This is how I lost and retrieved my website!
Table of contents
The idea behind writing this experience is to caution and help myself/others in similar situations. If it's of use to even one person then I would consider the purpose is served! Here is the story...
Lost part!!
I was experimenting with multiple service providers to host my website for the past 3 years. I used to get emails every time service was about to expire. Last year, I was thinking of discontinuing the website, so I purchased a 1-year plan with a cheap service provider as a backup option, just in case I decide to continue it later.
One year passed and I didn't pay much attention to my website! Suddenly one fine day I remember to check it. Alas! It was gone!! I contacted my service provider, they said it was removed because of nonrenewal. I was shocked and angry how can they do it without sending any renewal reminder emails(as was the case with other providers)!! Got to know that they just created reminders in the form of service tickets on their dashboard, which I never bothered to check throughout the year!!!
I reached out to hosting provider and checked for options if they can still recover my website, if I chose to continue with them. Though I didn't want to continue with them, I tried that option in a desperate attempt to retrieve my website back. They were unsure and told me that if I have a backup they can use it to restore my website after I buy a new plan from them!!
Retrieval Part!!
Since they mentioned about backup, I searched my system and found one backup file which I had taken during previous migration, from one service provider to another. Uff!! a sigh of small hope!! Though I was little relieved, was not sure if that 1 year old backup file was intact and uncorrupt. Anyways, I thought of going ahead with it and purchased 1 month hosting plan with GoDaddy to try my luck.
After purchasing the hosting plan, I explored for options to retrieve the website back from .wpress backup file. I found out that I can do that with All-in-One WP migration tool.
All you have to do is install that plugin-> activate ->Navigate to import option-> import your backup file.
I thought I will successfully restore my website now, but there came a problem! It was getting stuck and not getting uploaded. I searched again and found out that following(courtesy - host4geeks.com) could be the reason for WP migration stuck issue.
At this point, I almost lost hope of getting my website back, as I was convinced that my file could be corrupted or it has unsupported themes in it!! Still, the amount of work I had put in for this website and the thought of losing everything just because of my poor choices or negligence was taxing my ego! So I thought of leaving no stone unturned before I give up!!
I read couple of articles and tried some youtube videos which were claiming to give solution to my issue, but nothing worked for me. Finally after 2 days of struggle I found this video which really helped me to solve the issue. And I could retrieve my website back!!
He suggested simple solution to the "stuck All-in-One WP Migration import" issue. Steps are as follows.
Install file manager plugin.
Upload your backup file manually in the below shown directory.
- After that go to All-in-One WP Migration plugin->backup option. You should see your backup file.
If you try to restore your file, it won't work in free version. So you need to install previous version of this plugin to proceed further. You can find that version in the below link.
https://chinedudigital.com/all-in-one-wp-migration-import-stuck/
Note - first deactivate and un-install the current version, then install the previous version (i.e 6.7 version)
- Once previous version of the plugin is activated, navigate to the place mentioned in point no. 3 and click on restore option. Hurray it works!!
Conclusion
Some of the lessons I learnt from this whole episode of losing and retrieving my website are:
Never go for cheap hosting service providers, even if you plan to have it as a backup/parking area for your website for some duration (after your current hosting plan expires). Instead you can just take multiple backups of your website and start with new service providers whenever you are ready.
Always chose hosting/domain service providers with good support team. Because they are the ones who you will be reaching out to for any issues. So, do some research, check reviews about the support team.
Maintaining a website comes with a cost! it could be taxing further, if you are like me, doing it for a hobby still want to have a professional looking website with your own domain and hosting!! So even if you are not posting regularly, check your admin page once in a while and see for any red-alerts like some services getting expired or outdated plugins, etc. This can avoid unnecessary issues and save lot of time and energy in future.