Admin page lacks css styling

Hey @inge12,

There are a few steps that can help you to resolve this issue. In most cases, this kind of issue happens due to 3 reasons. Let me explain them here…

* Make sure you have a complete backup of your website.

#1. Please check your site health from Tools > Site Health and see if is there any major errors or warnings that require resolving. Also, make sure you are using PHP 8.0 or higher stable version.

#2. Deactivate third-party plugins and see if resolves or not. If it resolves the issue, then re-activate them one by one and see which one causing this. In some cases, it happens due to the old scripts inside third-party plugins.

#3. Login into your dashboard from another browser or incognito mode.

I hope you will find the root cause of this. Let me know how it works.

Thanks for the reply.
1. I can’t see any warnings for my site. Core files are all fine. PHP is the same version as on other sites that work perfectly.
2. All plugins were deactivated, and it made no difference. So I re-activated them.
3. The same problem appears in the admin interface on browsers around the world – from Texas to Florida, Australia and Malaysia. So, no, it’s not my browser.

I have actually found the cause – the file that shows the Dashboard interface. It is missing almost all links to CSS files for styling. It’s kind of like showing up undressed in public. ??

I need to know which file to edit to solve the problem. Since the core files are all the same as for working sites, I suspect it’s a database issue, but I don’t know the innards of WordPress well enough to find the correct file.

Hi @inge12
I apologize for the trouble you’re having with your WordPress site. It sounds like the stylesheet for your admin interface is missing, causing the page to display improperly. Here are a few steps you might try to resolve this issue:

1. Check your WordPress installation for any missing or corrupt files. You can do this by comparing your installation with a fresh copy of WordPress. If you find any missing or corrupt files, try replacing them with copies from the fresh installation.
2. Check your theme for any missing or corrupt files. The issue could be with your theme’s stylesheet, so you may want to check for any missing or corrupt files in your theme’s folder.
3. Check for plugin conflicts. It’s possible that a plugin could be causing the issue with your admin interface. You can try deactivating all your plugins and then reactivating them one by one to see if they are causing the issue.
4. Check for the browser or server-side caching. If your browser or server has cached an old version of the page, it could be causing the issue. You can try clearing your browser cache or asking your web host to clear your server cache.

I hope these suggestions help you resolve the issue with your admin interface. If you continue to have trouble, it may be helpful to seek further assistance from the WordPress support team or a WordPress developer.

Thanks much for your suggestions.

I did #3 and #4, and those made no difference. The problem is evident to administrators from Florida to Texas to Ohio, Australia, South Africa and Austria. Thus it’s not a browser issue. It doesn’t go away when *all* plugins are deactivated (plugin directory renamed) and a browser with a blank cache.

Would a re-install of the current version of WordPress not fix #1?
I re-installed the current version of WordPress from the Admin interface. (Some portions are usable. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to edit files.)
If such a re-install doesn’t touch some files, I’d like to know where to look …

Would a re-install of the theme not fix #2?
I gave the theme author admin access to our site, and he couldn’t find anything wrong. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help much either.

Right now, I’d be happy for a quick-fix that would allow us to put up a blog post and edit it. I thought https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/user-submitted-posts/ might do it, but I can’t activate it because I cannot edit pages or posts.

I am really desperate for some help. It’s a very busy blog, and we’re almost out of daily queued posts!!

I finally found the issue:
I had used WordPress Tool Kit in CPanel to optimize the site before the Admin panel went down. Something must have gone wrong during the process. I just performed the same action again, and now the Dashboard and all editing functions work perfectly.

For users with CPanel available on their site, it looks like both WordPress Manager and WordPress Toolkit have mature to the place where they are very helpful. (If something appears off, just run the process again and see what happens.)

Thank you all for your input!

That’s excellent @inge12,

I am so glad to hear that you have figured out the issue.

Today I have gone through their forum (WordPress Toolkit) and noticed that there are some helpful resources that might be helpful for you as well.

Thanks again for your update.

Have a great day.

@inge12 Thank you for posting this. It’s what helped me.