[Solved] Aftermath of developer removal

[Jessica Emery+ 0]

The developer we used explained nothing about PageLines. After many other mistakes were discovered he was let go. This disabled his PageLines account. We have purchased our own account but are hesitant to make significant changes to the site because of all the problems. Some symptoms that we saw immediately with our site were that there didn't seem to be any way to enter any editor to make changes to Pages. Posts, oddly, seem to be conventionally editable. The developer failed to demonstrate an ability to create and restore from backups so we only have the working production site. An attempt to create a working backup copy doesn't work as well as the production site (which, remember, doesn't work very well).

What is the safest procedure to follow to ensure that we don't crash the site? Do we need to change the theme to one of the standard WP themes to disengage PageLInes? What do you suggest about solving the backup problem? We are hesitant to reinstall PageLines without a good plan.

[Aires 265]

Hi @Jessica Emery,

Sorry for your troubles.

When you say Pagelines which product are you referring to DMS1/2 or Platform 5.

I await your response to see how I can best assist you.

[Jessica Emery+ 0]

It appears to be referencing DMS. Once again, the problem was caused by the developer being removed as admin. There are not a lot of clues as to what's missing. How can one tell the difference between DMS1/2 or Platform 5 in a disabled install?

[Aires 265]

DMS 1/2 are both themes and can be found under themes in dashboard.

Platform 5 is plugin and is essentially free and can be downloaded from the WordPress repository. 

But to me it sounds like you have DMS. Are you getting any messages that you can see like it needs to activated or something.

Backups are more of a WordPress thing in general and there are tons of options you just have to choose which is best or easy for you. Some that come to mind are backup buddy or updraft just to same a couple.

Are you looking to build your site with PageLines if so I would highly recommend you go with platform 5 for its ease of use and current status.

 

[Jessica Emery+ 0]

DMS it is (see screenshot)

There are no current messages to activate or update anything.

We are in discovery mode in order to make the best decision about moving forward. We need to make sure that the Pages content are really in the db. We need to have all functionality working but it is not. The inclination is to replace PageLines but we are unsure about whether a migration will work successfully. We immediately need to be sure that a restore from backup will work although the original developer was unable to demonstrate a successful restore and another developer was unable to create a working Staging instance. 

 

[Jessica Emery+ 0]

If we install our licensed copy of PageLines over the sem-disabled version left behind by the original developer how great a risk of a crash will we be exposed to?

If we install our licensed copy of PageLines is DMS included or is there a separate fee and download?

[Aires 265]

If there are no other issues just updating the key should fix the issue.

No uninstall/reinstall should be needed if memory serves.

 

[Jessica Emery+ 0]

@Aires+ Thanks!