Moderator
t-p
(@t-p)
Try manually resetting your plugins (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, access your server via SFTP or FTP, 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 (theme functions can interfere like plugins).
Do you see an error page when you try to login, and if so, what error page do you see and when (before logging in or after)?
Also, while you’re in your file manage/FTP/SFTP look in the root WordPress folder of the effected website for the file “wp-login.php” if this file is missing or corrupted, it will disable all login forms and prevent access to your wordpress admin panels. If that file is missing or corrupted, you will need to re-install WordPress to get a clean copy.
Thread Starter
Rae
(@dragonslayerjohnson)
Hey, you two are total champions. You’re definitely teaching me more than I hoped I’d have to know to run a site through WordPress (I thought the whole point was to not have to get this deep into the guts of the site XD) Here’s what happened:
– I followed @t-p’s suggestion and reset the plugins. This didn’t fix the issue of not being able to connect to the site with WordPress.
– After resetting the theme by renaming the folder in SFTP, I now can’t even look at the site; it just shows a blank white screen and a ‘Not Secure’ connection, like it did when I tried to access it through WP admin. No error messages or explanations, just won’t load.
– I’m not sure where wp-login.php is usually supposed to be, so I can’t really figure out if it’s missing. @radiantfreedom, where should I be looking for it?
Thanks again for taking the time to respond to this thread. I’m really new to all of this, so it may take me some extra time to follow your suggestions since I’m a few steps behind in understanding the technology. But I really appreciate your help and generosity with your time and expertise.
Moderator
t-p
(@t-p)
After resetting the theme by renaming the folder in SFTP, I now can’t even look at the site; it just shows a blank white screen and a ‘Not Secure’ connection,
Your site http://the-neer-do-wells.com opens fine for me 🙂
I don’t see any error message whatsoever!
Thread Starter
Rae
(@dragonslayerjohnson)
Okay, so maybe that part is a problem with my connection then. Is there any chance the other issue of not being able to access the dashboard is an issue with me as well?
What’s perplexing me the most about this, is that my other site works perfectly, and they both have the same plugins installed- different themes, but otherwise nearly identical XD
Moderator
t-p
(@t-p)
– Try login with http://www.Yoursite.com/wp-admin
– also, try login with http://www.Yoursite.com/wp-login.php
– If all fails, try contacting your hosting provider in case some server rule is causing it.
– Useful codex: https://codex.wordpress.org/Login_Trouble
Thread Starter
Rae
(@dragonslayerjohnson)
Thanks a million, @t-p. I’m going to wait until tomorrow to contact support, since they seem to be closed for the long weekend. Somehow using the URLs you suggested did prompt a WP login page.. but I couldn’t get any further than that, and the homepage continues not to load for some reason. My internet is fine and I’ve tried resetting the cache and cookies on my browser multiple times, so it must be an issue with the site itself (my other WP site runs fine on my watch).
@dragonslayerjohnson – If you go to the highest level folder with WordPress files in it, that’s where that file should be. Based on what happened when you went to http://www.Yoursite.com/wp-login.php as per t-p’s instructions, that file being missing isn’t the problem. If it was missing, you’d get a 404 not found error page.
To test if your site’s just down for you, or it’s a widespread issue, go to this site and run your website address through this test, which will let you know one way for the other: https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
WordPress is normally pretty easy to use, unless you run into technical difficulties.
Technology is great… when it works.
EDIT: I just tested your site and got the white screen of death. BTW, if the down for everyone site shows it is generally down, you should call your hosting provider as that would be a hosting or domain issue and you’d need them to help you get that fixed up.
Thread Starter
Rae
(@dragonslayerjohnson)
Awesome- so ‘White Screen of Death’ is what that’s called!
You two are the best. I’ll get in touch with them right away! Hopefully we’re one step closer here; thanks for being so thorough in thinking up all these troubleshooting options!
Thread Starter
Rae
(@dragonslayerjohnson)
Hi again! You all have been superhumanly helpful. Thank you so much for helping me narrow down the root of the problem.
In the end, my hosting pals couldn’t find a backup that worked to reset WordPress to. So they ended up recommending a fresh install, and are helping me get more advanced hosting options so I can handle it if a situation like this arises again. It’s going to be some work getting my content back up on the site, but I believe they helped me get a better break in the long run…
I feel like we never really uncovered what the problem was, but either way, a fresh install solved it. So thanks for your help <3 I’ll be sure to be in touch if this goes down again!