I just read on Slashdot how JournalSpace.com has had a serious database issue, resulting in the loss of all their users posts, images, personal data, and more.
Immediately, I thought, "Google cache probably took snapshots of may users posts, and maybe even some of their images. It's worth a shot running a sample query..."
So I ran a sample Google query on someone's JournalSpace username, and I was correct. It looks like all, if not most of your posts and maybe even images have been preserved by our big brother Google. For one sample query I did on a user, I got pages and pages of results!
Unfortunately, this method only works for people who did not have their blogs/journals set to be viewable only by other JournalSpace members, or set to Friends &/or Favorites only, and for other entries that were not set to private. Also, if people configured their blogs so that the googlebot, or other bots were blocked, they may have limited success in resurrecting old entries from the cache (thanks Charm for this info). So a lot of people may have limited or no success with these methods. For that group, I extend my sympathies. I know the feeling of losing so much personal data.
Assuming you didn't do any of the things above, try running a Google search like so --
site:your_journalspace_username.journalspace.com
Then, look for the link labeled "Cached" under any particular result, and you'll get Google's cached version.
For example, if I had a JournalSpace, I'd simply type in Google --
site:andrewtheart.journalspace.com
Other ideas for Google searches:
- Get a particular post from an entryid (thanks Class Factotum)--
- Get posts by date (examples)
site:your_username.journalspace.com "y=2008"
- Get comments from cached entries (thanks Charm) --
- Get any page on JournalSpace with a reference to your name (may not work as intended/expected) --
There may be better ways to search Google for your cached posts. Experiment a bit and post your results here.
Some have also recommended using the Web Archive to look up old posts (thanks Frederick and Anon) -- http://www.archive.org/web/web.php. I tried using this, but it appears like the webmaster has blocked access to JournalSpace archives (at least temporarily). Maybe they couldn't handle the traffic. Give it a shot anyway.
You may want to try the Google cache trick quickly. I have a sinking suspicion Google may not like all this traffic.
You saw it here first. Good luck.
Andrew
37 comments:
Wow I hope this will work!
Yay I figured it out!
I am exploring p13 of RETURN AFTER A GOOGLE QUERY SIMILAR (sorry for the caps lock) thus far all it is returning is cached notification pages and some comments i made on other journals.; no posts :(
Are you sure you ran --
site:your_username.journalspace.com???
I don't know how far back Google decided to start capturing posts. Maybe you can determine that and post back here what you discover.
Does anybody know the URL for your journals' archive? If I knew what it was, then I could probably get ALL of my entries back.
http://yourjournal.journalspace.com/archive???
PS On the Google thing: JS users had the option of not allowing Google-bots to grab their journal entries. So if that user decided to block google-bots from entering their journals then maybe Google wouldn't have them cached???
I have been searching using this formula plus the entry id number (site:class-factotum.journalspace.com 2965) but after I did a few, I got a so sorry but you must be spyware! message from google and they refuse to give me any more pages.
Any ideas on how to get around that other than waiting 12 hours to start again?
Class - you could use a proxy as a last result (http://www.HideMyAss.com is an example)
class factotum
http://www.google.com/search?q=2965+site%3Aclass-factotum.journalspace.com
Search something along the lines of
[entry id] site:class-factotum.journalspace.com
so:
2965 site:class-factotum.journalspace.com
This method only works for people who did not have their blogs/journals set to be viewable only by other JournalSpace members, or set to Friends &/or Favorites only, and for other entries that were not set to private. Also, if people configured their blogs so that the googlebot, or other bots were blocked, they may have limited success in resurrecting old entries from the cached archives.
I found that for the period of time that my blog did not have restricted access, I could pull up pages by searching Google in the manner already described and using particular keywords in association with the search. Sometimes it will pull up a single entry with comments, and other times it will pull up a snapshot of my blog with several entries.
To pull up only your own entries on a search, place your user name in "" and to pull up comments with cached entries, use the variable displaycomments just as I have written it here, and only cached versions of entries containing comments should come up.
So, for example, I wanted to look up my workout stats, so the variables I used looked like this:
"myusername.journalspace.com" workout displaycomments
Hope this is helpful to someone.
An interesting side note, though the cached version of my blog is just a snapshot of my now-dead blog, Twitter is still giving a live feed. Ironic.
Class: Good luck! Hope you can recover as much of your data as possible!
One could also try www.archive.org for cached pages.
Don't forget:
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
Think it has to be older than 3-6 months.
Whoa. That was creepy. Simultaneous post to archive.org.... haha
Let me say I don't know JournalSpace or how it worked - I'm a /. person who stumbled across it - but if it let you upload pictures it's very probable that those pictures are still there, as from from what I have read it's only the database that's been lost and normally uploaded pictures are just stored in the filesystem rather than the database.
Andrew it doesn't work those of us who were Friends & Favorites or had our blog blocked from google bots, that's the sad part. I lost a lot of photos and writing.
i can't get any of these methods to work for me. only on a post by post basis in google cache.
this blows. :(
Not sure if JS had a syndication feature, but if it did, feed content is probably also cached in subscribers' RSS newsreaders. If JS monitors the webserver log it can figure out which feeds are being requested, then push out a new item on each of those feeds with information that could help connect subscribers with the content owners to see what could be salvaged.
I'll be the first to say it here because I'm kind of upset. TAPE/DISK BACKUPS people! If the building with the servers went up in flames we wouldve been in the same boat.
I'm very bitter and I never even posted to the extent of a class-factotum, but I had stuff that was unpublished that was written as now, between cold, angry tears.
Why not start the service/blog (JS) again? I'd come back..
I really appreciate this!! My journalspace blog was totally public, and Google saved it--in bits and pieces since I didn't always have all my posts visible at one time--so I was able to retrieve ALL my entries. TYTYTYTYTY! Thank you so very much!!
Thanks for this tip! Now, I know what to do in case my blog gets lost..
Currently, I don't host it on personal domains, I use wordpress.com and blogger.com
I am sure they won't fail :)
Mine was always public and i can get back some stuff but I had 4,500+ postsI think I got all the text up to last year but sheesh.
You could always try The Wayback Machine at:
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
I know JS had a built in archive function that could show you your entire blag as plain text... would it be possible to find the archived page of that for easier retrieval of the bajillion or so entries many of us had accumulated?
I still haven't decided where to move to... it's between LJ and Blogger at the moment, but I really don't like either of them nearly as much as JS =(
Andrew I can't thankyou enough for that clue.
I have since set up my own site http://www.usamutt.com, and I am going to link your page on mine.
Your "nerdness" is a priceless
characteristic...
Thanks for an answer I thought to be unavailable...
Marty
Friends... Its really very sad losing a great place like journalspace, but we should try to join together again...
I have already made my new blog at www.thoughts.com I have found it a great place as well. I wish you all to register at 'thoughts' and again get together...
And Yes, please do add me as your friend. :)
www.thoughts.com/AutumnGreen
I had backed from somewhere around June '08, but managed to get everything else back using this process so thanks for that.
I had purchased JS Pro access recently, will I get a refund?
i just wanted to thank andrew and everyone else who has left advice on how to recover my journalspace posts. i haven't been able to recover all of them, but i am so grateful that a few of my thoughts weren't lost to the winds. now i've learned to back this stuff up!
seriously, i love you for helping me out.
-katie (i was js miserythrillsme. bet you never read it :])
Whoa!!!! Listen up, y'all.
-------- 1 ------
Now that my Journalspace blog has gone, people might again start to believe that Jean Charles De Menezes was actually there in that London subway station, on the day that the UK security services and Police lied about him being followed and then being trapped on a train and getting shot by mistake...
No way, Hose!
Somebody better dig up that coffin and find it empty, to prove it was a sophisticated hoax...
Better find out why they apparently chose a doctor with a history of altering documents to do the post mortem...
Better find out why no one has released or leaked a single photograph of a human head with 7-11 bullets in it...
No way, Hose! He was just not there! There was not any problem with the CCTV or with identification. Trust me.
What about the alleged journalist/witness, who claimed to hear so many shots? Good question! Her name is on the web but I believe she's a fake... And you could check up on that.
---------- 2 --------
OK, I also have a confession to make at this most distressing time. I was http://blog108.journalspace.com the poet as well as Who, and Soraxtm may be interested to reach the top and meditate on this news.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/soraxtm/Pie-22990.jpg
From: "The Persistence Of This Illusion Is Astonishing"
Regards Who/Blog108
Thanks for this post!
My political blog, part of my professional work, was one of the most high-traffic ones on JSpace, attracting over a half-million visits during the past few years.
I'd posted 807 entries before suspending the blog recently to take on other work.
I was just about to go on vacation after Christmas when JS vanished, and with it, about five years of work -- much of which I was saving for future books I'm writing.
I had archived and saved all my entries through 2007, but I then got lazy and relied on JS to keep them safe. Bad choice! Some 200 recent ones were missing without any backups.
However, the valuable advice you've provided here has allowed me to recover all but about a dozen entries.
Thanks a million, folks. I really appreciate it.
thanx...i think this will be very useful.thanx for this information.
My best success is because I had put most of my posts in category tag names, so google cached all of "ohans.journalspace.com/?cat=Scribblings" for example.
So if you know your category names, search for:
site:your_name.journalspace.com "cat=YourCategoryName"
Thank you for posting this...It allowed me to recover some writing from very difficult times in my life. Many blessings...
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