accidentally deleted files, users, comments everything

[bucster]

Help, this is not good.
There was many users, lots of pics, many folders.

Is it really all gone?

Please help.

Bucster

[Stramm]

give us more info of what you've done. Have you deleted the albums dir or a dir inside it?

[bucster]

Hi Stramm.
Thank you for a reply.
My dilemma happened by accident.

I was deleting a test account where users could test the gallery before signing up.
The check box at the bottom , in the users config page, where it automatically places a checkmark beside all user.
I checkmarked it by accident, then i continued to delete unknowing that all boxes were ticked.

At the next screen, first i seen all the confirmations and then i went pale, with sickly feelings.

I immediately contacted my isp, which is in America, had to pay $150 usd for a system restore.
I back up my database once  a week but needed a restore point closer than 5 days.

So today, I realize the restore had been done but it wasn't complete some files where not restored correctly,
ie, in the folder /cortina/albums/userpics/,  the users  _vti_cnf info is there but there is no files in the users folder.
In the gallery this showed all the file info, views and comments, etc, but no thumbnail or full size pics, just the placeholders where the pics were meant to be.
This i realize is a problem i am sorting with the isp. Currently i have made 4 calls to the USA from Australia at a total time of 1.4hrs.

Eventually i will get it restored, but i am asking for the development team.
If its possible to have a pop up message that highlights the fact, the checkbox for all user's is checkmarked.
Also maybe a pop up to confirm deletion of all files and the effects on the gallery if that is what is about to happen.

I really enjoy the gallery and my users find it very professional, i have approx 35 users signed up since i opened it at Christmas.
(only 34 days old) with approx 3000 views registered.

Again thank you for the reply.

Bucster.

[Joachim Müller]

don't allow users to sign in using a test user account, it defeats the purpose of having users registering individually. If you have such a generic test user account that is available publicly, you'll have to live with users accidentally deleting stuff others have uploaded using this particular test user account. I can see no reason at all to jumps through hoops and pay a lot of money to restore stuff that has been posted as a test only.
If you want to allow users to test-drive your gallery before signing up, you could allow non-logged in visitors (guests) to do stuff like uploading, rating or other stuff. This will secure stuff against accidental deletion, as one guest user can't delete stuff another guest user has posted/uploaded.
You have to understand that your isp has to restore both database entries as well as folders and files if the restore job is meant to succeed. I'm afraid that most ISPs don't store snapshots of user accounts - they usually only have full backups that they can use to restore the whole server in case of a hard drive crash; such a backup usually can't be used to restore individual user account data.
I understand that this doesn't sound helpful to you, but your issues clearly show why it is important to make frequent backups (do it yourself, don't rely on your webhost).

Post a link to your page for details.

[bucster]

Thank you GauGau for your swift reply.

I am sorry if i confused the situation.
The test account had no pictures, it was simply a login account to allow a select group to preview the benefits of joining.

I deleted the information as an admin in the main users config page.

As there was 35 odd users, they were spread between 2 pages on the users config page.
When i selected the Checkbox for all users it deleted the 30 odd users on the first page.

I have had the gallery off line today so the current users do not see the problem i have created.
But i will make it available again for public viewing.

www.fordcortina.com.au
or the site is connected to my home page www.bucster.com/cortina

Again, thank you for your reply.

Bucster

P.S the test account is still active again, after the isp restore.
user. test
password. test

[bucster]

Hi Again.
An update on this issue.
The ISP restore point was successful to within 1-2 days, this is more acceptable than my 5-6 day old backup.
I only need to contact the 2 users who signed up within the past couple of days, ask then to re-register and upload their files again.

Thank you for replies and assistance.

For future versions, Is it possible to have a pop up message to make admin aware that the "select all users" checkbox has been ticked.
Or a confirmation box that all files are about to be deleted before they become irretrievable ?

Regards
Bucster