Fresh install, where do I start? (+ restore + theme)

Support
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Hi there! I’ve finally got my self-hosted Discourse instance up and running. But… I have a lot of configuring to do, and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed!

Context: I have a nearly 8k member facebook group I’m planning to migrate to Discourse over the coming months; I gave Discourse a spin with a free trial a few months back (managed hosting) and that gave me the opportunity to see what it was capable of, and start thinking about how I will organise the community once on Discourse.

I don’t really know where to start, but here are two things:

  • I did a backup of the trial content and I’d like to restore it to my new instance, because I’d done some thinking about category structure that I’d like to peek at again, but my backups don’t seem to be in the right format. I have an sql dump and a folder with two cfg_backup files, one is .mnu and one .des – what am I missing?
  • how do I get started picking a theme? Any recommendations? I find it difficult to make a decision just based on a preview in “Theme Creator” – is there a listing somewhere which gives a better overview of features and characteristics of different themes? (to keep in mind: target audience is “used to facebook” and very much “mobile first”)

Any other advice for somebody who is attempting not to drown would be most welcome :slight_smile:

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Discourse backups are normally .tar.gz files that include the database, uploads, and metadata. An SQL dump plus .mnu/.des files don’t match the official Discourse backup format, so they can’t be restored through the standard admin restore workflow. If you still have access to the old trial instance, check for the proper .tar.gz backup.

For choosing a theme: the easiest way to get a feel for what’s available is to browse the curated themes on Meta. Most entries include screenshots, demos, and feature notes, which makes comparison a lot clearer than viewing them in Theme Creator alone.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Full index of essential guides

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Explore available themes

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Oh wonderful, thanks so much for this, looks like what I need!
I’m going to double-check again what I have in terms of backup (I don’t have access to the trial instance anymore). Not a huge huge issue if it’s lost, but it would have saved me redoing previously done work :wink:

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@stephtara If your audience is coming from Facebook, you may want see:

Thankfully, Discourse is also built with mobile devices in mind, so a lot of themes generally support mobile view.