Is it possible to recover an accidentally deleted agenda template

I've spent 3 days modifying an agenda template. When I was finished I wanted to create a new agenda from the template and transfer the agenda assignments from an existing agenda. Part way through my modifications I had already created an agenda from the template that I was still modifying. It wasn’t long before I realised that an agenda is created from a snapshot of the template at the point in time that the agenda is created, and isn’t updated from further changes to the template.

Believing that I couldn't create a new agenda with the same date as an existing agenda, I figured that I needed to complete the template, delete the previous agenda that I had created, create a brand new agenda from the modified template, and fill in the assignments again.

Yes, I did get the prompt to enter the word DELETE when I deleted the existing agenda. I figured that that was safe, since I was deleting an agenda, not a template. The request to type in DELETE came up twice. I was puzzled by that, but again I figured that that was safe, since I was deleting an agenda, not a template.

I then tried to create a new agenda from my new template, but the template was gone !

The only thing that I can figure is that the second time that the request to type in DELETE came up I was deleting the template – although none of the procedures that I was using or the feedback that I was seeing seemed to indicate that.

Having spent so long developing the new template I'm rather devastated. I'm guessing there's no hope of recovering the lost new template - but just in case, does anyone think it is possible.

Mark Reynolds

There are reasons I put those "type the word DELETE prompts" in the code.

I am very sorry to hear of your issue. By any chance did you make any actual agendas from the template? If so, you can use the live agenda as the basis to recreate the template.

I will be putting the undelete functionality like we now have for webpages in place for agendas/templates in the future... just not there yet. That is why we have the intentionally conspicuous warnings on the deletes.

Thanks Steve.

I figured I was out of luck.

It was in the process of seeking to make an agenda from the new template that I came unstuck. I (perhaps mistakenly) believed that I couldn't create an agenda with the same date, so before trying to create a new agenda with the new template I firstly deleted 2 agendas - one with the original template, and one with a 'half baked' template.

The process of deleting those agendas based on earlier templates is what (apparently) resulted in the deletion of the now completed template.

I totally understand that I was presented with the request to type in DELETE to confirm that I was really sure. What I don't understand is how I ended up deleting a template when I thought I was deleting an agenda. Is there something about the system or procedure that deletes a template when you're deleting the last (only) remaining agenda based on that template? If not, I'm really stumped as to how I deleted the template when I thought I was deleting an agenda.

Thanks for your help.

Mark Reynolds

Well, here is the thing that I am pretty sure of because I am the one updating existing code now and developing new code: That DELETE prompt only exists for live agendas, not for templates. I never added that code to the templates area in the admin console.

Therefore, I am inclined to ask whether you are sure you were in the admin console editing your agenda templates there? That is the only real template editing facility we provide. The create a template from a live agenda thing is just a simplistic facade... if you are using live agendas to create templates, those templates only really get created when you do the save to template. (The live agenda is never a template in the same sense as templates in the admin console.) Also, if you do not go into the real templates area in the admin console to do edits, then yes, you can end up with two templates with the same name if you are saving to a template from a live agenda... I don't believe it will overwrite an existing template when you save to template from a live agenda., so you can get a copy with the same name.