ONE answer to install OK but can’t login as admin

  • I found this answer on the site, but not where I expected to search for it – i.e. it was in a step3 of install question. This problem presumes you have sucessfully completed the install, but when you attempt to login using the admin username and the random password, you get a “file not found” page.

    My guess is that your wordpress files are in a subdirectory of your root – or your alias in your config file (if using Apache) is a subdirectory. Anyway you do it, when you type in the URL to get to the install files it’s something like “https://localhost/YourWordpressDir/wp-admin/install.php” rather than “https://localhost/wp-admin/install.php” (It doesn’t matter if it is “https://your.domain.com/…” rather than “https://localhost/…” the point is there is a directory that WordPress is installed in, rather than being installed to the root fo your site).

    Phew. So, if this is true, here is a possible solution.

    In step 2 (yes – you’ll have to delete your tables in the database and start the install over, but by now you’ve probably already done that a few times. ?? ) when the install program “guesses” your directory, make sure it ALSO INCLUDES THE DIRECTORY WHERE WORDPRESS IS INSTALLED . So, instead of just “https://localhost/” it should be “https://localhost/YourWordpressDir/” In otherwords – everything BEFORE the “wp-admin/install.php” of the page you’re sitting at in step 2.

    Now, complete the install, and voila! You can log in as admin!

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    Ummm…. most of us have WordPress installed in a subdirectory. Are you suggesting that installing WordPress in a subdirectory requires certain special steps? The normal installation instructions work fine for installing WordPress in a subdirectory. From what I’ve seen, probably around 80% of the WordPress blogs are in either a /wordpress/ directory, or a /blog/ directory.

    Thread Starter timekills

    (@timekills)

    I’m suggesting that, yes, since most people install it in a subdirectory, that the instructions aren’t abundantly clear on step two of the install. If you leave the site as just https://localhost and don’t add the subdirectory, you won’t be able to login after you complete the install. I.E. it DOESN’T guess the site corectly for most users.

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    It guessed the site correctly for all eight times that I’ve installed WordPress thus far, and you’re the first to complain about this specific issue.

    Thread Starter timekills

    (@timekills)

    Well, I’m not here to argue about it, but as I stated in my first post, I’m not the first. I found the answer before, but it wasn’t under a heading I expected. Also, are you using a Unix variant OS or an MS OS, and what web server are you using? These may be part of the problem. The people who have had this problem, both with 1.2 and 1.5 – seem to be running Apache2 on an MS OS. I’ll guess from your nick that you are using OS X, which is (of course) a BSD variant OS.

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    I’m hosted on an Apache server running Debian Linux, but you stated “It doesn’t matter if it is “https://your.domain.com/…” so that shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t look like I’d run into this problem when installing locally on my Mac either (Apache): https://maczealots.com/tutorials/wordpress/

    I’m not here to argue, I’m just wondering why you’re identifying the time-tested installation instructions as being false when using a subdirectory.

    Thread Starter timekills

    (@timekills)

    https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic.php?id=7740#post-55711

    That is where I first saw the answer. There have been other people with the same problem. I’m a bit disappointed that I have to justify my post – even if I were the only moron with the problem, then I only wasted my time. But if it helps even one other person not have to search as long as I did, it’s worth it.
    Also, as I said, it does matter what OS you are using. It “guessed” the right install directory on my OS X install, but not on my XP install. I haven’t tried it in Linux yet, but by your post, it seems to only be a problem for MS OS’s, and possibly only when using Apache and MS.

    Do a quick seach and you’ll see that the “time-tested” installation instructions have a few other quirks besides this. Constructive criticism is just that – constructive.

    I’e never tried that myself – I think the majority (surely) would be smart enough to put the whole path in – just in case. As I said, I’ve never tried that myself.

    When dealing with upgrades – which may be a seperate matter – I did find that not putting in the whole path includ the subdirectory resulted ina page not found. It may be true of a fresh install.

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    My apologies, timekills, you didn’t mention Windows XP until now. If you had, I would have replied with, “Installing WordPress locally on Windows XP is nothing but trouble.” Sorry about the confusion, I was just defending a platform which I both use and support.

    serif

    (@serif)

    Well, just to make things a little more interesting – I just installed a test copy of WP on my server in a subfolder, and it is all up and running fine. HOWEVER, I cannot log in to the admin area at all on a PC (using Firefox or Explorer) but I can log in just fine on my Mac using Safari. On a PC the login page will continually redirect to itself, although if I enter an incorrect username/password it will still show up the error message.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • The topic ‘ONE answer to install OK but can’t login as admin’ is closed to new replies.