Totally ****** off with my host

[smitch6]

my server does back-ups regularly not sure how often i think it's monthly

and yes you can back up the server via cpanel and get it emailed to you that way it doesn't take up space
but sits in your email box until deleted or gets removed due to the age
i back my site up daily like that just in case

but bigJ only installed the site the day before and then tried the latest V that had been released that day
but unfortunately i was out all day and he installed the full V not the upgrade which installs everything on top of the old instead of migrating it.
hence unfortunately he lost everything

it was a pity i was out otherwise i would of advised against updating with the latest that had only just been released as his theme isn't supported and neither are alot of the mods

it takes a week or 2 or even longer for things to get developed so they are supported

[smitch6]

And, when I do, I won't be upgrading a "live site" - I'll work on a copy until I'm sure it's working okay.

that was the other thing i suggested that he run 2 shops on the same site
1 with the usual url and the other set it up under demo or something
and then always make all changes on the demo to make sure it all works and once your happy just swap files

simples when you know how

we all learn the hard way at some point though
hopefully it wasn't too harsh a lesson to be learnt tho

[JSR]

that was the other thing i suggested that he run 2 shops on the same site
1 with the usual url and the other set it up under demo or something
and then always make all changes on the demo to make sure it all works and once your happy just swap files

simples when you know how

we all learn the hard way at some point though
hopefully it wasn't too harsh a lesson to be learnt tho

Yes, I always recommend installing these things into a folder - such as www.domain.com/shop. That way you can always install the new version side by side (copy all of /shop/ to /shop2/, copy the database, modify the config files, and then you're ready to upload the updates/patches to /shop2/).

While checking it out, everyone's still using the live version in /shop/. When you're happy with the updated one, just rename /shop/ to /shop-old/ and /shop2/ to /shop/ while altering the config files. Now everyone will be using the newly updated version while the old version is still available in case you discover a bug in the new one (in which case, you just rename the folders back again and the old one instantly comes back into play).

Hope for the best, expect problems, plan for recovery.

[JSR]

my server does back-ups regularly not sure how often i think it's monthly

I set mine to do daily, then weekly, then monthly. I also have a second backup script that just backups the MySQL databases (so there's no necessity to dig into the separate account backups just to recover lost data in a database).

In addition to this, I have a script that backups all files called index.* There was a hack going around a few months back in which many sites were defaced when everyone's index files were changed. We were never affected by that issue, but it made me wonder what would be the best solution if we were. So I put a nightly script in place that copies and zips all index files - so if we were to get hit by it, it would only take seconds to recover everyone's index files (again, to save digging through everyone's full account backups).

All good fun...

[Charlie_]

These are the people I have used for the last 10 years ish http://www.3ix.org/sys/aff.php?aff=1782
If I have ever had any down time Ive not noticed it, they claim 99% plus uptime and im sure its more like 100%. On the odd occassion I have needed support its been there within a short time by email, instantly by phone UK support number by the way. all this and it costs me peanuts to use $1 a month. I however have upwards of 3 sites at any time hosted here so I pay premimun $48 for 6 months unlimited hosting and websites.

DISCLAIMER
I do not own this firm but have used them for 10 years ish without any real problems.

Charlie

[JSR]

These are the people I have used for the last 10 years ish http://www.3ix.org/
If I have ever had any down time Ive not noticed it, they claim 99% plus uptime and im sure its more like 100%. On the odd occassion I have needed support its been there within a short time by email, instantly by phone UK support number by the way. all this and it costs me peanuts to use $1 a month. I however have upwards of 3 sites at any time hosted here so I pay premimun $48 for 6 months unlimited hosting and websites.

DISCLAIMER
I do not own this firm but have used them for 10 years ish without any real problems.

Charlie

I've always felt it better that, if you're targetting UK businesses, it's better for your server to be in the UK rather than in America. It's not just about support but about speed and availability. If requests for your website first have to cross the atlantic and back again, it's not the most efficient that it could be.

Also, if your website is hosted outside of the UK then you have to consider the Data Protection Act if you're holding customer details in your website's database.

[Charlie_]

Its quick and they have offices in London. I would never hold customer details on any website of mine.

As long as I'm paid I more than happy not to know there bank details. I have used 123reg uk2net in the past and not a patch on this one im using now...