Hey there,
Man, I’ve been down that rabbit hole, and trust me, it can be a head-scratcher! Like you, I anticipated that importing a backup would bring back the old website environment, but WordPress can be finicky. Just a few thoughts on what you mentioned:
Setting Up A New Database: Sounds like WordPress isn’t associating the old content with the new database. When you set the backup database name and its location from the SQL backup, it’s perplexing that you’re still faced with an entirely new dashboard. However, the fact that the old plugins and theme are there gives a glimmer of hope.
No Database Connection Error: The fact that you’re not getting the infamous ‘Error establishing a database connection’ message suggests, as you rightly pointed out, that the database seems intact. It might be possible that there are certain configurations or paths that need to be set correctly.
Recreating the Original Environment: By settings, I’m hinting at things like table prefix in the wp-config.php file, permalink structures, or even any specific server configurations if you had any. While plugins and themes can be crucial, sometimes these tiny settings can make or break the restoration process.
Manual Import: Definitely a more time-consuming process and, I agree, should be kept as a last resort. Without a clear idea of what tables store what information, it could lead to more confusion.
From what you’ve described, and from my own experiences, it does sound like the data is there in the database but WordPress is just not picking it up. It might be worth checking the database’s user permissions and ensuring they match up, or maybe even cross-referencing the SQL backup to see if the links within are correctly pointing to your current domain and path.
Stay persistent and don’t hesitate to ask around in WordPress communities. There’s always someone who has faced a similar hiccup and figured out a workaround. Fingers crossed you get it all sorted!
Best of luck,
Ahmad
