Title: Fatal Error – wp-settings.php, line 268
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# Fatal Error – wp-settings.php, line 268

 *  [man-on-the-door](https://wordpress.org/support/users/man-on-the-door/)
 * (@man-on-the-door)
 * [17 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/)
 * Let me preface this by I’m very much a novice when it comes to dealing with PHP
   files…
 * Here’s what happened: I had backed up my site via copying everything through 
   my FTP client. I then tried to make an automated backup, and instead set up a
   sync. When it ran yesterday, it synced over the top of what I had previously 
   copied off, so now I suspect my backup is bad as well. Now, my install of WP 
   is nuked and I don’t know what to do. The exact error I’m receiving when I pull
   up my site is:
 * > Fatal error: Call to undefined method stdClass::set_prefix() in /home/content/
   > s/t/r/*username*/html/wp-settings.php on line 268
 * I have tried reuploading the backup I have to see if it would work, but since
   this sync ruined the backup I have, it didn’t work either.
 * My site doesn’t have much on it, but I’d like to get it back running and not 
   start from scratch. If I do have to punt and start over, is there any way to 
   salvage my content from the junk backup I’ve got? I have found and saved my pages
   from Google’s cashe…
 * Thanks for any help…

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/page/2/?output_format=md)
[→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/page/2/?output_format=md)

 *  [adamh](https://wordpress.org/support/users/adamh/)
 * (@adamh)
 * [17 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137213)
 * Firstly, I’d backup your db (try phpmyadmin). Then get a fresh copy of wordpress
   and upload it to your ftp, over the old copy. You might find it’s not a problem
 *  Thread Starter [man-on-the-door](https://wordpress.org/support/users/man-on-the-door/)
 * (@man-on-the-door)
 * [17 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137219)
 * I don’t see any file with that name in my backup or in what I’ve copied off of
   my site this morning. Would there be another name?
 * Thanks for the quick response…
 *  Thread Starter [man-on-the-door](https://wordpress.org/support/users/man-on-the-door/)
 * (@man-on-the-door)
 * [17 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137225)
 * Oh — I see that’s a program to get the backup. I’ll work on this for a bit…
 *  [philnelson](https://wordpress.org/support/users/philnelson/)
 * (@philnelson)
 * [16 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137610)
 * Did this solve your problem? I’m having a bit of trouble with this myself.
 *  Thread Starter [man-on-the-door](https://wordpress.org/support/users/man-on-the-door/)
 * (@man-on-the-door)
 * [16 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137612)
 * Well, I decided that backing up to that extent was more than I wanted to do. 
   My site is small enough that I just grabbed google’s cashe versions of all my
   posts and just reposted them to the site.
 * I ended up doing a full uninstall of WP and reinstall. Then once it was working
   again, I tried to copy my good ‘backup copy’ into certain areas of the root folder,
   but that messed stuff up again. Then after another unistall/reinstall and another
   reposting, I’m back up and running.
 *  [madpole](https://wordpress.org/support/users/madpole/)
 * (@madpole)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137623)
 * Call to a member function set_prefix() on a non-object, line 255
    Call to undefined
   method stdClass::set_prefix() in wp-settings.php on line 268
 * Same problem here. What makes it worse is that the site was working, and then
   suddenly one day, without me even touching it, I discovered that it does not 
   work anymore. I disabled all the plugins, deleted some of them, installed WP 
   2.8.2 but it didn’t make any difference.
 * I get the same error when trying to change the theme too.
 *  [madpole](https://wordpress.org/support/users/madpole/)
 * (@madpole)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137624)
 * I have gone through a painful process of trying to identify what causes the problem(
   step by step tests below) and I came to the conclusion that the problem is potentially
   caused by “corrupted” .htaccess file. I can’t prove it without having to go through
   the whole exercise again, but, before You even have a look at all the things 
   I tried (without success), try this, it only takes 5 mins:
    - rename your .htaccess file to something else (“.htaccess.bak” for example).
      If You have wp installed in “www.domain.com/wp” dir and running it from “www.
      domain.com” root dir – rename the .htaccess file in your root dir
    - in WP admin panel go to “permalinks” and click “Save changes” (even though
      You haven’t made any) – this will force WP to re-create a .htaccess file for
      You
    - try your website now
 * ————————————————-
    Below are all the things I tried without much luck. This listing
   also indicates that the problem was caused by .htaccess file.
 * > -) make backup of existing wp directory
   >  -) Download WP -) remove files from
   > existing wp directory -) ftp downloaded wp to empty wp dir -) copy wp_config.
   > php from your backup dir to your wp dir – check if site is working: Fatal error:
   > Call to undefined method stdClass::set_prefix() in …/wp-settings.php on line
   > 268</p> <p>-) delete wp_config.php and rename wp_config_sample.php to wp_config.
   > php (so we have blank settings / can’t access db): Fatal error: Call to undefined
   > method stdClass::set_prefix() in …/wp-settings.php on line 268 Can’t access
   > admin panel either, same error</p> <p>-) Trying to run wp-admin/upgrade.php:
   > Fatal error: Call to undefined method stdClass::set_prefix() in …/wp-settings.
   > php on line 268</p> <p>-) Trying to run wp-admin/install.php: Fatal error: 
   > Call to undefined method stdClass::set_prefix() in …/wp-settings.php on line
   > 268</p> <p>-) move .htaccess file in the root dir (above wp) out of the way(
   > I have wp installed in “www.domain.com/wp” subdir but accessed from “www.domain.
   > com” root dir) and try to run wp-admin/upgrade.php again: First success: “No
   > upgrade required” message. admin is working again as well. [http://www.domain.com](http://www.domain.com)
   > showing a blank page.</p> <p>-) restore .htaccess file in the root dir Fatal
   > error: Call to undefined method stdClass::set_prefix() in …/wp-settings.php
   > on line 268</p> <p>-) move .htaccess file in the root dir (above wp) out of
   > the way again and force the upgrade by: SELECT * FROM wp_options`where`option_name`
   > = “db_version” UPDATE `wp_options` set `option_value` = 9872 where `option_name`
   > = “db_version” Result: blank page again
   > -) Force WordPress to regenerate .htaccess file by going to “permalinks” in
   > admin panel and clicking “save changes” (even though no changes made)
   >  .htaccess
   > page regenerated – much cleaner than what I had
   > -) Go to themes and change the default theme (database points to the theme 
   > that doesn’t exist)
   >  Success – the site is now working in default theme
   > -) Restore my theme from the backup and activate it
   >  Sucess – the site is working
   > now
 *  [proverbs31woman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/proverbs31woman/)
 * (@proverbs31woman)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137625)
 * All very well but I can’t access the admin function to do this because of the
   corrupted htaccess file and I’ve tried uploading the previous htaccess file but
   that hasn’t helped either.
 * Not impressed that upgrading has caused this problem – it’s not my site but a
   client’s site.
 * Looks like I’m going to have to do a removal, new installation and then run the
   backup database in the hope it will restore it all.
 *  [airzinnn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/airzinnn/)
 * (@airzinnn)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137626)
 * I am having this same issue… hoping someone can solve and help us.
 *  [proverbs31woman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/proverbs31woman/)
 * (@proverbs31woman)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137629)
 * I’ve been able to restore a former copy of the blog but this does not resolve
   the issue that doing an upgrade is going to cause another problem. This means
   I have no confidence in doing anything further on this particular blog for fear
   of it happening again.
 *  [kmessinger](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kmessinger/)
 * (@kmessinger)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137630)
 * Please post your url’s.
 *  [proverbs31woman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/proverbs31woman/)
 * (@proverbs31woman)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137631)
 * Mine is [http://www.paddyspruce.org](http://www.paddyspruce.org) – I’ve had my
   IT guy restore back to previous backup so it’s now in the earlier version of 
   WP.
 *  [proverbs31woman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/proverbs31woman/)
 * (@proverbs31woman)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137632)
 * Ok, I believe I’ve found the problem – at least for my case.
 * I increased the amount of webspace available to this particular site as it was
   close to the edge and then reran the upgrade and now it’s working fine. But I
   could only do this because my IT guy restored it to a previous backup and version
   so I could run fresh with it.
 * All working now.
 *  [kmessinger](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kmessinger/)
 * (@kmessinger)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137638)
 * > I increased the amount of webspace available to this particular site as it 
   > was close to the edge
 * Memory? Page size? I don’t understand webspace?
 *  [librarian-aaron](https://wordpress.org/support/users/librarian-aaron/)
 * (@librarian-aaron)
 * [16 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/#post-1137641)
 * Deleting the htaccess file solved this problem for me. I backed up first before
   deleting it. As soon as removed it, refreshed my WordPress login and the error
   stopped occurring. I haven’t created a new htaccess file yet but I thought it
   was worth noting the source of the problem.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

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The topic ‘Fatal Error – wp-settings.php, line 268’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [fatal error](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/fatal-error/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 18 replies
 * 9 participants
 * Last reply from: [borvik](https://wordpress.org/support/users/borvik/)
 * Last activity: [16 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-wp-settingsphp-line-268/page/2/#post-1137681)
 * Status: not resolved

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