmm. It may be named differently, what we need is some kind of web based MySQL management tool. Anything look vaguely similar in there?
I have something called php and underneath the icon it says “switch php versions”
That’s not it. Who are your hosts?
RockIT. Here is my Web Tools panel
<img src=”http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3704/10687986554_81142b3a76.jpg” width=”500″ height=”384″ alt=”Screen shot 2013-11-05 at 11.02.48″>
I do have it-its just accessed through mysql
I can import and restore a previous back up to the new database from there-should I just do that? sorry to inundate you-i’m keen to fix it!
I can’t see the image, it’s restricted.
Anyway, the reason I proposed creating a new database was to ensure you didn’t lose everything if things went wrong. So go ahead and import to the new database, you’ve nothing to lose 🙂
I went ahead and did it how you originally said, It said it had imported the files and I went and changed wpconfig. It hasn’t worked though. My plug ins file still doesn’t work. Completely fresh out of ideas now!
When you say it doesn’t work, what are you doing, what do you expect to happen and what does happen?
