Title: 500 Internal Server Error Last modified: October 23, 2018 --- # 500 Internal Server Error * Resolved [bruce4sure](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bruce4sure/) * (@bruce4sure) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/) * Everything worked fine on Oct-12 when I last updated the content. There seems to have been an Oct-20 update. Now I cannot access the page or the admin dashboard. I have FTP access and changed the names of the Themes and Plugin folders to see if that would allow access — but no. There is talk of a server log that might have information, but I could not find that via FTP. * Was there an update that could have screwed things up? What can I do by FTP to get things going again? * Bruce * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2F500-internal-server-error-588%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US) to see the link]_ Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total) * Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * (@t-p) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10808632) * Internal server errors (error 500) are often caused by plugin or theme function conflicts, so if you have access to your admin panel, try deactivating all plugins. If you don’t have access to your admin panel, try [manually resetting your plugins](https://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_Troubleshooting#How_to_deactivate_all_plugins_when_not_able_to_access_the_administrative_menus.3F)( no Dashboard access required). If that resolves the issue, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause. * If that does not resolve the issue, try switching to the default theme for your version of WordPress to rule-out a theme-specific issue. If you don’t have access to your admin panel, access your server via [SFTP or FTP](https://codex.wordpress.org/FTP_Clients), or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel, navigate to `/wp-content/ themes/` and rename the directory of your currently active theme. This will force the default theme to activate and hopefully rule-out a theme-specific issue. * If that does not resolve the issue, it’s possible that a `.htaccess` rule could be the source of the problem. To check for this, access your server via SFTP or FTP, or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel, and rename the `.htaccess` file. If you can’t find a `.htaccess` file, make sure that you have set your SFTP or FTP client to view invisible files. * If you weren’t able to resolve the issue by either resetting your plugins and theme or renaming your .htaccess file, we may be able to help, but we’ll need a more detailed error message. * **Internal server errors are usually described in more detail in the server error log. If you have access to your server error log, generate the error again, note the date and time, then immediately check your server error log for any errors that occurred during that time period. If you don’t have access to your server error log, ask your hosting provider to look for you.** * Thread Starter [bruce4sure](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bruce4sure/) * (@bruce4sure) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10809093) * Can’t find the server error log. I looked in the Windows Event Viewer and the cPanel of WordPress. Is there anything I can do it the cPanel that would help— like restoring an older version of WordPress? * Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * (@t-p) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10809182) * Have you asked your hosting provider to look error log for you? * Thread Starter [bruce4sure](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bruce4sure/) * (@bruce4sure) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10809515) * I am “chatting” with Xfinity, but they don’t know. They have not responded to my request for a server error log. * Now the error message I get is “Error establishing a database connection” This sounds like a WordPress problem. * I checked on https//downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ and no one can access the site. * Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * (@t-p) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10809520) * – “Error establishing a database connection” means that there is a problem with the connection to your database – a problem with the credentials stored in the wp-config.php file not matching what mysql expects. * Try reviewing the following codex for some guidance: [http://codex.wordpress.org/Common_WordPress_Errors#Error_Establishing_Database_Connection](http://codex.wordpress.org/Common_WordPress_Errors#Error_Establishing_Database_Connection) * Also review this tutorial: [http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-the-error-establishing-a-database-connection-in-wordpress/](http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-the-error-establishing-a-database-connection-in-wordpress/) * Thread Starter [bruce4sure](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bruce4sure/) * (@bruce4sure) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10812764) * Am I making progress? NO! I’ve spent over five hours on this problem that I shouldn’t have. I do appreciate your help however. * I checked the wp-config.php and found this. * // ** MySQL settings ** // define(‘WP_CACHE’, true); //Added by WP-Cache Managerdefine(‘ DB_NAME’, ‘seniorst_wrdp1’); // The name of the database define(‘DB_USER’, ‘seniorst_wrdp1’);// Your MySQL username * I changed it to this (I also changed the order of the first two statements without noticeable effect): * // ** MySQL settings ** // define(‘WP_CACHE’, true); //Added by WP-Cache Manager define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘seniorst_wrdp1’); // The name of the database define(‘DB_USER’,‘ seniorst_wrdp1’); // Your MySQL username * and still get the error message: Error establishing a database connection * I don’t know who MySQL host is as it is identified as ‘localhost’. So I can’t contact them. I notice that the MySQL password is different than for the Control Panel or FTP or WordPress Login. Is that correct? * Any other thoughts? Shouldn’t WordPress help fix this problem? * Bruce * Thread Starter [bruce4sure](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bruce4sure/) * (@bruce4sure) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10828605) * On Oct 25 I put in a ticket with WordPress indicating the error, with this request. * “Please reset my site [http://www.seniorstatesmen.org/](http://www.seniorstatesmen.org/) and the SQL Server.” * Their immediate response was “We have an engineer taking a look at the issue now.” * Since then NOTHING and it is four days later. It has been six days since anyone on this forum has offered any support. I think the site has been down for over a month. Will I have to take down the site and move it to a more responsive location? * Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * (@t-p) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10828663) * > On Oct 25 I put in a ticket with WordPress indicating the error, with this > request. * Where exactly did put in a ticket? * The reason I ask WordPress.ORG does not provide hosting for sites, it provides the software for other people to use their own sites on their own hosts. * Is your site hosted by WordPress.COM? * Thread Starter [bruce4sure](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bruce4sure/) * (@bruce4sure) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10839804) * That is good information for the novice. Only recently did I find out who my host server was. I thought it was WordPress. I put in a ticket with my host server and they told me they were having trouble with my server. In two days they responded with a fix, and as of today the site is working. * Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * (@t-p) * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10839911) * Glad to know 🙂 Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total) The topic ‘500 Internal Server Error’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [connection](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/connection/) * [database](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/database/) * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 10 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * Last activity: [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/500-internal-server-error-588/#post-10839911) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics