The reason the forums were offline (for about 20 hours, and 10 hours the previous night) was because we were transferring databases. It was necessary to shut down the forum so no one could post anything, otherwise those posts would be deleted because they are not in the original backup that was being uploaded.
It was a very time consuming process, but it appears to be a success. I tried to do it with most members would be asleep, but after 9 hours (at 5am) I gave up and went to sleep. And it took a further 4 hours to complete after I got up.
So sorry about the inconvenience, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run

If anyone experiences any database errors anywhere on the site, please report them to me via PM or in this topic.