I am using Atahualpa 3.4.6 at my site, and I was trying to do some work on it. Not sure what I did, but suddenly the menu bar is gone. The attached image shows how jumbled up it is.

I've looked in ATO under Page Menu Bar and also in my WP Dashboard menu (wp-admin/nav-menus.php) and cannot find anything that allows me to restore it to its right function. Any suggestions?

Also, is there an advantage to upgrading to the Atahualpa 3.7.10 from my current version of 2.4.6? I'm a non-techie, and am intimidated by the prospect of backing up the database and wp-config.php and wp-content folders.

Thanks for your help.

Are you pointing to the menu in Appearance>Menus?
Kind of hard to tell you what to look for without knowing what you did. As for upgrading to 3.7.10 I wouldn't be too concerned at this point. If you do decide to upgrade the only things you need to think about are images you have added to the atahualpa/images folder and sub-folders. Those need to be replaced. Also if you used and php in the theme options that will not work with 3.7.10 as well.

Yes, I got to the WP menu by going to "Appearance" then "Menu". There used to be a menu bar with drop-down menus. I've attached a pic of the menu layout in WP. What did I do? I was trying out a portfolio-based theme. Looked awful, switched it back, and the menu was messed up.

Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

So are you saying that what is in the screen shot is not there now?

Both screen shots are current. I.e., that's what the homepage looks like, and that's what the WP Menu page (/wp-admin > Appearance > Menu) looks like.

Do you have the menu associated properly on the left?

Not sure what you mean by that ('associated'? 'on the left'?). However, in wp-admin > Appearance > Menu, in the sidebar (?) to the left of the menu image I attached, there's a box entitled "Theme Locations" that says the following: "The current theme does not natively support menus, but you can use the “Custom Menu” widget to add any menus you create here to the theme’s sidebar."

I guess 3.4.6 doesn't support WordPress Menus. I suppose it is time to upgrade.

Looks like a backup is in order, then. Scares me, though. because I have no idea what to do w the backup file once I have it, and even less of an idea of what to do if I need to restore something.

I already have an automated, scheduled backup of my site's database.

I don't know how to backup the wp-config.php and wp-content folders. Can it be as simple as going to ftp and copying those folders to my computer hard drive, and then if need be, just copy them back to the server?

If I know this, then I can be relaxed and confident as I follow Juggledad's tips on updating. Need explanation on copying images, updating patches (huh?!), and the path names (also huh?!).

Thanks, Miles!

Remember you should be doing periodic backups of your database in case something happens and they should be stored at a location that is not your host. what good would a backup do on your host if your host clsoed it's doors tomorrow? (happened in japan about a year ago - the company said 'sorry we are going out of business and shut down overnight - lots of unhappy businesses)

You can use a plugin like wp-dbbackup to backup the database, I use the premium plugin backupbuddy for all my sites, it will backup the database and all the wordpress files and your uploads.

I have access to two hosts, so I backup from one to another, but you could also backup to your own computer or the Amazon S3 service ($$)

Juggledad- I totally agree, and I think I heeded this advice from you when I first heard it. I have an automated database backup to Amazon, so that's covered. For the sake of updating to a later version of Atahualpa, can I simply copy my wp-config.php and wp-content folders to my computer, then paste back in after updating the theme?

Or, I could just hire someone trustworthy to do the update, including updating the pictures, etc. Know anyone?

you should copy your wp-config.php and wp-contents folder once in a while but for the theme upgrade you only need to do the database backup. and this is a 'just in case'

if you have any header images in the theme folder, or a favicon, back them up, so you can putt them back in after the upgrade.

all your theme options are stored in the database so once you do the update they will still be there.

It should be much less painful that you are worring about.

I'll be checking back in early tomorrow morning in case you have any issues.

Thanks! I'll give it a whirl.