My blog is gone and I really need help. | Help Desk | Yakezie Forums

Wordpress with Thesis (last version, haven't upgraded yet)

I switched from Content/Sidebar/Sidebar to Content/Sidebar (everything was okay)

I was trying to have sidebar 1 appear on every page and sidebar 2 only show up on the home page, so I copied the Custom CSS file and the Custom Fuctions PHP file just in case something went wrong.

Then I added:

1. if ( function_exists ('register_sidebar') )

             register_sidebar(array(

             'name' => 'Sidebar 2',

             'before_widget' => '<li>',

             'after_widget' => '</li>',

             'before_title' => '<span class="none">',

             'after_title' => '</span>',

             ));

            

             function generate_sidebar_two() {

             if
        (is_home()){

             ?>

             <div id="sidebar_2" class="sidebar">

             <ul class="sidebar_list">

             <?php if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') ||
        !dynamic_sidebar('Sidebar 2') ) { ?>

             <li class="widget">

             <div class="widget_box">

             <h3><?php _e('Sidebar 2', 'thesis'); ?></h3>

             <p>Sidebar 2. Add widgets from WP here.</p>

             </div>

             </li>

             <?php } ?>

             </ul>

             </div>

             <?php

                     }

             }

             add_action('thesis_hook_before_content', 'generate_sidebar_two');

and then hit the Big Ass Save button.

I didn't notice that OneNote had added the (1.) before everything and it went to a completely blank screen. So I hit the back button and then I got HTTP 500 thing where it says it cannot display the page. That freaked me out. So then I tried to go to the Admin log in page, but even that won't come up.

I'm totally freaking out and it doesn't help that I've never done a back up before. Is there anything I can do? 

Ok this doesn't sound too bad.  So don't panic too much.  This should be fixable with ftp access.  Your hosting support can probably fix this for you.  Get them on live support or give them a call.  I don't think this kind of change would affect your other files or your database.  That should all be safe.  It should just be a matter of restoring the old code for that one section.

To be safe going forward, I recommend installing a plugin such as Backup Scheduler.  Then you are automatically e-mailed backups of your whole blog.

Thanks so much everybody. I gotta back up now. :-) You guys rock!

Good to hear Jen!  Let that be a lesson to anyone else on here who is not backing up their blog regularly.

It also reinforces how important customer service is with web host selection.

Marissa said:

YAY!

Thank you so much for saving my ass, Marissa. I thought it was unfixable and I was going to lose everything.

Glen Craig – Free From Broke said:

Whenever I make a change to my custom_functions or custom_css files I first make a copy of the files on my server.  This way if I really muck things up I can roll back to the prior version.

 

Glad to hear you are back up.  It's amazing what one off letter or symbol can do to your entire code.

I should do that, but always think it's just a little change.  Jen, I have broken my blogs more times than I have fingers and always get it fixed through the ftp back end.

Post edited 1:14 pm – February 5, 2012 by Jen @ Master the Art of Saving

Kay Lynn Akers said:

Jen, I have broken my blogs more times than I have fingers and always get it fixed through the ftp back end.

Wow, doesn't that get stressful? I was totally freaking out because I had no idea it could be fixed and I didn't have any sort of back-up. I was all like "Well, I guess I just wasted 60+ hours each week for the last 1 1/2 years." It was awful. I'm going to turn into one of those obsessive back-up people now.

I should do that, but always think it's just a little change.

That's how it always starts. Just one simple bit of code.  Then six hours later, way after bed-time you give up and the next morning you find out it was one simple character that was either missing or incorrect that you couldn't see the night before because you were so distraught about your site not working like you need it to.

Umm, can you tell I've done this a few times?

Another thing I'll do is make sure I have a good block of time before I tweak things and also tell the Mrs I'll be working on code and that I'll be throwing the headphones on (to block out distractions).

I've broken my site with the custom functions file before, it is a super easy fix if you can get in with FTP and upload your backup version. Glad you figured it out and got things back up and running.

Smart Wealth said:

knowing how little I know about it I probably would have freaked out also, good job for getting the site back up and running and definitely a lesson to learn

Thanks, Marissa totally saved me from freaking out all day.