Hi @lewismiriad.,
Deactivating ALL (yes all) plugins temporarily
– deactivating ALL (yes all) plugins temporarily to see if this resolves the problem (plugin functions can interfere). If this works, re-activate them individually (one-by-one) to find the problematic plugin(s).
– If you don’t have access to your Dashboard’s Plugins page, try manually resetting your plugins (no Dashboard access required). Here is another tutorial: http://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-deactivate-all-plugins-when-not-able-to-access-wp-admin/ – If that resolves the issue, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause. Also remember to deactivate any plugins in the mu-plugins folder (if you have created such folder). The easiest way is to rename that folder to mu-plugins-old.
– switching to the unedited default Theme (Twenty Seventeen, etc.) for a moment using the WP dashboard to rule out any theme-specific issue (theme functions can interfere like plugins).
If you don’t have access to your Dashboard’s Appearance page, access your server via FTP/ SFTP , or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel (consult your hosting provider’s documentation for specifics on these), navigate to /wp-content/themes/ and switch to the default theme by renaming your current theme’s folder by adding “-old” to the end of the folder name. Alternately, you can remove other themes except the default theme (Twenty Seventeen, etc.). That will force your site to use it.
– If the above steps don’t resole the issue, try MANUALLY updating. Download WordPress again and unzip it. Access your server via SFTP or FTP, or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel (consult your hosting provider’s documentation for specifics on these), and delete then replace your copies of everything on the server except the wp-config.php file and the /wp-content/ directory with fresh copies from the download. This will effectively replace all of your core files without damaging your content and settings. Please read the Manual Update directions first.
Thanks
Rajan V
Thanks Rajan
I’ve tried all the above suggestions – but it hasn’t resolved the issue.
Checking the error_log shows the following error when I try to activate the child theme:
[24-Jan-2018 14:03:45 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Cannot redeclare _verifyactivate_widget() (previously declared in /home/miriadmm/public_html/harts/wp-content/themes/Newspaper-child/functions.php:30) in /home/miriadmm/public_html/harts/wp-content/themes/Newspaper/functions.php on line 208
I was also getting the following error:
[24-Jan-2018 14:00:49 UTC] PHP Warning: include(/home/miriadmm/public_html/harts/wp-content/advanced-cache.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/miriadmm/public_html/harts/wp-settings.php on line 84
but I’ve since renamed the advanced-cache.php file and commented out the reference to it in wp-settings.php
and that error is no longer showing.
I have no plugins loading – I’ve renamed the folder to ‘plugins-new’.
I’ve also disabled all themes bar the default ‘twentysixteen’, ‘newspaper’ and ‘newspaper-child’ by renaming the original ‘themes’ folder to ‘themes-new’, creating a new ‘themes’ folder and copying the above themes into it.
Any further suggestions appreciated – I’m still stuck.
Best
Lewis
To try and test things out more I set up a brand new WordPress multisite network… checked that it was working OK and then uploaded and network enabled the Newspaper and child theme supplied by the developer… and I’m still getting the same error if I try to activate the child theme.
PHP Fatal error: Cannot redeclare _verifyactivate_widget() (previously declared in /home/miriadmm/public_html/harts/wp-content/themes/Newspaper-child/functions.php:30) in /home/miriadmm/public_html/harts/wp-content/themes/Newspaper/functions.php on line 208
What’s more… every time I try to activate a new theme – including the WordPress defaults – e.g. http://harts-new.harts.online/wp-admin/themes.php?action=activate&stylesheet=twentysixteen&_wpnonce=5c1957115d –
my admin page just shows the white screen of death and I have to edit back the url tohttp://harts-new.harts.online/wp-admin/themes.php to show the Appearance page in the Dashboard again… though it confirms the new theme has been activated.
Very odd behaviour…
I’m hosting on a Hostmonster VPS if anyone has any similar experiences?