Check whether backup files and database belong together

Pair identifiable components before comparing their dates

WordPress documents that a typical complete restoration requires both the database and the site files. Copying the WordPress directory ordinarily does not copy the database. Files include themes, plugins, uploads and configuration, while the database is a separate component. Having both is the starting point for this check; the question is whether these particular copies belong to the same recovery state.

Use the backup system’s actual references for the database and file archive. Record the site each belongs to and any shared backup-run identifier or manifest that explicitly associates them. Two files placed together in a folder are not, by that placement, evidence of a coordinated capture. Keep the original references even if someone has renamed the downloads.

Read the capture window, not the download date

For each component, transcribe the capture start and finish when available, preserving the time zone and the meaning of each timestamp. A time at which someone downloaded or copied an archive answers a custody question; it does not establish when the site data inside was captured. If the backup record provides only a completion time, mark the start as unknown.

Compare those windows with the real change record. Identify any software update, configuration edit, upload or database change recorded between the captures. A shared calendar date can conceal an intervening change. Conversely, different completion times do not by themselves prove incompatibility if the backup mechanism documents how it produced a consistent set. The evidence must explain the relationship; there is no universal acceptable time gap on this worksheet.

Use release history to explain the relationship

Record the WordPress, theme and plugin versions associated with the retained set where the backup manifest or deployment history provides them. Include the custom release reference if the site uses one. Read these from records associated with the backup, rather than substituting the versions installed today. The recovery owner needs to know whether the retained database and files reflect the same update or different sides of it.

An identical release label still does not establish that all content and uploads were captured together. Review the backup tool’s scope and consistency statement alongside the site’s actual activity record. If a real restoration of this exact pair has already been documented, reference its date, component identities and observed result. Evidence for a different pair does not validate this one, and a file that can be downloaded has not thereby been shown to restore.

Give the recovery owner a bounded conclusion

The comparison can establish that the records associate a particular pair and explain its capture relationship, reveal a documented mismatch, or leave the pairing unverified. Record which conclusion the evidence supports. For an unresolved pair, identify the missing manifest, ambiguous timestamp or intervening change instead of replacing it with a guess. Preserve the components while the authorized owner selects a supported recovery set or arranges the missing evidence.

This is a selection record, not authorization to overwrite the live store. Orders and other changes since the recovery point need their own decision. If the pairing problem affects a planned checkout change, a Prism checkout-review consultation can start with the public site and a concise description of the unresolved dependency. Confirm any backup investigation or recovery assistance, responsibilities, fees and terms before work. Send no database export, configuration secrets or customer records through the inquiry form.

Recovery-set pairing

Complete one sheet for one proposed database/files pair. Keep references to private evidence rather than its contents. Classify the pairing as supported, mismatched or unverified from the records below; an unexplained gap remains with the recovery owner.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.