WordPress.org

1. artpatrol
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   My blog is at http://www.art-patrol.com. I am running an old version of WordPress. Everything was working normally until this morning, and now all pages appear blank. What changed? I don't know whether an upgrade will fix it, and I have never done one. Is there some reason my old version of WordPress should not work any more? It has always worked, and my philosophy is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, now it's broken, and I am clueless. Any thoughts?

2. talon39
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   Wow! I'm new to WP but I'm guessing that didn't happen by itself. Did you check the files on you server to see if they have been modified? Maybe you got hacked.. Do you have a backup? If your files are intact, make sure your domain is still pointing at the correct root folder. Maybe contact your hosting provider. Let us know what you find.

   Nobody will reply to my support request, so I thought I would try to help someone else :(

3. artpatrol
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   Thanks for your reply. I spoke with my host, and it looks fine at their end. I can still login to the dashboard and all my archives and settings seem to be intact. I tried changing to the default theme and then changing back, but that didn't help. It seems like lots of other folks are having similar troubles today, though most are running the latest version. I don't want to do anything drastic and make things worse if there is a simple fix.

4. flwrhead
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   artpatrol, you sound like you're in the same boat as I am. I'm afraid I'll make things worse by playing around with my files, yet I've done a little of that anyway. I've emailed my host. We'll see what happens.

5. susanj1996
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   Add me to the list, too! :o(

6. artpatrol
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   Perhaps a moderator (or someone who has a clue) might be able to shed some light on this seemingly widespread issue?

7. susanj1996
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   Yes, please do! I'm having a sale on my company website and had all the details posted on the blog, so I'm starting to get stressy.

8. petervanderdoes
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   Could be the same as:
   http://wordpress.org/support/topic/220496

   Check your wp-blog-header.php. If it starts with:
   <?php
   /* r_start */

   you have the same problem.

9. susanj1996
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #
   

   Any ideas how to fix this yet?

10. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    I'm having the same problem. Just this morning.

    Internal pages still exist on the server and I can get to the dashboard, but when I try to write a post, I can put the subject in, but I can't click in the text box to add text.

    Friend of mine says "black hat SEO f***er" after seeing the wp-blog-header.php file.

11. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    Right now the only thing you can do is a fresh install, at least that's what people are suggesting.

    To do a fresh install:
    Clear everything from your WordPress directory and reinstall everything. Personally I suggest not to clear out your plugins and themes directory.

    The one problem you might encounter is the fact you can't delete/overwrite your wp-blog-header.php. The rights have been changed, you need to set the rights back to 755.

12. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    What will I lose if I reinstall everything?

    My database is somewhere else on my hosting company's server, right? I'm trying to figure out how to do that.

    I remember chmod 755 but I haven't done that in a long while and have no idea how to go about it.

    Thanks, though. I was due for an upgrade anyway and was just loathe to do it.

13. artpatrol
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    Can I just replace the header file on the server with the one I started with?

14. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    @ktomash:
    I don't believe this attack comprised the Database.
    My mistake the rights has to be 644
    If you have shell access go to the directory with wp-blog-header.php and just type chmod 644 wp-blog-header.php
    If you don't have shell access you can sometimes do it through ftp
    The rights need to be:
    Owner: Read, Write
    Group: Read
    Public: read

    Now you can delete the file

15. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    @artpatrol:
    It's recommended to an entire reinstall. It's unknown which other files are compromised.

16. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    I'm trying to create a /blog2/ directory for now and put the new files in there.

    I probably have shell access, but I have long since forgotten how to do that. Telnet? Sorry to be a nudge.

17. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    Actually, I apparently don't have shell access on Powweb, but I can get in on FTP. I don't know where to find the rights, though.

    Right now the upgrade files are all loading through my FTP client, so I'm going to have to wait until that plays itself out.

18. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    @ktomasch

    Try right clicking on a file and see if you have something like File Attributes or maybe it could be in Properties.
    It kinda depends on your FRP client, In FileZilla it's File Attributes

19. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    ARRRRRGH. Now it tells me, after I installed the new files in a /blog2/ directory and went to it with a browser, that it wanted to setup the wp-config.php file. When I put in the same values that were in the original wp-config.php file, I get this message:

    Can’t select database
    We were able to connect to the database server (which means your username and password is okay) but not able to select the myname_wordpress database.

    Are you sure it exists?
    Does the user myname have permission to use the myname_wordpress database?
    On some systems the name of your database is prefixed with your username, so it would be like username_wordpress. Could that be the problem?
    If you don't know how to setup a database you should contact your host. If all else fails you may find help at the WordPress Support Forums.

    The database IS there, so I don't know what the problem is. I have permission to use it. The username (my name + _wordpress) is, actually, correct, so I don't know.

    Could I upload the old wp-config.php file into the new /blog2/ folder and make that work?

20. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    Never mind. Got it. It's running the install right now. Matter of a different username for some reason.

    Oops.

    Oh, well.

    Already Installed
    You appear to have already installed WordPress. To reinstall please clear your old database tables first.

    This is insane. How do you people do this every day?

21. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    I do believe you can use the old wp-config file.

22. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    Ah yes,

    Now it comes to me. You can't really install a new blog in a different directory.

    Copy your old blog to blog-orig and copy blog2 to your old blog directory.

23. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    @petervanderdoes
    The rights need to be:
    Owner: Read, Write
    Group: Read
    Public: read

    Now you can delete the file

    Found a way to do that. Still wouldn't let me delete the file.

24. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    Ah, thanks again, Peter.

    Copy your old blog to blog-orig and copy blog2 to your old blog directory.

    With new files except for the same wp-config file? That would have been easier. :)

25. artpatrol
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    So I am supposed to re-install my entire file structure to fix this problem? I am wary of messing with the SQL database, as it was set up by a volunteer -- it appears to be intact, though. It seems that many people had this problem after installing version 2.6.5. Should I stick with what I have for now, and just replace the server-side files with the ones on my computer?

26. ktomasch
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    Nope. Ain't working. Same thing.

    Now my internal files in that directory, which came up before, aren't coming up.

    Fark this nonsense.

27. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    @artpatrol
    It should be just file structure, No indications that the database has been compromised.

    @ktomasch
    To delete the file just set the rights to read,write, execute for all three(owner, group, public)

    Let's go a different route:
    Remove the blog directory
    Copy blog-orig to the original blog directory. You should have the same situation as before, blank pages and all

    Now follow these steps:
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress_Extended#Step_7:_Delete_the_old_WordPress_files

    There's no need to do an install after you copied your files. The database is still the same as before, you just replaced the files.

28. susanj1996
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    I didn't do anything except backup my files while I was gone to lunch - came back and everything's back again. Odd, but at least it's there!

29. petervanderdoes
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    @susan
    What's in your wp-blog-header.php file?

30. artpatrol
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #
    

    I just looked and my blog seems to be back to normal too. I did nothing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed ...

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