Question How to restore a single forum from a backup?

My server was locked last night and when we got it back, one of the forums had no posts in it.

Is it possible to restore a single forum from a backup of the database/site?

Ken

Yes, it's possible to reconstruct a specific category - we don't use the word "forum" in that sense any more - from a backup of your database. It's not easy to do and it requires a good understanding of how to manipulate database tables. Unfortunately we cannot easily describe the exact steps that you need to take simply because each situation requires a different solution.

This is not something that we would advise novice users to undertake; the risks of losing your entire Kunena installation are very high (see How To Destroy your forum data... and we would recommend that you only undertake such activities if you have a good backup of your whole site and under expert guidance.

The short answer is yes ... if you know what you are doing.

It would help to know what version of Kunena you are using. Please understand that support for K 1.5.x is very limited.

Between myself and two of my associates, we are capable of manipulation of databases, tables, etc. Kunena 1.5.7 is the version.

The category id is 18 and somehow it seems to have lost all the posts in in (about 300 topics). Maybe there is a glitch in that the forum isn't showing category 18? Maybe I should check that first? Or is there a database tool?

Any suggestions are appreciated. I'm aware that I should backup the site and work on a copy first.

Well, I fixed the problem.... thanks for the response which is great encouragement and support even though the issue was related to my SEF software, Artio SEF. Turning that off fixed it. I think I'll leave it off for good, have had many problems with ARTIO SEF.

The site is www.fiberglassics.com if anyone is interested in classic boats.

I'm pleased to hear that you have fixed your problem.

I would remind you that your version of Kunena (K 1.5.7) is nearly 2 years old. There is no support at all for that version. Here is an excellent opportunity for you to upgrade from K 1.5.7 to K 1.6.4 and I strongly encourage you to make the most of that opportunity.

Support for K 1.5 will soon be withdrawn completely (just as support for K 1.0 was stopped about 1½ years ago). Upgrading to K 1.6 is very easy; see K 1.6 Upgrade Guide . If you have any problems with the upgrade, please let us know and we'll do our best to help you.

I would like to upgrade to the latest.

The main reason I had not was that the kunena template I was using presently was not available in the latest version.

I suppose that is not the best of reasons and maybe I can find the time to "recreate" the template in the latest.

The template I am using is The White Pearl v2 Kunena Template by kenlapz.ORG

Thanks much,

Ken

The user kenlapz has not contributed to this forum for 2 years. I think it's unlikely you will find any help there.

Kunena 1.6 templates have a lot more flexibility and, unlike K 1.5, they do not have anywhere near the need to change the PHP source code as was done in the previous version. This dependence on maintaining the PHP source code in K 1.5 was one of the biggest sources of problems for the community because, as soon as people customised their K 1.5, they were hampered in their ability to keep their version of Kunena up-to-date because they had made changes. Your case illustrates that point we've been trying to make to the community and why we have been so insistent for people to upgrade to K 1.6 now ... before all support for K 1.5 stops.

If you upgrade to K 1.6.4 you will not have this problem of being "locked-in". You should then be able to upgrade to K 1.6.5 when it's released without having to re-do any template customisations that you might want to make.

However, even in that regard, the Blue Eagle template (that you see here at www.kunena.org ) makes customising simple. The template is driven by simple parameter settings that make customising it as easy as configuring Joomla or any other Joomla extension.

The kenlapz template that you are using at the moment will not survive the upgrade and that's a fact you have to accept. This is documented in the Kunena 1.6.4 release notes , in the K 1.6 Upgrade Guide and indirectly in K 1.6 Technical Requirements and I encourage you to read all of these articles before you attempt to upgrade from K 1.5.7 to K 1.6.4. If you meet all the technical requirements, if you've done your homework properly and taken the necessary precautions, the upgrade process takes about 30 seconds to one minute.

I was successful in upgrading to 1.6 on a development server (copy of site) a few months ago. Today I customized the template per above.

I will work on the dev site until it looks as good as it can and test it.

Two things I wasn't clear about are:

1. Where should you edit the .css to make font and text size changes?
2. Where do you put custom images like the ones that show forum post icons, etc.?

If I've gotten too far off topic and should go do more research, just tell me!

Yes, we're off-topic.

See FAQs tab for How do I change the colours of my template in Kunena? , etc. plus there are easily configured options in the Kunena Template Manager.

Search for "topic icons" for more information about those things or start a new topic if you want more help.

Congratulations on the successful upgrade - glad to hear it - and welcome to using K 1.6.4.