"Empty" forums... New vBulletin install.

[MikeDVB]

I can't figure this out - I just installed vBulletin and there is no post in the "Main Forum" (the test one) and I didn't delete it - and there is no "New Post" button either.

http://www.inlandr.com/?f=2

If it's not doing it when you look you can see it in this screen shot:

http://www.screen-shot.net/ss/4050141980837771493.png

I've not made any changes and I even rolled the database back to as it was just after installation just in case it was something with the database.

This is a fresh installation with the database exactly as it was set up by vBulletin's installer and I cannot figure this out.

Any advice is appreciated - I was trying to do a fresh install of this forum because I had this problem early on after importing from phpBB3 with ImpEx and I thought it was due to the import - it suddenly began working and worked flawlessly for about 6 months until suddenly it happened again so I tried a fresh reinstall. The fresh install worked and then I went into the admin section to begin adding users and usergroups and suddenly it happened again so I rolled back to the initial database and still nothing.

Before you tell me it's a server issue, there are at least 6 other vBulletin forums running 100% perfectly on the same server and one can be seen at http://www.webhostingboard.net/ as an example (it's on the same server).

Any advice is appreciated.

[beishe8]

I can't figure this out - I just installed vBulletin and there is no post in the "Main Forum" (the test one) and I didn't delete it - and there is no "New Post" button either.

Create another user.
Post something .
Log out.
Login with the other user's details.
A "New Post" should be there.

[MikeDVB]

I tried, you can't post anything because there is no "New Thread" button to allow you to make posts - even for new users or if I allow Guests to post.

[beishe8]

I tried, you can't post anything because there is no "New Thread" button to allow you to make posts - even for new users or if I allow Guests to post.

Have you tried to create some forums/subforums?

[MikeDVB]

Have you tried to create some forums/subforums?

Yes, the forums show up empty with no "new thread" button just like the pre-existing forums. I can also assure you that the style/theme has not been modified at all.

[atmaca]

Check forum/user permissions

[MikeDVB]

Check forum/user permissions

They've not been changed - as I stated I actually rolled the database back to exactly as it was right after the install was finished before I made *any* changes to see if that fixed the issue and it didn't.

Permissions are exactly as they were out of the box - I can assure you it's not a permissions issue. I've run all of the tools under "Maintenance" including database check and repair + optimization as well as updating all counters etc...

And just to be sure, I actually did make sure that guests and administrators were not restricted at all.

[Trevor Hannant]

Mike, I know you're using the default style there but try creating a new style with no parent and see if the same problem occurs on that style too.

If yes, try re-uploading the non-image files, overwriting the current installation then try again. Of not, I suspect you'd be better to open a support ticket here:

http://members.vbulletin.com/membersupport_contactform.php

[MikeDVB]

Mike, I know you're using the default style there but try creating a new style with no parent and see if the same problem occurs on that style too.

If yes, try re-uploading the non-image files, overwriting the current installation then try again. Of not, I suspect you'd be better to open a support ticket here:

http://members.vbulletin.com/members...ontactform.php

The issue is primarily that this is a forum that I handle for a client and to open a ticket I would need the support extended (it expired April 12th) and the client will not extend the support for a product that in their eyes is not working.

[slappy]

I just created a user account on your forum without problem. Since the New Thread button does not appear, this strongly suggests that you have not completely and/or correctly uploaded the vBulletin software to your server. All files, with the possible exception of the images should be uploaded in ASCII format.

If you have access to the server, and you appear to be connected with the server site, you should be able to confirm that the images for the New Thread and New Post are, in fact, uploaded to the /forum directory.

First thing I'd try is to reload up everything, including images.

Have you made any recent changes to your config.php file which may have caused the loss of access to your existing database??

Regards,

[MikeDVB]

I just created a user account on your forum without problem. Since the New Thread button does not appear, this strongly suggests that you have not completely and/or correctly uploaded the vBulletin software to your server. All files, with the possible exception of the images should be uploaded in ASCII format.

If you have access to the server, and you appear to be connected with the server site, you should be able to confirm that the images for the New Thread and New Post are, in fact, uploaded to the /forum directory.

First thing I'd try is to reload up everything, including images.

Have you made any recent changes to your config.php file which may have caused the loss of access to your existing database??

Regards,

No changes have been made - it was working - I went into the admin control panel and began modifying some settings such as where attachments are stored etc... and boom suddenly it no longer works.

I rolled the database back to when it was working and still nothing.

Edit: I re-uploaded vBulletin and yet the issue still occurs - I rolled the database back to when it was working (just after it was initially installed) and it's still not working. There has to be something interesting at-play here because as near as I can tell it's not a file or database issue. I'm running the exact same version of this software on another forum on the same server with no issues at all.

I get the feeling this has something to do with caching or a datastore file created by vBulletin that wouldn't be over-written or removed on a fresh upload of the software without deleting the entire directory first and that the database would not touch.

[MikeDVB]

I deleted the entire forum directory and re-uploaded the forum from scratch and the issue still arises - I'm going to try recreating the theme.

I'm making sure that the files were uploaded in ASCII.

[slappy]

First thing to remember is that the installed vBulletin gets all its settings from the database, not the installation folder. Once you install vBulletin and create a database, all the changes are stored in the database, itself, not in the vBulletin files. You can, of course, physically edit the files to remove/add functionalities, but, generally, what changes you make, without physically editing the .php files are contained in the database files, themselves.

Have you physically looked at the database with a program such as phpMyAdmin to see what it contains in the way of tables and such?

Have you physically LOOKED at the vBulletin files on your server to confirm that the vBulletin files all have the same date of upload? This would be a clue that something was not correctly overwritten.

One thing you might try, as a test of your server.

Create a new top level directory and call it /testvb. As required by you license, put a .htaccess on the folder, so only you, and other admin can access the folder.

Upload an "untouched" copy of your vBulletin into that folder, in ASCII format. Edit the config.php.new file to direct it to a "new" database (NOT YOUR OLD ONE) which you could call "testvb", or anything you will recognize is NOT your Production database.

Once that is uploaded, run the install script and check to see if all the proper buttons are there and you can register, log-in, and create a thread. If you can, then you know you screwed something up with your current database, if you have verified that all the proper files are actually on your server.

If the /testvb forum does not work, that would strongly suggest a problem with the server.

Regards,

[MikeDVB]

I uploaded everything but the images in ASCII and still, no threads are being listed - I actually rolled back to April 20th before I destroyed the old forum and database to see if re-uploading vBulletin in ASCII would bring it back to life and still no dice.

You can see it here:

http://www.inlandr.com/?f=33

[Steve Machol]

Try rebuilding the thread and forum counters in that order:

Admin CP -> Maintenance -> Update Counters

Then if you still have this problem run 'Suspect File Versions' in Diagnostics to make sure you have all the original files for your version and that none show 'File does not contain expected contents':

Admin CP -> Maintenance -> Diagnostics -> Suspect File Versions

[Note: In some cases you may also need to remove any of the listed .xml files in the includes/xml directory.]

Next, disable all plugins.

Note: To temporarily disable the plugin system, edit config.php and add this line right under <?php

define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true);

Then if you still have this problem, create a new style and choose no parent style. This will force it to use the default templates. Finally empty your browser cache, close all browser windows then try again. Make sure you change to the new style and view your forums with it.

Do you have the same problem?