Help restoring a website...and preventing future loss

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Hi All - I have a multi-part question:
I had an issue with my site, called IMH support and was told there was a backup from the previous day, everything could be restored, and that automatic backups had been halted so that they'd be sure my site was restored to what I needed. Cut to the next day and instead of restoring my site they overwrote the backup with the junk of the current messed up site. So, here is the multi-part question:
#1 - Any suggestions at all for a way to save my site and be able to just revert back to before the update that ruined everything?
#2 - If not, is there a way to use the code I can find if I view source on the snapshot of my site from webarchive.org? I am not a web designer and I just need my site back the way it was but can't figure out how I did it.
#3 - Can someone assist me with creating a child theme? I was sent this guide: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/change-wordpress-appearance/wp-childtheme-2014 and followed the directions but if I go to the editor in the child theme there isn't really anything there to edit. Am I supposed to copy all of the code from each separate file in the original theme into the child theme so that I can edit stuff? I don't really get how the child theme works since none of the parent code shows up in the files in the editor in the child theme.

Any help would be greatly appreciated since right now I am just feeling totally screwed. Thanks in advance!
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johnpaulb-imhs1
Hello, Thank you for your contacting us about restoring a website, and preventing future loss. We definitely understand your frustration. 1. Have you tried following our Common WordPress Troubleshooting Techniques guide, as your site may not need restored. That guide can often help narrow down the cause of the problems, since most issues after an update are caused by 3rd party Plugins, or Themes. 2. You can possibly view your site in the webarchive.org, and "view the source" of the page to determine the HTML changes you made. (This is not a good way to restore any PHP files). 3. In the guide on Creating a Child Theme in WordPress, you will also create a blank css file. There is no need to copy code from the original theme, as any code that you add to this blank css file will override the theme.

To Prevent Future Loss

Since you are responsible for your files, we recommend performing backups regularly. Especially, before performing any updates or major modifications. There are many ways to backup your website. I recommend the first option:

  1. Backup your website using Softaculous
  2. How to Perform a Full Backup in cPanel
  3. How to Backup your website files in cPanel
  4. Backup your database in cPanel
If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below. Thank you, John-Paul