Frontend site won't load - 404 error message

[last_frontier]

I've been searching and can't figure out why I keep getting "404 - Article not found" when I try to view my site. I have a tiny home business on a tight budget. I make soaps and am trying to build the site myself to start wholesaling my products. I used Joomla years ago for another home business when Joomla was just getting started. It was simpler then. Now I can't figure it out. I think the problem happened yesterday when I logged into the backend and installed the suggested updates. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Webdongle]

What version did you update from? Or was it an extension that you updated?
viewtopic.php?f=714&t=793531

[last_frontier]

Thank you. I installed Joomla four months ago, installed a template from Joomlashack, and then recently installed the JCE Editor, Akeeba Backup, and VirtueMart. I check for and install updates regularly -- whatever the admin section says I need to update.
I downloaded the FPA (Thank you for the link). As I was trying to figure out how to upload it, I ran across this Database Warning and took a screenshot. Is this the problem (other than me not knowing what I'm doing)? How do I fix this? Thank you!

[AMurray]

You could try clicking the "fix" link that should repair any DB errors.

Running the FPA is simple. Upload the file by FTP (or your hosting's control panel file manager), run it in your browser (it's not a Joomla extension). Follow the instructions: viewtopic.php?f=714&t=793531

[Webdongle]

viewtopic.php?f=714&t=793531 please

[last_frontier]

I'm trying, but I can't even figure out how to upload the file. Do I go to the admin? What do I click to upload it. Or do I go to the hosting control panel and do something there. I beginning to think Joomla is now way too complicated for me. :-( It's an awesome program, but . . . too much for me.

[Webdongle]

Simple file management ... if you can manage files on a PC you can manage them on a server.
Many users who run a website know how to upload files but some just use a 'quick' install provided by their host.

Files can be uploaded/downloaded with an ftp client or with their Host's CP

An ftp client connects to the server (with user/password) and displays the files on the server and the files on the computer. They can then be moved from one to another.

With the Host's cp there will be a file manager. Navigate to that and to the Joomla root folder (that's the one with the configuration.php in). You can then upload the file from your PC.

Hope that helps.

[sozzled]

Usually, "404 errors" are the result of a broken menu. In this case, however, there seems to be an underlying problem with the _content table in the database.

Something broke. I don't know what broke, how it broke or when it broke.

There is a problem with the _content table in the database. As @AMurray suggested, it may help to use the database repair feature in the backend (that's probably what I would do but there's no guarantee this will fix the problem).

If the website worked (at some time) then the simplest remedy would be to revert to that time by using a site backup. That would be the quickest and easiest thing to do, right?

But, from the sounds of things, @last_frontier is struggling with some of the basics of file management. I'm sorry to say this but this is a self-help forum: we can provide advice but the execution of that advice is in the hands of those who choose to use it (or ignore it); them's the "rules".

My advice to @last_frontier is to take a breather for a moment. Relax. Buy a book on website design (preferably a book that is about Joomla) and have a read. Many books that I've read don't assume prior knowledge about website construction; they gently introduce the principles and concepts involved in site design, construction and maintenance. Joomla is not a three-clicks-and-hey-presto-instant-website-creation product. If you want something like that, go find yourself a product that does it. In my opinion, however, Joomla leaves many of these instant-website-creation products for dead in terms of performance, flexibility and cost!

So if you feel like abandoning Joomla then I'm sorry you feel that way. If you want to fix your problems then please stay calm, relax, and be patient. If you want to fix your problems before the sun goes down on another day then I suggest you should call in a professional to do the work. Good luck with whichever way you decide to go.

[Webdongle]

...
Something broke. I don't know what broke, how it broke or when it broke.

There is a problem with the _content table in the database. As @Webdongle suggested, it may help to use the database repair feature in the backend.

If the website worked (at some time) then the simplest remedy would be to revert to that time by using a site backup. That would be the quickest and easiest thing to do, right?...

As the OP doesn't know how to upload files chances are that they used their Host's 'quick' install. That would explain the database error.

Backup what backup? Bet virtual beer the OP doesn't know how to backup.

This may be a case of installing correctly then using something like J2xml to export/import the data. That way the OP will have a fresh Joomla site not a hashed up 'quick' 3rd party install (if that is how they originally installed).

[last_frontier]

Thank you all very, very much for your help and time. I used my host's quick install. I'm a widowed mom and an RN trying to also run a home business on a tight budget. I believe Joomla is the best, but as it has grown, I think it is beyond what I can do on my own, and I don't have the budget to pay someone to do it for me. I did do a backup, but I don't know how to retrieve it. My site was working at one point, and as I was trying to flesh it out with VirtueMart, it stopped working. I'm not saying VirtueMart did it. Probably not. I clicked fix on the database, and it said it was fixed, but I still can't access the front end of my site. I uploaded the FPA and ran it though my browser. Am I correct that I'm supposed to now paste the generated post here, and then delete it? I can do that, if you like. If it is too much hand-holding, I understand and will switch to a simpler system. Thanks again, and I do appreciate the help you have already tried to give.

[sozzled]

We could have an entire conversation about the FPA but I'll try to cut to the chase. When people use the FPA for themselves (i.e. they don't post the information—as the instructions explain—on the forum) then they're pretty much faced with a colour-coded report that is about as meaningful as looking at the train schedule written in a foreign language.

The FPA tool may have some clues that are meaningful to experienced members of the community—people who have been regular visitors and contributors to the forum, for example—and sometimes the FPA report can draw blank stares from us, too!

It's facile to suggest that anything is easy. Changing a flat tyre is easy (if you've done it often enough) but try doing it at night, in the rain, with a broken hand and a vicious dog barking in your ear. Nothing is simple and anyone who says it's "simple" should be running for President of the USA.

OK, now that we've dispelled someone else's wrongful allegation that you don't have a backup—because you do have a backup made with Akeeba Backup—it's possible to revert the situation back to when things were working before. To begin with, use Google: search for Akeeba Kickstart. Now, you're probably going to see millions of page hits ... so be patient: refine your search. Look for "restore website Joomla Akeeka Kickstart how to", etc.

I wish I had your talent to make soap!

[last_frontier]

sozzled, thank you so much for your patience! You are right. Some things are so simple and basic for some people, but not under certain circumstances, and not for other people. I've lived in the Alaska wilderness for many years, only going to town for supplies once every few years, and seeing way more bears than people most years. That was good and natural for me, but would boggle the mind of some people. But something as simple as one little e-commerce site boggles my mind. I will take your advice, and try to restore my site with Akeeba Kickstart. Thanks again.

[Webdongle]

You might be wise to install wamp on your pc. It will prevent you from getting the folders on your site mixed up.

Wamp acts like a server on your pc and restoring your backup to that will be easier. With wamp the install of the backup will create the database ... That will make things easier to start with.

You can work on fixing your site locally then transfer it to the server when it's done.

[last_frontier]

Thank you, Webdongle. I will give that a try.

[sozzled]

You might be wise to install wamp on your pc. It will prevent you from getting the folders on your site mixed up.

No offence, mate, but how will installing WAMP on a PC prevent someone from getting "the folders" on a website "mixed up"? This sounds like saying, it would be wise to install a power plant in your house to prevent the toaster from burning the bread.

Certainly, for those of us who have oodles of time at our disposal and the time to read novels about Joomla and PC-hosted websites there may be some benefit in spending a few hours to learn about how websites can be created on someone's PC at home. There may even be some benefit (to those of us who do Joomla as our "day job") in diagnosing and rectifying database table corruption. I can't say any more than that.

What I can say, with reasonable confidence, is that when a website is in the situation that this one is in, the "easier"/easiest solution is, in the first instance, to restore the site to a state it was in before all the problems started and then, gradually, retrace one's steps.

Takes about an hour to download and install something like WAMP; then it takes another half-hour to figure out how to start it and then some time later to transfer (a copy) of your website and figure out how to access it. When I did it for the first time (about 10 years ago) it took the best part of half a day ... and I'm someone who actually knows how to set up web servers!

[Webdongle]

...
What I can say, with reasonable confidence, is that when a website is in the situation that this one is in, the "easier"/easiest solution is, in the first instance, to restore the site to a state it was in before all the problems started and then, gradually, retrace one's steps....

That means either deleting the site and hoping the backup works or creating a new database/user/pass and installing in another folder. The OP (who can not upload a file to the server) will then be faced with moving the site up one folder and editing the configuration.php or going into the Host's cp and pointing the Domain to the folder.

By installing wamp it gives her chance to test the backup and get used to doing it without the need to create a database without creating a new database/user/pass. Creating a new database/user/pass can then be learned later.

...

Takes about an hour to download and install something like WAMP; then it takes another half-hour to figure out how to start it and then some time later to transfer (a copy) of your website and figure out how to access it. When I did it for the first time (about 10 years ago) it took the best part of half a day ... and I'm someone who actually knows how to set up web servers!

Total twaddle. I taught myself about ftp and have had no tuition on servers but installing wamp took just a few minutes. It is no more difficult to install wamp than any other program on a pc. (sometimes other files need to be downloaded but that is rare).

Some of your posts feel like you have lost touch with the newbies and forget some of the simple steps they need to make. For a newbie (especially ones who don't know how to up load files) ... trying to restore a backup to a server can be infinitely more difficult than using localhost). And changing settings like max upload etc. is easier with wamp. As a talented amateur (not an experienced server maintainer) ... I would state that any problems (using Joomla) are far easier to deal with on localhost rather than on a Hosting server.

In any case ... the OP has enough information to decide whether to
1. Risk (without testing) the backup by deleting the original site.
2. Create a folder, database/user/pass on the server and then either move the site to the root or point the Domain to the new folder.
3. Install wamp on the PC and create as many folders in wamp's \www folder as she likes. Giving her multiple attemps at restoring the backup. Also giving her plenty of time to fix the problem without having to do it on a remote server.