All forms suddenly missing Mail data – though it's in the database

RE: All of the Mail data has disappeared from the admin screens, and the forms do not function.

Something has definately gone wrong.

RE: I’ve checked in the database and all the Mail data is there for each form.

Good – also means we don’t need to consider that issue.

RE: The client had activated five new plugins.

Sounds like most likely cause of problem. Did client take back prior to doing this?

RE: tried deactivating all of them, but no change.

Deactivating a plugin does not always remove all problems.

E.G. Known Possible Conflicts
WP Super Cache – Apparently the WP Super Cache plugin is not fully removed when deactivated and creates an ongoing error.

Good point about simply deactivating plugins, buzztone – I’ve deleted two of them, and will try the other three as well.

Tried re-installing the CF7 folder, but no luck.

I’m about to try a script to clean up any serialized data issues, which can – very rarely – happen with moving databases.

Ok, all the new plugins that the client had added are now deleted, but still no Mail data showing.

No success with the serialization fixer script either (sure did fix a lot of other serialized data in that table though!!).

Just to confirm, in the database, the meta_keys for CF7 have an underscore in front of them

_form _mail _mail_2 etc.

I notice some meta keys don’t have the underscore, so thought I’d ask…

Ok, all plugins added by the client have now been deleted, but still no Mail data showing.

Tried the serialization fixer script, but no luck there either (though it cleaned up a lot of data in that column of the table!).

Just to clarify, in the database, the meta_keys for CF7 have an underscore in front of them:

_form _mail etc.

I only ask because I see some meta_keys do not have the underscore…

RE: Ok, all the new plugins that the client had added are now deleted

How are you sure of that? I would use Firebug or Chrome Dev Tools to look for lingering signs of the deleted plugins. For example try some form submits and look at the HTTP requests.

Note: I would not be concerned with the storage of CF7 form data in database in this case. Your previous investigations indicate this is unlikely to be the issue.

The problem definitely has something to do with serialized data.

I just did a new search and replace on the database to change URLs after the client pointed the domain name at the new server. Once again, all the mail data disappeared from the WordPress admin screen.

There is a one character difference between the temporary URL and the final URL, and I could see in the database that the quantity for the “body” field was exactly one character off.

I had tried running the serialize fixer script the first time this problem happened, with no success. I didn’t try it this time, but instead I manually changed the quantity for the body field – still no luck.

It’s only after I re-enter the data that everything works again. What I don’t understand is that the quantity for the “body” field matches the quantity I’d manually reset – so why didn’t my manual change work? What am I missing in that process?

I compared the full meta_values (my manual change vs after updating all data through the WP admin interface) and everything was the same, except for the quantity of the “body” field…