I reset my phone today, but before I did I backed up everything, including using the backup feature in whatsapp. I've now installed whatsapp and none of my messages are there and there is no restore option. am I missing something here?
I just noticed the same thing, had to restore my HTC8X due to a hardware failure onto a new Phone, and overal restore was complete.
Whatsapp seems to have the backup button, but I also can't find a restore option
When you are reinstalling whatsapp, right at the initial startup, it asks for restoring backed up messages. If you don't click restore or yes, you will not be able to restore the messages later on.
The backup/restore feature of WhatsApp isn't designed for full system flashing. You can only uninstall WhatsApp and reinstall it without losing data. If you flash your phone, those messages are gone.