Missing json error

Hi,

I was in the middle of exporting my final updates to my site when my PC suddenly decided to shut itself down without warning.

What exactly were you doing with the project at that moment (save, edit, export)? Did you make a backup copy of the JSON file right before you copied the code from another project? The problem is that the JSON file is the main project file that contains all project settings. It is unique for each project and cannot be restored from the exported project.

It is quite strange that this issue happened. Do you have any problems with your hard-drive? Did you check it?

...................................................
Sincerely,
Olivia
Nicepage Support Team

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/nicepage?sub_confirmation=1
Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/nicepageapp

I think my PC must have overheated. I was working in a very warm room.

It was actually halfway through exporting the files to a folder for my HTML site. Fortunately it hadn't got as far as overwriting the previous export, so I still have the last version I exported. However, I had been overwriting previous versions for some time and foolishly didn't export any project backups. Upon further investigation, all the HTML files appear to be intact apart from 3 of them. Two pages are partially saved and one is empty. The json file is mostly blank. I did make a backup of the corrupted json file (Attached). You need to scroll down a long way before you come to what's left of it. :( It must have been halfway through saving that and those 3 html files when the PC shut down. The site has 28 pages, which is the biggest site I've made so far.

Hi Lynn,

Is it SSD hard drive? Our developers reported that this issue is possible if you're using SSD.
Unfortunately, the site.json file cannot be restored. But we suggest that you make backups in the future to avoid such problems.

...................................................
Sincerely,
Olivia
Nicepage Support Team

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/nicepage?sub_confirmation=1
Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/nicepageapp

It is an SSD, yes.

I used to always make backups. I'm annoyed that I didn't for this site.

I am going to try making a new global template and a series of blank pages with the same names and then replace the new html and css files of the same name with the old html and css files. Would that work, or do all the files refer in some way to the corrupted site ID number?

Last edited 22 July 2020 by Lynn

Hi,

The site.json contains a lot of other parameters besides page names, including style parameters. Therefore this file is crucial, and it is impossible to restore it.

...................................................
Sincerely,
Olivia
Nicepage Support Team

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/nicepage?sub_confirmation=1
Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/nicepageapp

Yes, I realise that, but the new site will make a new folder with a new json file, Yes? So, I'm hoping that if the files from the old folder don't look for the original ID, I can at least get all the content, links and images in place and just make new adjustments to the size and position of everything.

I'll try it anyway and let you know what happens.

Last edited 23 July 2020 by Lynn

Hi,

Most probably, this will not work.
Anyway, please let us know if you need our further assistance.

...................................................
Sincerely,
Olivia
Nicepage Support Team

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/nicepage?sub_confirmation=1
Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/nicepageapp

It's actually worked better than I anticipated. I thought I'd have to re-create all the blocks and elements before replacing the files. I thought it would at least put all the content in place. But it has done almost the opposite. I've managed to rebuild in a day, what originally took me 4-5 weeks.

The HTML files added all the correct blocks and elements in the correct positions, including all the gallery overlays, text, headings, sliders and backgrounds. It added a few of the images and all of the videos. It added most of the links. It didn't add the header and footer. It didn't add most of the images, but it left placeholders for them.

For the benefit of others who may lose the json file (and their HTML site). I don't know if it would be as successful with a CMS site, but for an HTML site; provided you have the HTML files of your pages and your images folder intact; here is what you have to do:-

1. Backup what is left of your original site folder, just in case.
2. Create a new site in Nicepage with a different name to your original site.
3. In Nicepage, rebuild your header, footer and global theme with all your original colours and text settings.
4. In Nicepage, add new blank pages with the same names as your original pages.
5. Save your site and close Nicepage.
6. Go to the Nicepage folder on your computer, open the new site folder and overwrite the image folder and all the blank html pages with those from your original site folder.
7. Reopen Nicepage and add anything that might be missing, such as images and additional coding, such as html forms, etc. Images are easy to replace, since all the images will have been copied from your original folder and will now be on the "My Images" page. Check all links etc as some of those may be missing as well.

It may not be ideal, but it is a big timesaver if, like me, you lose the whole site just because of a corrupted json file!

Lynn,

We have added your suggestions to our wishlist. For now, you can export the Project to any folder just to backup your works. You can also reimport a Project back if needed.

Thank you!
...................................................
Sincerely,
Nicepage Support Team

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/nicepage?sub_confirmation=1
Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/nicepageapp

Excellent! Thank you!
I've started doing that more frequently now. :)