CMS Made Simple Forums

about 2 weeks ago it was noticed that the website is not loading correctly. when logged into the admin console the content/pages are all missing; not even the homepage is listed. currently the website loads the homepage but without a menu and that makes sense since the menu is created via the pages and their relationships. the code on the front end appears to be complete and is not missing any commands to call the menu.

in the spring of 2014 the php version was changed from 5.2 to 5.5 without issue (this was a suggested update via the hosting provider). fast forward to 2 weeks ago when the issue was noticed the php version was changed back to 5.2 to see if it would have an affect; it did not.

also, the admin log does not show any activity for months and during this time the site was displaying correctly.

current CMS version: 1.9.4.3

to my knowledge there are no readily available backups of the site. the host only saves backups for 7 days so those will not be of any help.

any insights or next steps would very much be appreciated. thanks in advance.

If you still have PHP 5.2 it should work with 1.9.4.3 but no matter what you need to upgrade as all older version of CMSMS are vulnerable to hacks when you upgrade the CMSMS you need to keep an eye on any 3rd party modules to make sure you keep them updated...

http://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/upgrading/old-versions

From your first paragraph it's not clear to me what state the live site is in. A URL to the site would help if possible.

If possible back up the database and website files now, so at least you can get back to where you are now.

Are the other bits of your admin still working (bar the Content -> Pages page)? If so try to clear cache (Site Admin -> System Maintenance -> Cache and content -> Clear Cache .... or similar, can't remember exactly on that old version).

Also, as the Dr says, you need to upgrade.

thanks for the advice. right now im leaning pretty hard on the host to provide a worthy backup but they are just about useless.

the site is:

i am not seeing a way to clear cache in the control panel. i feel that moving forward with an update at this point may complicate the issue, right? maybe best to get it functioning again beforehand.

Yes I would get it functioning first.

The home page HTML looks OK but is missing menu code, here is that portion of HTML:
It is closing DIVs properly so Menu Manager is not crashing, it's just not displaying any pages.

When you go to Content -> Pages is it crashing when trying to list pages OR is it displaying without error and just not showing any pages because it thinks there aren't any? (View source if you're not sure....does it end with </__html>?)

The pages are there in the database. I can tell because a google search shows up some of your other pages, e.g.
/index.php?page=about-us
works OK. So it's not as bad as it might be. Looks like Menu Manager is just not working for some reason.

Get a backup of current system before you do anything else, as my first message. Then we know that it can't get worse than it is already.

paul, the menu code is in the source: lines 58-67.

the content pages is just as you described; the control panel page loads correctly but there are no pages loaded. the content pages does end with </_html>

it looks as though i can create new content. the button works and a new page loads to create a new pages content.

it doesnt look like i can install a backup module so ill work on getting filezilla connected.

thanks again

now with proper backups; where do i begin to troubleshoot the menu manager? everywhere iv looked in cPanel just explains what menu manger is and not how to troubleshoot. the link to cmsms tutorial is dead.

do i change the permissions on the menu manager module or dare to uninstall?

i also read that the cache of the menu is deleted when new content is added but i cant add new content because the selection option for "parent page" is missing from the screen...

Go to Layout -> Templates. Ignore one called NCleanBlue. If there is a template with a tick in the "default" column click that template's name. Find the mention(s) of:
It will always start "{menu" and may have more after that. If there is more text, post the line(s) starting "{menu" and stop for now.

If there is just one mention and it simply shows "{menu}" then it is calling for the default menu - so go to Layout -> Menu Manager and click the menu that is ticked as the default and post all the code.

Also go to Site Admin -> Admin Log and post any recent messages.

(With such an old version, your menus might be called slightly different to what I show).

the default template only shows "{menu}" one time. when i navigate to the menu manager in the cPanel i cannot open any of the available menus. the only action i can take is "export to database". the selected default menu is "simple_navigation.tpl".

the admin log has only a handful of records dating back to March 2014. they are all logins and template edits.

What do you see when you go to Content > Pages?

Have you cleared the Cache yet? It is under "System Maintenance" or "Global Settings" under the Site Admin.

jeff, i hadnt seen that option before and it fixed the whole lot. i'm laughing at how much time i have put in fixing this when it was a simple server cache issue.

thanks everyone for the support and replies. as i begin working on this site using this platform i am sure there will be more questions.

thanks agian

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