Global header disappeard and all backups

I don’t know if this question can be answered by an outsider, but I would start with any logs you may have for the site. Logs can tell a story and nothing happens without a reason. Also, those two events may or may not be related.

Since we don’t have any data to base our answer on, we can only guess. If I had to guess, the header might have disappeared after a plugin, theme, or WordPress update. The backups might have disappeared because you either exceeded your space limit, someone accidentally or purposely deleted them, or they were purged because of a violation in the terms of service with GoDaddy.

Regarding the last point, if this is a shared hosting account, I remember back in the day one could not use a shared host as a data dump, i.e. upload a bunch of files that aren’t being served externally to visitors, which backups aren’t. On top of that, if GoDaddy offers an actual backup service, they may not want you to use your own on-site backup service for free, hence the terms of service violation. I could be completely wrong on this, but that’s what comes to mind based on the information I have.

Your best bet would be to reach out to GoDaddy, considering actual files have disappeared on the server, and ask them if they have any insight into what might have happened.

Hi Ryan, thanks for the response. I’ll try looking through logs, not sure where to start for that. Not a shared host, we’ve got it all to ourselves.

I agree there is probably no relationship between the header and missing backup files, just a really strange coincidence.

Hah! Have you tried reaching out to GoDaddy? They are pretty much focused on maintaining the hardware. If you can get past the tech bot, you’ll usually get someone that let’s you know it’s not their area of expertise. It’s nice to know that there’s some people out there that knows this stuff, you just can’t reach them.

Understood. There are hosts that employ WordPress developers/experts, so when you do reach out, they’ll dive right in with you to figure out what’s going, or at least point you in the right direction. Depending on how often something like today’s situation occurs, could be worth considering.

Thanks Ryan. I beginning to believe the missing header might have something to do with the most recent update to WordPress, version 6.5.3. I also updated the migration tool at the same time. I did both updates a couple of days ago and didn’t think much about it. That’s the only change that’s been made on the host. I can’t say for certain since I did not pay them much attention. I will certainly be more alert with future updates.

Thanks again,

George