Wordpress Rescue Mission - White Screen of Death (wp-admin) WordPress
- SOLVED
I developed a site on my laptop (localhost) and backed it up with the Backup Buddy plugin. I migrated it from localhost to my web server here: http://teamtupper.com/tmv/ and it's functional on the front end.
More backstory... I use Headway Theme to style the site, which I love, but my problem occurred when I tried to update to the latest Headway version (3.2). I got a notification message in my WP admin dashboard that the update was available. So i faithfully created a backup with Backup Buddy (b/c I have a ton of hours in building this site).
I clicked upgrade to Headway 3.2 and then I don't know what happened... perhaps I was abducted by aliens or had a missing time event. All I know is that now when I try to log in to the site, I can but then I get the dreaded White Screen of Death for http://teamtupper.com/tmv/wp-admin/
I can't restore the backup if I can't get into the admin screen!
Can anyone help? I can provide log in details as needed. My goal is to migrate this site to another server anyway. I was almost done with my work and ready to hand it off and then this crap happened :(
Answers (4)
Daniel Yoen answers:
go to wp-config.php and go to line 81:
define('WP_DEBUG',false);
to
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
to find a problem
good luck :)
Ben Tupper comments:
One step closer... it loads the grey admin bar across the top (WP3.4) acknowledging that I'm logged in (and viewing the front end of the site), but when I try to access the dashboard link... I get a 330 error message and wp-admin won't load.
Error 330 (net::ERR_CONTENT_DECODING_FAILED): Unknown error.
Thoughts?
Daniel Yoen comments:
ERR_CONTENT_DECODING_FAILED => your host not support gzip compression.
Ben Tupper comments:
Advice?
Daniel Yoen comments:
Go to database manager like phpmyadmin and run this command to disable all plugin :
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = 'a:0:{}' WHERE option_name = 'active_plugins';
hope this help
Daniel Yoen comments:
replace wp_options with yourown.options
Ben Tupper comments:
I was getting ready to run the command in phpMyAdmin from the SQL tab. Then I noticed that I had a lot of repeating tables for a particular plugin (Cart66-Lite) that I'm using for a shopping cart.
So I stopped. Didn't do the command. FTP'd into my account and renamed the Cart66-Lite plugin folder. Then reloaded the site.
I can now access the dashboard, but am getting an error message:
Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /home/teamtup/public_html/tmv/wp-includes/functions.php on line 2789
It repeats same error message 4 times, but I can access the Dashboard.
See attached screen shot.
What now? Notice there is a notification message bar in yellow from the WP dashboard that says "An automated WordPress update has failed to complete - please attempt the update again now."
Should I try to update? Or will it cause more chaos?
Daniel Yoen comments:
Isn't a problem, it's minor :
please change
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
to
define('WP_DEBUG',false);
again :)
Ben Tupper comments:
Ok, changed wp-config as you said. Error message goes away. Notification message remains. "An automated WordPress update has failed to complete - please attempt the update again now." in WP dashboard.
Safe to try the update again?
Daniel Yoen comments:
yes,
before update, disable all plugin first
hope this help :)
Ben Tupper comments:
Why?
Daniel Yoen comments:
To avoid the plugin is not compatible with wordpress 3.4.
It doesn't matter, you can re-enable plugin after the update is complete. :)
good luck
Ben Tupper comments:
I think it was the Cart66-Lite plugin. What do you think will happen if I try to update w/o deactivate the other plugins? I'm not trying to be a pain, there are just a lot of them!
Thanks Daniel.
Daniel Yoen comments:
yes you can,
or you can disable plugin related to the core, like cache, minify. :)
hope this help :)
best,
Daniel
Ben Tupper comments:
Daniel please see my current issue now that we have moved to the the files to the target server. The latest error message is posted in response to Clifford's message. Thanks.
Daniel Yoen comments:
What are you doing before ?. You can login to the dashboard ?
Ben Tupper comments:
I can log into the dashboard of the site as it was originally developed on my server AND see the front end working fine. It's here: http://teamtupper.com/tmv
I can log into the dashboard of the target site on the new server and see the dashboard but the front end is displaying a blank white page saying "No Content to Display. There are no blocks to display. Add some by going to the Headway Grid!"
Both are saying they are using Headway 3.2 with Wordpress 3.4. But the target server is not making the link between Headway and its own settings.
Daniel Yoen comments:
How do you move your site?. There's so many reasons, like :
1. Incomplete upload of core WordPress files.
2. Bad, Corrupt, or Incomplete Theme Files.
3. WP config file
4. Database Corrupt
please check, or I can do this for you :)
Best,
Daniel
Ben Tupper comments:
Daniel and I communicated with a few private messages here, then by Skype, and he worked with me quite a bit to get things working on the target server... his help was great!
Please vote for him to win this prize!!
Jerson Baguio answers:
delete the current theme.. and it makes the default theme. so in that way you can access the wp-admin
Ben Tupper comments:
If I delete the theme I will kill all of my customizations b/c it's Headway :( and I built the theme with Headway.
Francisco Javier Carazo Gil answers:
Tell us what appears when WP_DEBUG is defined to true.
The first thing you can do is to change theme directly into database:
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = 'Twenty Eleven' WHERE option_name = 'template';
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = 'twentyeleven' WHERE option_name = 'stylesheet';
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = 'twentyeleven' WHERE option_name = 'current_theme';
If you have installed Twenty Eleven in your installation (you should have it).
Ben Tupper comments:
See my reply to Daniel's advice (above). Thanks.
Francisco Javier Carazo Gil comments:
Look also to your .htaccess, maybe you have switched on GZip there, look for something like this and delete it:
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/xml text/css text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml application/xhtml+xml application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rdf+xml application/rss+xml application/atom+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript application/javascript application/x-javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf application/x-font-otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/truetype font/opentype
</IfModule>
Francisco Javier Carazo Gil comments:
In wp-config.php disable also define("WP_CACHE", false); you may have it true.
Ben Tupper comments:
Francisco before I do that... see my reply to Daniel above with screenshot. Thanks!
Francisco Javier Carazo Gil comments:
I have seen it. No problem, they are only not¡ces, nor warnings nor errors so all is OK.
If you have problems turning on the plugin tell us.
Ben Tupper comments:
I also got a red notification in WP Dashboard saying: The plugin cart66-lite/cart66.php has been deactivated due to an error: Plugin file does not exist. Yet it still shows up on my list of plugins.
Should I rename the plugin folder via FTP and try to reactivate the plugin, or will this just take me back to my original problem?
Francisco Javier Carazo Gil comments:
Hi Bentupper,
You should now install the plugin directly from zip file using FTP instead of WordPress installation.
Hope now don't fails. You can always rename it with new installation.
Ben Tupper comments:
Hey Paco,
That's intersting advice. Why do you say to do it via FTP rather than via WP dashboard? Thanks.
Francisco Javier Carazo Gil comments:
Do it directly from FTP give you the chance to control every step into installation or upgradel, please read installation notes here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cart66-lite/installation/
Ben Tupper comments:
See my current issue... it's on the target server now... and the theme is "broken" for lack of better understanding. Error messages in response to Clifford's message. Thanks.
Clifford P answers:
if you don't want to delete the theme's folder via FTP, just change the name of it. So if your theme folder is "my-custom-theme", then change it to "my-custom-theme000" via FTP. Then WordPress will do the same thing previously suggested - it'll detect the current theme is no longer present and it'll choose a different theme for the site. Then you can tell if it's an issue within the theme. If it is, you'll be able to use the site. If it's not a problem with the theme, then your site may still not work. Let me know how it goes.
Ben Tupper comments:
Getting these error messages now, which makes sense, as my original issue occurred when I tried to do a Headway update...
Warning: array_map() [function.array-map]: Argument #2 should be an array in /home/ourplanet/ourstrangeplanet.com/wp-content/themes/headway/library/data/data-elements.php on line 27
Warning: array_merge() [function.array-merge]: Argument #2 is not an array in /home/ourplanet/ourstrangeplanet.com/wp-content/themes/headway/library/data/data-elements.php on line 27
Warning: headway_array_merge_recursive_simple encountered a non array argument in /home/ourplanet/ourstrangeplanet.com/wp-content/themes/headway/library/common/functions.php on line 549
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/ourplanet/ourstrangeplanet.com/wp-content/themes/headway/library/data/data-elements.php on line 36
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/ourplanet/ourstrangeplanet.com/wp-content/themes/headway/library/media/dynamic/style.php on line 11
Is there a way I can fix this and still salvage the theme? ALL of my changes are in there... if it's trashed I'm screwed.
Clifford P comments:
I assume your theme folder name was originally called "headway". Did you take my advice and change the name to something else like "headway0" - and then change it back to "headway" after WP deactivated it?
Is your WP working now but with a different theme activated?
Do you have a backup of the theme folder prior to it breaking upon updating (with your customizations in it)? If yes, just delete "headway" via FTP and then upload the backup version and everything should work if I'm understanding the issue correctly.
Then, once the site is working again (i.e. you haven't yet updated headway theme), you can then have some time to contact the theme author and explain the broken theme update.
P.S. if you used a child theme, this would not be as scary of an issue. You should NEVER, EVER, EVER modify your "headway" theme folder (for this very reason - school of hard knocks). Instead, use a child theme, documentation here: [[LINK href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes"]]http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes[[/LINK]]
If this solved your issue (I hope it did, for your sake), please vote for me and award the prize.
Thank you.