When administering your SMF site you will want to keep things running as smoothly as possible. Much like an automobile, there are several things you should do on a regular basis to maintain the running of the site. In this section, we will go over the different maintenance options and how to run them.
Performing the routine maintenance
- Log into your SMF admin dashboard.
- From the entry page, click Admin from the upper menu. This will reveal a second menu just underneath the first. Hover over Maintenance and click on Forum Maintenance from the popup submenu.
- Once on the main Forum Maintenance page, check the menu to ensure you are on Routine section. This should be the default section as you enter. If not, be sure to click on that option.
- You are now on the Routine Maintenance page where you can run any of the maintenance scripts in the list to help keep your site running smoothly.
Check all files against current versions This task checks all files currently on your server against the most recent version. It will supply a list of all files and highlight those that are not updated. Find and repair any errors This task is useful in case of a server crash. Should there be any missing topics or posts, this task will go out and attempt to find, repair, and replace them. This helps to keep continuity on the server. Recount all forum totals and statistics If your post and/or forum count appears to be incorrect, this task will perform a fresh count. It will replace any incorrect totals with the new tally. Empty out unimportant logs A task that is not used often, it will empty our logs that are unimportant. It is only recommended to be used when necessary, such as if you are in need of the space, as keeping the extra information has no adverse effect. Empty the file cache This task will empty out the file cache if needed. Caching is good for performance, so only empty if it is needed.
