What Happened
Stupidity was the reason for what happened. Mine in fact.
I allowed a script that stuck links and who knows what else into a bunch of the php files. So I wasn’t technically hacked.
It was in a WordPress theme and once it got into my database it jumped into a ton of files. I tried a revert and that didn’t work. Tried upgrading the WP software, that also didn’t work.
There was only one thing left: purge all the files and re-install WP.
It worked and the script is gone. But so is my theme, all the plug-ins, etc. It also has cleaned up a lot of junk in the database.
This is where the good news ends.
I never tested the XML backup to make sure it saved everything. Turns out the latest version I saved didn’t record a year plus of blog posts.
2009 is gone. Poof. So is October-December 2008, and all of January and February of this year. 144 posts in total.
Worse yet, all my permalinks are gone. Over 250 posts in need of redirection to unknown url titles.
Some of the comments and all of the pictures are gone too. (I did save all the pictures but at this point I would have to add them in manually which would be a complete pain in the ass)
Basically, this blog is now like a destroyed home after a tornado. There’s some stuff that can be salvaged but it is no longer livable.
Oh what a freakin’ nightmare!
I’m not sure the XML would have saved you actually. All it does is arrange and point your stuff -like when you boot a computer.
I’m inferring it’s WordPress? (you said ‘WordPress theme’) Have you contacted WP? I’m sure they have numerous servers and backup points, et cetera.
Ah Christ … I’m poking around. This is f–king brutal.
Email me some details … if I can help I would like to.
bad luck mate…I really enjoed your blog!
I hope you get things back in order soon!
It’s the WP software platform, not the blog hosting site. I called Go Daddy and they don’t keep backups or even have access to databases.
There is a restore feature though but that didn’t work.
I went through all the options before having to wipe the database clean. The problem was not backing up my blog frequently and not testing the backup to make sure it was complete. Well, that and my penchant for checking out new themes all the time.
I actually have all the pictures saved but with so much content gone forever along with a bunch of comments I’m not going to bother putting them back up.
Gosh, I’m so sorry for you. I did something similar to my blog a year or so ago and I lost ALL my posts, comments, photos and worst of all my links to all my favorite blogs. It was a nightmare. I too use wordpress and I am always changing my theme. Maybe I’d best stop puttering around with it.
Hope you get situated soon.
Wow, I’m shocked. That completely sucks. I’ve never backed up my blog and I have over 900 posts so perhaps I’d better get that figured out because you aren’t the first I’ve heard this happen to lately. Fortunately I write and script all of my posts in Microsoft Word first. Should I lose mine, I’d still have all the original material; just none of the comments.
I say, start over and just enjoy doing it going forward!
Thank you everyone for the kind words. They mean a lot to me.
No idea what I will do going forward. I’ll be writing none the less just haven’t figured out where, when, or whatever else.
I’m not going to lose sleep over this or let it affect my life but it does suck that I opened the door for all this to happen. It was a shitty lesson to learn but a lesson none the less.
Better to figure it out now as opposed to later.
Thanks is terrible news. I am sure you will use it as motivation to kick on and do something even better.
As a matter of fact I am doing just that.
Damn…
I know right? At least it gave me the chance to redo the concept for Angry Seafood.
[...] Angry Seafood Just another WordPress weblog « What Happened [...]
Chris, I have all of the text and links of all your posts in my Reader going back to 2008. Is there a way I can ‘give it back’ to you?
Forgive me if this is a dumb question, I have NO IDEA how these things work.
I didn’t even think to look in the rss feed. Good call and good to know for when I want to republish some of the old posts.