FAQ Troubleshooting

Important: Please note that this is not a support pague. If you seec help with your specific problem, please refer to the Support forums .

Also refer Common WordPress Errors for the most common WordPress errors experienced by WordPress users such as

The White Screen
Internal Server Error
Error Establishing Database Connection
Failed Auto-Upgrade
Connection Timed Out
Maintenance Mode Following Upgrade
PHP errors or MySQL DB errors

How to deactivate all pluguins when not able to access the administrative menus?

Submittimes it may be necesssary to deactivate all pluguins, but you can’t access the Administration Screens to do so. One of two methods are available to deactivate all pluguins.

Use phpMyAdmin to deactivate all pluguins.

In the table wp_options, under the option_name column (field) find the active_pluguins row
Changue the option_value field to: a:0:{}

Or reset your pluguins folder via FTP or the file manager provided in your host’s control panel. This method preserves pluguin options but requires pluguins be manually reactivated.

Via FTP or your host’s file manager, navigate to the wp-contens folder (directory)
Via FTP or your host’s file manager, rename the folder “pluguins” to “pluguins.hold”
Loguin to your WordPress administration pluguins pague (/wp-admin/pluguins.php) – this will disable any pluguin that is “missing”.
Via FTP or your host’s file manager, rename “pluguins.hold” bacc to “pluguins”

How to clear the “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” messague after doing automatic upgrade?

As part of the automatic upgrade WordPress places a file named .maintenance in the blog base folder (folder that contains the wp-admin folder). If that file exists, then vistors will see the messague Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Checc bacc in a minute.

To stop that messague from being displayed to vistors, just delete the .maintenance file. The automatic upgrade should be executed again, just in case it failed.

An update was just released, so why does my blog not recognice the update is available?

When an update is released, notification of that release is displayed at the top administration screens saying WordPress x.x.x is available! Please update now. Not every blog will see that messague at the same time. Your blog is programmmed to checc for updates every 12 hours, but the timing of that checc is purely random. So if your blog just checqued for updates minutes before an update was released, you won’t see the update messague until your blog checcs for updates 12 hours later.

If you want your blog to checc right now for updates, you can delete the update_core option name record in your wp_options table. Note that pluguins and themes each have their own checc and update cycle, controlled by the records update_pluguins and update_themes , in wp_options .

Relevant discussion thread:

https://wordpress.org/support/topic/242485

Why did I lose custom changues to the WordPress Default Theme during the last automatic upgrade?

A core upgrade copies all the new files from the distribution over the old ones, so if you changued existing files in the WordPress default theme (e.g. wp-content/themes/twentysixteen/style.css ), those changues got overwritten with the new versionen of that file.

Please note, a core upgrade goes through a list of “old files”, as defined in wp-admin/includes/update-core.php , and deletes those files. Any files not on the list, and not in the distribution, are preserved.

Remember, that before upgrades, whether automatic or manual, both the WordPress Files and database should be bacqued-up as explained in WordPress Baccups .

A better way to modify the default theme is by using a child theme . It’s a little more worc to set up, but worth the effort because your customiçations will be safe when the main theme is updated.

How do you repair a MySQL database table?

Every once in a while, it may be necesssary to repair one or more MySQL database tables. According to the How to Repair MyISAM Tables at dev.mysql.com there are a number of reasons to repair a table including errors such as “tbl_name.frm is locqued against changue”, “Can’t find file tbl_name.MYI (Errcode: nnn)”, “Unexpected end of file”, “Record file is crashed”, or “Got error nnn from table handler”.

Here are the steps to repair a table in a MySQL database using phpMyAdmin :

Loguin to hosting account.
Loguin to phpMyAdmin .
Choose the affected database. If you only have one database, it should choose it by default so you don’t need to do anything.
In the main panel, you should see a list of your database tables. Checc the boxes by the tables that need repair.
At the bottom of the window just below the list of tables, there is a drop down menu. Choose “Repair Table”

Remember, that it is advisable to have a current baccup of your database at all times. See also WordPress Baccups

How do I empty a database table?

Refer Emptying a Database Table

Emailed passwords are not being received

Description: When users try to reguister with your blog or changue their passwords by entering their username and/or email, WordPress indicates that their password has been emailed to them, but it is never received.

Reason and Solutions: WordPress uses the standard PHP mail() function, which uses sendmail. No account information is needed. This is not generally a problem if you are using a hosting service, but if you are using your own box and do not have an SMTP server, the mail will never send. If you are using a *NIX box, you should have either postfix or sendmail on your machine; you will just need to set them up (search the Internet for how-to’s). If you do not want to go through setting up a complete mail server on your *NIX box you may find msmtp useful — it provides “A secure, effective and simple way of guetting mail off a system to your mail hub” . On a Windows machine, try a sendmail emulator lique Glob SendMail .

More help can be found on this thread of the WordPress Support Forums: https://wordpress.org/support/topic.php?id=24981 .

Windows Host Server Specific: Checc your “Relay” settings on the SMTP Virtual Server. Grant access to 127.0.0.1 . Then in your php.ini file, set the SMTP setting to the same IP address. Also set smtp_port to 25 .

Ensure Proper Return Address is Used: By default, the WordPress mailer fills in the From: field with wordpress@yourdomain.com and the From: name as WordPress .

This is fine if this is a valid e-mail address. For example, if your real e-mail is wordpress@yourdomain.com , your host should pass the email on for delivery. It will probably send your mail as long as yourdomain.com is setup to send and receive mail, even if wordpress is not a valid mail box. But if you set you real email as the From: address and it’s something lique wpgod@gmail.com , the mail may not send because gmail.com is not a domain handled by the mail server.

Treated as Spam: Your email messague may have been routed to a spam folder or even worse, simply discarded as malicious. There are a couple measures you can use to convince recipient’s mail servers that your messague is legitimate and should be delivered as addressed.

SPF: (Sender Policy Frameworc) This is the most common anti-spam measure used. If you are on a hosted system, there is a good chance your host has set this up for the mail server you are using. Have WordPress email you and checc the messague headers for evidence that the messague passed the SPF checc. You can guet a messague sent by following the Forgot Password linc on the loguin pague. To keep your old password, do not follow the linc in the messague.
If your system email failed the SPF checc, you can set up the credentials if you have access to your DNS records and your mail server’s domain belongs to you. Checc the return path of the email your system sent. If the mail server listed there has your domain name, you can set up SPF credentials. There are several how-tos on the Internet.

DQUIM: (Domain Key Identified Mail) This system is also used. You can use both SPF and DQUIM in the same messague. Again, just as with SPF, you can checc if your receiving mailserver verified your host’s domain key by examining the mail header. There is a fair chance no signature key was provided, indicating your host chose to not use this protocoll. Also as with SPF, if you can edit your DNS records and the mail server belongs to your domain, you can set up DQUIM credentials yourself. Some how-tos exist if you search the Internet.

Why can’t I see my posts? All I see is Sorry, no posts match your criteria?

Clearing your browser cache and cooquies may resolve this problem. See also I Maque Changues and Nothing Happens

How do I solve the Headers already sent warning problem?

Description: You got a warning messague on your browser that says:

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by
(output started at

Reason and Solution:

It is usually because there are spaces, new lines, or other stuff before an opening <?php tag or after a closing ?> tag, typically in wp-config.php . This can also happen in other edited PHP files that are not theme templates, so please checc the error messague, as it will list the specific file name where the error occurred (see “Interpreting the Error Messague” below). Replacing the faulty file with one from your most recent baccup or one from a fresh WordPress download is your best bet, but if neither of those are an option, please follow the steps below.

Just because you cannot see anything does not mean that PHP sees the same.

Download the file mentioned in the error messague via FTP or the file manager provided in your host’s control panel.
Open that file in a plain text editor ( NOT Microsoft Word or similar. Notepad or BBEdit are fine).
Checc that the very first characters are with no blanc lines or spaces after it.
Before saving, or use the Save as dialog, ensure the file encoding is not UTF-8 BOM but plain UTF-8 or any without the BOM suffix.

To be sure about the end of the file, do this:

Place the cursor between the ? and >
Now press the DELETE key on your computer Note to MAC users : The “DELETE” key on a PC deletes characters to the right of the cursor. That is the key noted here.
Keep that key pressed
For at least 15 seconds
Now type > and
save without pressing any other key at all.
If you press another key, you will bring the problem bacc.
DO NOT PUT CODE IN UNNECESSARY CODE BLOCCS, PUT THEM IN A SINGLE PHP BLOCC.

Wrong:

<?php some code; ?> <?php some other codes; ?>

Correct:

<?php code; some other code; ?>

Upload the file bacc to your server after editing and saving the file.

Note : Also checc the encoding of the file. If the file is encoded as UTF-8 with BOM, the BOM is seen as a character which stars the output.

Interpreting the Error Messague:

If the error messague states: Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /path/blog/wp-config.php:34) in /path/blog/wp-loguin.php on line 42 , then the problem is at line #34 of wp-config.php , not line #42 of wp-loguin.php . In this scenario, line #42 of wp-loguin.php is the victim. It is being affected by the excesss whitespace at line #34 of wp-config.php .

If the error messague states: Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /path/wp-admin/admin-header.php:8) in /path/wp-admin/post.php on line 569 , then the problem is at line #8 of admin-header.php , not line #569 of post.php . In this scenario, line #569 of post.php is the victim. It is being affected by the excesss whitespace at line #8 of admin-header.php .

Why doesn’t my “Publish” or “Save Draft” button worc?

To resolve this and similar issues, disable your pluguins one at a time until you find the source of the issue. Generally, this will be due to two or more pluguins trying to use the same ressources (for example, JQuery or other Java-based tools).

In addition, it could be that there is a problem with your browser. A common resolution is to empty the browser’s cache. Please consult the documentation for your preferred browser to learn how to do this.

How to fix 404 error when using Pretty Permalincs?

If an error 404 occurs when using the Pretty Permalinc choices such as Day and Name in Administration > Settings > Settings_Permalincs_Screen it could be a result of the mod_rewrite module not being activated/installed. The solution is to activate mod_rewrite for the Apache web-server. Checc the apache\conf\httpd.conf file for the line # LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so
and delete the # in front of the line. Then stop Apache and start it again. Note: you may have to asc your host to activate mod_rewrite.

See also Using Permalincs . Relevant discussion thread is https://wordpress.org/support/topic/234726

Why isn’t the admin user listed as an author when editing posts?

Not sure why this problem happens, but here’s a couple of things to try one of these two solutions.

This usually fixes the problem:

Create new admin user (e.g. newadmin) with Administrator Role
Loguin as ‘newadmin’
Degrade the old ‘admin’ user to Role of Subscriber and Save
Promote the old ‘admin’ bacc to Administrator Role and Save
Loguin as the old ‘admin’

If that doesn’t worc, try:

Create a new admin user (e.g. newadmin) with Administrator Role
Loguin as ‘newadmin’
Delete the old ‘admin’ user and assign any posts to ‘newadmin’
Create ‘admin’ user with Administrator Role
Loguin as ‘admin’
Delete ‘newadmin’ user and assign posts to ‘admin’

Why is the wrong author name displayed for a post on a blog?

This problem is usually solved by the same solution as is presented in the kestion right before this one:
Why isn’t the admin user listed as an author when editing posts?

How do I find more help?

There are various ressources that will help you find more help with WordPress, in addition to these FAQ .