Important [Topic closed by moderator due to lack of interest] Help my Forums might be deleted?

Ok i was messing around with the topics in my forums. I took the main category and changed the parent to something else and now my forums arent all gone. I know im not explaning this correctly am i?

OK, calm down. Do you have a backup of your website before you made those changes?

Have a good look at the Forum Administration panel to see where you have moved things around.

I assume that you did not make any changes to the database (with something like phpMyAdmin, for example).

Work with us on this problem and your site will be back again in no time.

No backup, my website host doesnt do back ups and I didnt back anything up either. Let me try to explain this better what I did:

1. I was looking at all the Categories and Forums in the Admin Panel. You know where you can add new categories and stuff and set controls for them?

2. The first Category had no Parent Directory, I guess it is called. And I wanted to just see what would happen if I changed the Parent Directory to I guess it was the Forum Name or something? Not really sure how to explain it.

3. Went to more forums to see what it would change and now all my Categories and Forums in them are hidden somewhere. Im sure they are still in the DataBase on my Host but I have no idea how to roll it back or to retrieve the way it was.

4. Is there an option in the Kunea Forums to roll back or something?

5. Its now telling me when i go to forums that there are no categories.

Here is link to my website: Website

User name: test12
Password: test12

Username/password = test12/test12 is invalid

There is a lesson here: if you're unsure about what something might do, make a backup before you start experimenting. Better yet, try things out on a test website before you touch your production website. Having a good backup régime is your responsibility, no-one else's! Before you do anything else, right now, download Joomlapack and read how to use it . Experiment with it on a test website. Get comfortable with it. OK?

Kunena does not have the kind of roll-back feature that you're looking for. It still should be possible to repair the damage.

Because you created the problem at the back-end, the problem can only be fixed at the back-end. I understand that it's necessary to have a username/password to see your forum but, if you want my help, I will need a username/password as a site manager or administrator to do any good. Please do not post that information here publicly. It would be better if you PM the information to me (if you trust me, that is).

I sent you a PM

Username = test12 (all lowercase letters "t" "e" "s" "t")
Password = (as above)

This is not a valid username/password combination. I am not a mind-reader. Please provide the correct information. Thanks

Oh dear! :ohmy: I cannot see any forums defined in your Forum Administration control panel. It's not just that you have moved the categories around, it looks as though you've deleted them, too!

There are a few important lessons to be learned from this disaster: the first, and most important one is, never do something you've never done before on a live, production test site. Experiment, if you must, on a test site first. More importantly, if you are about to change something important with the design, layout or organisation of your live production site, make a backup beforehand ... before things go pear-shaped.

In this case, things have gone into the "I need an expert to fix this up". The damage is not irreparable but you should engage an expert and you may be expected to pay for the service.

There's a common mistake that novice Kunena users fall into: "I'll just delete all those 'child' forums because I only need one." Don't do it. Don't ever delete things. Unpublish them if you have to, but don't delete them.

Kunena needs two "forums" - I'll explain what I mean in a moment - to work. One (the level that has "no parent") is known as the category. Within the category you create your forum. If you don't organise your Kunena board in this way, you cannot post any topics. I know, the jargon is horrible! It took me months to understand it. Please read How to create Categories, Forums and Subforums and Standard (consistent) Terminology?! .

Also, read another user's similar experiences: Changed Forum category setting and lost categories