deleting things

beast · May 22, 2012, 08:58:00 AM

I've seen in my CPanel where I have stuff that I installed before I even knew what I was doing. Some of the themes I've tried to delete and they won't. Also on some of the data base I don't even know what some of them are for. What should I do, if anything?

Skhilled · May 22, 2012, 09:05:50 AM

If you are talking about the SMF theme directories for themes that you have removed from SMF then yes, you can delete the directories. When you uninstall a theme it does not delete the directory for it. You must do it manually.

For db tables, you'd have to be more specific about the tables you are referring to. If the tables are for mods that you have deleted and will never use again then you can safely delete them. BUT I highly advise you to backup your database first, just in case you do like I did and delete everything!

nend · May 23, 2012, 12:55:01 AM

On the database side, the settings table always gets filled up with junk. Most mod authors forget to clear these on uninstall. Even worse some forget to delete the tables the mod created on uninstall.

I am guilty here also, a few mods I made in the past never did clean up all that great. However my tables and data I inserted was well labeled so anybody with little database experience will know what the table was for. Most authors just use generic names though which makes deciphering all the stuff in the tables very difficult even for a skilled developer.

If you do plan to delete tables, do it in moderation and always keep copies of tables or data you removed. Sometimes those things can come back to haunt you.

beast · May 23, 2012, 09:36:08 AM

I have found out the hard way that I don't delete any thing that I don't know what it is. And if my site is working good without deleting it. I don't delete

Skhilled · May 23, 2012, 09:47:42 AM

Nice tips, nend.

I forgot about the settings table. But then you are talking about fields within the tables. I'm trying to take him one step at a time...tables first, then fields. LOL

BTW, beast, you should create a test forum that has no mods so you can compare it to the database tables you wish to delete. If the tables are the same in that new test forum db AND in the db you want to mess with you know it belongs to SMF and not a mod. Do not delete those but delete everything else. Just play around with the test forum db until you get used to it. This way you will not do any harm to your forum...just yet.

beast · May 23, 2012, 09:58:17 AM

I never though of that. Thats good advise. Thank you

Skhilled · May 23, 2012, 10:01:57 AM

I was busy cooking when I posted the last one or would have probably been more detailed. But nend is correct.

lurkalot · May 23, 2012, 02:26:29 PM

Quote from: Skhilled on May 22, 2012, 09:05:50 AM

If you are talking about the SMF theme directories for themes that you have removed from SMF then yes, you can delete the directories. When you uninstall a theme it does not delete the directory for it. You must do it manually.

Yep, that's a real pain. We asked for the delete files button to be added like the one in the package manager. People who love trying out all the pretty themes get a bit of a shock when they eventually look in their themes folder. lol.. Especially if their host has set a inode limit, they could get hosting suspended.

The database stuff, I wouldn't worry about the dead stuff in there TBH. It won't cause problems and won't be used unless something calls for it.