WordPress › Support » Upgraded to WP 2.6 and can't access wp-admin area

Otto42
Moderator
Posted 11 months ago #

rawalex: I find it difficult to believe that somebody would not know how to clear their browser's cookies. It's a basic operation and there's detailed instructions online in many places:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Clear+your+browser+cookies

The documentation covers it as the very first step in solving this problem:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Login_Trouble

And quite frankly, if telling somebody "clear your browser cookies" is not clear enough for them, then they should not be running their own website to start with. If they want a blog, but can't run a browser (much less a website), then they should farm it out to some other administrative system like http://wordpress.com , to let somebody else handle the actual work and to let them just post on their blog.

Now, the issue ck is seeing is what I'm trying to work out. However, it has little to do with the cookies if his definitions are getting set incorrectly. It would have more to do with his database or settings in the database.
rawalex
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

otto, you need to work on a tech help line for a while. having end users who do not know where the any key is, don't know what a "power cable" is, and don't know what a browser is (you have to tell them to click on the firefox or IE thing on thier desktop)... you learn to accept that not everyone has even what you or I might consider "basic" knowledge.

Your assumption is that they know how to search well. Many people don't. Don't assume, it makes and ... you know the rest. :)
_ck_
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

This bookmarklet will clear all the cookies for just the site you are on:
http://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/zap.html#zap_cookies
It covers all the paths for the site which some other scripts don't do.
Otto42
Moderator
Posted 11 months ago #

@rawalex: I have done tech support before for a major printer manufacturer. You ain't telling me anything I don't know.

Running a website is not a follow-the-directions operation. You need technical knowledge.

Make no mistake about it, running WordPress on your own host is not "having a blog", it is "running a website". And this support forum is for those people who run their own website. I do not cater to the clueless on this support forum, nor do I have any plans to start. So if somebody doesn't know how to search or know the very basic principles, then I will tell them to skip the idea of running their own site and to use http://wordpress.com instead. They'll be happier that way.
rawalex
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

So perhaps some sort of "webmaster test" before they can download it?
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

I've cleared all IE cache, and verified that both the "siteurl" and "home" columns both have the same value (the one I'm using trying to log in).

I'm still unable to log in. If I use an invalid login name it tells me, if I use a valid login name with a valid (or invalid) password it just redirects me to a blank login page.

I've re-uploaded the entire site three times now, following the three-step process (sans disabling plugins) to no avail. I did try logging in with the plugin folder renamed, also with the same results.

Suggestions?
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

I know how to delete cookies in my browser,
did this and still am not able to log in under
the latest version of Firefox.

my confusion lies in these "fixes" that are proposed.

Why wasn't this issue caught before 2.6 went live?
rawalex
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

waldorf, your blog: is it http://www.example.com or http://www.example.com/yourblogdirectory or http://example.com ?

same question for you kauffman.

Also, what was your previous version number before the upgrade?
mrmist
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

I've cleared all IE cache

Have you removed the cookies though? It's not the same thing.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

I had the latest Wordpress version before I updated to 2.6.

My blog is located at:

http://myblog.com (<-----not my real URL)

(no "www")

In order to log into the admin control panel, I goto:

http://myblog.com/wp-admin
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

@Rawalex: siteurl is defined at "http://www.myblogsite.com" and I'm coming from 2.5.1. I've upgraded WP a few times in the past with no errors, and other than being unable to log in the site seems to be working fine, so /shrug.

@mrmist: yes, I've cleared "temp. internet files", "cookies", "history", "forum data" and "passwords" via the IE 7 Tools menu.
schajee
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

Here's are my cookies... just in case. The reset cookies works for me, but who knows what u might discover from these.

1. NAME = wordpress_logged_in_d676ec21cf050e966685794aa715694f
CONTENT = removed
PATH = /sitename/

2. NAME = wordpress_d676ec21cf050e966685794aa715694f
CONTENT = removed
PATH = /sitename/wp-admin

3. NAME = wordpress_d676ec21cf050e966685794aa715694f
CONTENT = removed
PATH = /sitename/wp-content/plugins

4. NAME = wordpress_d676ec21cf050e966685794aa715694f
CONTENT = removed
PATH = /sitename/

5. NAME = wordpress_test_cookie
CONTENT = WP+Cookie+check
PATH = /sitename/

Edit by moderator: Removed dangerous cookie madness
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

Also, I had no idea 2.6 was out until I happened upon this forum last night.

I logged into my admin control panel before I updated and there was no "a new version of wordpress is out" message.
_ck_
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

OMG do NOT post your full cookies (with content).
That has to be removed ASAP.
If someone knew your website they could have admin access very quickly.
rawalex
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

ck, also notice that the content admin login cookies aren't the same on each level, possibly an issue?
_ck_
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

rawalex, nah that's their login name (the admin part at the start of the content) and I just realized that the plugin path is probably from a plugin setting the cookie.

WP went from a very clean cookie setup in 2.5 to something a bit messier in 2.6 - I understand what they were trying to do, but to re-use the old cookie name as the admin cookie and then create a new one for the common login is just a bit whacky. I wonder what else it's going to break.

I know it broke bbPress but we've got another release pending I guess.
Otto42
Moderator
Posted 11 months ago #

The duplication could be a problem.

See these?
NAME = wordpress_d676ec21cf050e966685794aa715694f
PATH = /sitename/wp-admin

NAME = wordpress_d676ec21cf050e966685794aa715694f
PATH = /sitename/

Same cookie name, different values, different paths. Which one gets sent when I access /sitename/wp-admin? Both? If so, which one gets actually used?

I think one of them is the old cookie and the other one is the new cookie. It's "looping" because the old cookie is still there and not getting erased, but it is getting read.

Clearing cookies fixes that issue, obviously.

to re-use the old cookie name as the admin cookie and then create a new one for the common login is just a bit whacky

I agree, I would have deprecated the old name entirely and used wordpress_admin_hash for the new cookie.
rawalex
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

I am suspecting that another release is going to be pending on WP as well for this one. This and the index.php thing... ;)
_ck_
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

Yeah I had initially posted about the duplication and wondered how the browser could even store two cookies with the same name but then realized they had different paths.

The question is, does the browser send both cookies when at the deepest path? That's a weird situation.

The upgrade process should have set some kind of flag to nuke the admin cookie on the first login by any admin. Tricky but doable.

ps. my subtitle for this thread is "WP 2.6: I made you a cookie, but I eated it" :D
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

Otto:

Adding a single line of code to a file is not hard at all, once you finally said that that was what needed to be done. Of course, you didn't actually say that for, what, a dozen comments, and then told me to do it in a fairly boorish and condescending tone. Real classy.

Plus, what you told me to do didn't give any information.

I took out the workaround that gave you a tizzy on the blog I upgraded, and I can still log in there.

So I upgraded another blog, and duplicated the problem. Can't log in. And added echo ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH; to the theme's functions.php file. And what shows up on my site after adding that is... exactly the same main page that was there before. Nothing different. Nothing at all.

Any more help?
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

Ok, deleted pretty much the entire wordpress folder, re-uploded everything and tried the upgrade.php again. Told me database was OK and that was the last page I've seen. Every page I try to load now returns a blank page, no errors.

If I replace my 2.5.1 will the database still be compatible after the upgrade?
Otto42
Moderator
Posted 11 months ago #

I took out the workaround that gave you a tizzy on the blog I upgraded, and I can still log in there.

Then you can't help any, because you don't actually have the problem that the workaround claimed to fix. If you did, then it wouldn't work anymore.

Also, the reason that line of code didn't give you any information is because you didn't do it right or otherwise don't know what you're doing. And that's okay, I understand and accept that. But that was sort of my whole point, I needed somebody *with knowledge* to assist with information.

Basically, there's more to it than adding a single line of code, but I don't have the time nor the inclination to teach you PHP so that you can assist. You need to know how to debug a PHP Webpage, basically, and I can't teach that skill to you via text messages on a forum.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

Then you can't help any, because you don't actually have the problem that the workaround claimed to fix. If you did, then it wouldn't work anymore.

Hello, Genius, I replicated the problem on a different blog. As I said, if you'd bothered to read the rest of what I wrote.
Otto42
Moderator
Posted 11 months ago #

Hello, Genius, I replicated the problem on a different blog. As I said, if you'd bothered to read the rest of what I wrote.

No, you didn't. I really, really do understand what I'm talking about here. I'm not ignoring you, and I'm not just making this shit up as I go along.

There's two different problems being discussed here. One of which is known and solved by clearing your cookies. The other of which is still unproven and unknown and involves the ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH thing.

The outward results of the two issues will be identical. The cookie path one will probably be more rare.

Oh, and the suggestion to set the ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH to / or /blog or some such thing will, in fact, have the same effect as simply clearing your cookies. Which is why I'm doubting that the ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH thing is a real issue.
Otto42
Moderator
Posted 11 months ago #

Okay, here's the underlying problem:

1. Upgrading from WordPress 2.5.1 to 2.6 will change the admin cookie path. Instead of being, say, /blog, it will now want to be /blog/wp-admin.
2. When you login for the first time, and it sets the /blog/wp-admin cookie, your older /blog cookie with the same name is still there.
3. This makes the browser send both of them, and WordPress has some kind of chance of picking up the old one instead of the new one.

Most of the time, this won't matter as they'll have been the same. In some cases, they'll be different, and you can't login because of it, and WordPress can't reset the old one because it's using the new path.

Obvious and correct solution: clear the browser cookies. Problem solved instantly.

Less obvious solution: If you set the ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH to the old path, then logging in will overwrite the old cookie with the new one, making them identical again. For a couple weeks, anyway, until your other cookie expires too. Then you might have the same issue.

That's why I'm dubious about the whole ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH thing. I can't see any way for it to actually get set incorrectly like _ck_ says he's experiencing. But I don't discount the possibility, I just don't see how it's possible yet.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

Nice of you to edit your response to make it look like you were more helpful than you actually were.

I never said I was a coder. I said I had a problem and I needed it fixed, and instead of helping you were a condescending jerk the whole way through. You told add a line of code and tell you what shows up on the site, and were snotty about how easy it was. I did that. Then you tell me I'm ignorant for not knowing that that wasn't what you meant. If that wasn't what you meant, you shouldn't have said that.

I didn't ask you to teach me anything, and believe me, you're such a charming rogue that I'll never ask you, in particular, for any kind of help again.
Otto42
Moderator
Posted 11 months ago #

Nice of you to edit your response to make it look like you were more helpful than you actually were.

I don't know what you're talking about. I think I added a response at the same time you did, but I did not edit anything.

If that wasn't what you meant, you shouldn't have said that.

Fair enough, but at the same time, you were and are being awfully snotty yourself.

Here's the thing. If you could help me, then you would already know how you could do it. Since you don't, you can't. Sorry. The line I gave you is, in fact, the only line you need to know. However, you might need to know what it means in order to understand it properly. Like, where the result of it would show up (hint: view source) or where you need to add it (inside the PHP tags) and so forth.

The point is that these are obvious thing for somebody who knows PHP. If you don't, then I'm sorry, but you can't help me. I'm trying to debug issues here, not to assist you or make you feel better.
_ck_
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

Whoa. Everyone take a deep breath, it's just blog software.
People contribute in different ways.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Posted 11 months ago #

Sooo....

Bitching and bickering aside, any word from the
coders/developers of Wordpress as to how they
plan on fixing the second issue that the Moderator
above was talking about?

When can we expect a resolution to this issue?
Both technical people and non-technical people
(like myself)

I cleared my cookies and still cannot log into my blog.
_ck_
Member
Posted 11 months ago #

Kaufmannn, you can try my workaround. It really won't harm anything.
The security issue is trivial and debatable.
(in fact it makes it no less secure than 2.5.1)