[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #1064: WordPress loses Attachment data if the image file is missing.

[Making WordPress.org]

#1064: WordPress loses Attachment data if the image file is missing.
----------------------------+---------------------
Reporter:  webmaster808     |      Owner:
    Type:  defect           |     Status:  new
Priority:  highest omg bbq  |  Component:  General
Keywords:                   |
----------------------------+---------------------
 I suppose this could be seen as a feature, but in my world it appears to
 be a fatally critical flaw.

 We recently had a data loss on our server where at random some of our
 image files disappeared.  Not sure how many, we have close to 4,000
 images.  The majority were not lost.

 We have a backup of the image files, however when we restored, we found
 that all of those attachments and their relationships (i.e. as a featured
 image) are gone and are no longer in the Media Library.

 So, for instance on a page that had a featured image and 2 images inserted
 into the post, the images that were inserted into the post appear properly
 because the files exist in the filesystem and the links are hardcoded into
 the post.  However, if you go into the media library to re-define the
 featured image and perhaps re-insert(or edit) one of the images that thad
 been previously inserted, they do not exist in the media library any more.
 Also, the caption, alt text, etc. is GONE!  This makes a webmaster a very,
 very sad person.  Depending on how many images were lost, one might see
 this as a catastrophic failure. omg bbq!

 I have a database backup and *may* be able to rebuild this data, but it
 would be awesome if we found a way to ensure this would never, ever happen
 in the first place.

 It seems that WordPress should be able to maintain this data even if the
 image files have gone missing and not be deleted until someone manually
 deletes them.

 I would love to help fix this, if possible. Alternatively, I would love to
 hear of an easy way to repair this damage, if known.

 Tom

--
Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1064>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org