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1. david011777
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   **I have gone through the forums already and have seen similar problems as mine but no resolve to them. Please help me my knowledgeable WordPress friends!**

   I have been using WP to run my website http://www.ourlifeinithaca.com
   I have not made any changes to the website recently, outside of normal posting, but now I have three problems:
   1) The search tab on the main page no longer works. When you type in anything and hit 'search' it simply refreshes the homepage.
   2) I can no longer purge my Akismet spam! When I hit the Akismet tab under the "Manage" tab, it brings up a blank page. I've cleared cache and retried, but no luck.
   3) Same problem as in 2), but with my Backup tab under "Manage."

   I can see these programs under my wp-content/plugins folder, so they haven't been deleted, and both are activated...but I can't access either - all I get is that blank page. I'm pretty novice when it comes to programming, so I try to avoid making changes to the format/blog appearance...but these problems came out of nowhere. Please, please, help me out! Thanks very much, ourlifeinithaca.com

2. david011777
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   I've seen others have these problems, but it usually comes about after changing something on their blog...I didn't change anything. Any ideas how I can fix these problems?

   Thanks! David

3. steveyoung
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   I am having exactly the same problem. I upgraded one of our sites to 2.3.3 all others are running 2.3.2 with the recommended security patch. I turned off the backup plug-in and when I did that I ended up with a worm. It may not be related I am trying to find out the cause right now and will post again.

   I disabled my site by renaming my blog directory until I can identify the problem.

4. steveyoung
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   I just checked all my sites, about 7 of them, the others are running 2.3.2 with the recommended xmlrpc.php file down to 2.1 on a lightly used site. None of the other sites have the issue with SK2 and WP-Backup going to blank screens.

   I did turn off WP-Backup in a large 2.3.2 site (900 postings over one year) I did send a note to the security address for wp at 9:08 today.

   If further information would help, please let me know I will attempt to provide it.

5. david011777
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   Thanks Steve - I tried to install another backup plugin so that I could save all of my posts etc before trying to upgrade my WordPress, but that made the entire site "invisible" (ie, when you brought up the home page, nothing there). I'm still playing around with it - let me know what you find. I'm also having the same problem trying to access my Akismet plugin (it's working, but I can't access it via Manage tab to purge the spam) so I'm guessing it isn't a problem solely with my backup plugin...

6. steveyoung
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   I use SK2 and that had the empty page, it is also a spam program. I am still working the worms out of the workstation that went down when I turned off the backup utility. Again to all it may or may not be a wp issue. I have not been able to get to the logs yet.

   You should load (or use if it is loaded on your server) PHPmyAdmin it can be used to backup and restore your database.

   I am going back to my last backup, about a week old and restore the WP files and the DB (with PHPmyAdmin) then check those menus on the plugins to see if they come back. I will post the results.

7. david011777
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   I read about installing PHPmyAdmin - I'll do that today or tomorrow for backup. Do let me know if an older version restores the plugin menu pages. Thanks-

8. steveyoung
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   I am going to reinstall 2.3.3 on a development server, and check that. Then if I see an issue 2.3.2 with the fixed xlmrpc.php file. I will report back. These are donated sites, and our real work comes first, as soon as that is done....

   By the way PHPmyAdmin is a little intimidating at first, a lot of options. But it works very well once you use it a few times.

9. steveyoung
   Member
   Posted 4 years ago #

   The restore of 2.3.3 that was two weeks old went well. I put it on a new server. First uploading the WP files with the correct WP-Config for that system. Then restoring the database with PHPmyAdmin. All is fine again, both SK2 and WP-backup can be seen in the admin menu. I can open up the bad one and replace the posts I lost.

   I left the old one up (but disabled for now) if I get a request from someone for further info if this is a security bug I can provide further data. I would even be willing to backup and restore the WP files and Database on that one as a test. Since I am still working on eliminating the (possibly unrelated) worms I would delete the plugins this time rather than deactivating them.

   The repair and restoring of WP was easy, chasing the problems on the desk top machine is killing me!

   David be sure not to copy over any backups you may have. You will want to backup the entire Database, select all the records (you will see them when you install PHPmyAdmin) and "save as file" Gziped. I have found "none" with the compression does not work for me.

10. david011777
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    Thanks a bunch, Steve. Here is what I'm going to do, let me know if you agree:
    1) Install PHPMyAdmin and follow wordpress instructions for how to backup my site data (you're right, I've been told it's intimidating)
    2) Backup site as a new file (no rewrite) per your recommendation.
    3) Install the newest version of WP (2.3.3?) and install Akismet and WP backup plugins.
    4) Import my old posts etc into newest WP version.

    Sound good? I'm not entirely certain how to import backup files into WP, but there seems to be lots of online help with this. Let me know your thoughts, and thanks again. (PS, do you think the newer version of WP will help with my Search function problem that I describe in my original post?)

11. david011777
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    There's some problem with my plug-ins folders: I just installed a PHPmyAdmin plug-in (found under the downloads section on this site) which I was able to activate fine, which brings up a "PHPmyadmin" tab under Manage, but when I click on that I get the blank screen - exactly what I get with Akismet/WP database backup plug-ins. This is so frustrating! Is there a folder I may have deleted that's making these plug-ins inaccessible??

12. steveyoung
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    I use phpMyAdmin as a separate utility. You can download a copy here. http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php
    Follow the directions and upload it into your server in a directory like "PMA" I password protect that directory too since anyone in that utility could alter your data base.

    I have never used the plugin, so I can not help. Since you are having plugin issues this will get around that. Then you could restore from your last WP backup and then reload the database you will backup. That did work for me to solve the problem, although I still do not know why it happened. No return email from my security email, so it may not be a problem or they do not respond to the emails.

    I am still working the worms and such out of the desktop system, it is going to be a long weekend. All this started for me when I was doing a backup to get ready to test 2.5 with hopes of providing feedback.

13. steveyoung
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    I just saw the;

    "Thanks a bunch, Steve. Here is what I'm going to do, let me know if you agree:"

    "1) Install PHPMyAdmin and follow wordpress instructions for how to backup my site data (you're right, I've been told it's intimidating)"

    Do install the real phpMyAdmin it will be independent of WP think of WP as the envelope and the database as your book in the envelope. You need to deal with both independently. Most the defaults in phpMyAdmin work fine, if you just are doing backup and restore. I actually learned a lot about the database structure by poking around with it, you may too.

    On your item 2, I would feel better if you had a backup of your WP files before this started, but if you do not. You could install version 2.3.3 and even restore your database with phpMyAdmin, all your posts would return.

    "4) Import my old posts etc into newest WP version."

    No need they will repopulate when you use the database you are going to back up.

    One of the tests I am doing with 2.5 (it is a early release do not use it until it is released (I like to wait a few weeks for any small updates too). I installed a new WP and restored the database from one of my other blogs. Like magic all the posts and comments are in the new blog.

    Remember, this is not my real job I have been working on WP since 1.0 and implemented a dozen or so blogs. My most complex one is Londonderry Hometown Online News. I try to use others (my other wp sites) as a sandbox so I do not mess that one up.

    Back to "Remember" we stumbled on each other because we had the same problem with "blank Plugins" in the administration panel. If you need help with backup and restore search on those issues.

14. david011777
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    Steve, superb response, thanks. I'll follow your instructions today or tomorrow and let you know how things turn out. I think that using a PHPmyadmin independent of plugins will be helpful since it avoids the blank page issue I've been having. I'll keep you posted. (PS, small world about upstate NY! we haven't been here more than a couple of years but my wife went to Syracuse back in college so she's a veteran).

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