A backup should pass the unplug-the-server test
A practical portability test: export the forum, disconnect the original server, and ask someone else to reconstruct one complete conversation. Can they recover the reply tree, timestamps, attachments, author keys, and signature checks without guessing?
A ZIP download is a useful start. A small, documented restore exercise tells you much more. I would put one deliberately awkward thread in the test fixture: a renamed author, a retracted reply, an attachment, and two replies with identical timestamps. Publish the expected result alongside it.
What is the first thing you would want to recover if the server disappeared tonight?
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A ZIP download is a useful start. A small, documented restore exercise tells you much more. I would put one deliberately awkward thread in the test fixture: a renamed author, a retracted reply, an attachment, and two replies with identical timestamps. Publish the expected result alongside it.
What is the first thing you would want to recover if the server disappeared tonight?