www.gsx1400owners.org

I got an email from another admin to tell me that a member 'MrErling' had ALL his posts simply disappear as if they'd never been there.

And today another member 'Tony Nitrous' has had over 2130 posts posts changed to simply "." in lieu of content.   eg http://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=4762.0

That can't have been done accidentally and I KNOW that my other admins wouldn't have done it.

Any idea what would cause it, and more importantly how to prevent it happening again?

Presumably a rollhback to a previous backup will be the only way to get the posts back. I can live with that.   

I just need to protect it from happening again.

HELP !!!! please

Check your database. See if they are there. Are there log files about it any where...like admin logs, mod logs, etc...

Have you checked with your hosting to see it they have moved your server, or rolled back, that would account for loss of posts

Did you figure this out over at SM ??

OK, first "Modify" any of the posts to see if you can see the actual posts on the preview instead of just " . ". Might be a SMF reply issue, maybe...

1.  Then run your anti-virus program on your PC and on the server. Change your password for the server, the forum, and your admin account.

2.  As Bigguy said, check your db to see if the posts are in the db. If they are, then you can recover them. They are just not making it to the forum for some reason...maybe a mod?

3.  Could be a hosting issue like Les says...check with them.

Quote from: lesmond on Nov 11, 2019, 06:47 AMHave you checked with your hosting to see it they have moved your server, or rolled back, that would account for loss of posts

Posts are there Les, just the content of the posts are missing, so I wouldn't think it was a rollback otherwise the posts would be missing completely.  Unless they broke something in the process.

Quote from: lurkalot on Nov 11, 2019, 01:46 PMPosts are there Les, just the content of the posts are missing, so I wouldn't think it was a rollback otherwise the posts would be missing completely.  Unless they broke something in the process.

Thats true Lurk, could try a database repair on the db in cpanel, wouldnt hurt.

Tried the various avenues mentioned above to no effect.

Long story short -

I think the "." ones were intentional by that user.
The other disappearing post/s? Who knows, He couldn't even say how far back it happened...

I ended up rolling the forum back 3 days (after notifying users in advance of course) and its all settled down nicely again with no big amounts of info lost. Ability to edit posts now restricted to 3 hours after post made, not longer. 

Cheers all

Two things I've done for many years is:

1.  Set the forum so no one can delete their account. Doing so you'll have a record of their IP, email addy, etc. in case they try to cause trouble later using other login details.

2.  Create a recycle board. When people delete their posts/topics they will be sent there. I keep mine in an Admin category so no one can see it but admins.

Because of the GDPR they can request to have their accounts deleted. I will do that but still keep a personal record not on the site of their IP, etc. in case of trouble later.

Yeah I do the same
They never deleted the posts as far as I can see, jut edited them to '.'
But as above that's now sorted

Quote from: LandyVlad on Dec 09, 2019, 10:15 PMBut as above that's now sorted

So this is solved then...marked..