I can log in, but dashboard blank

try this:
https://wpdude.com/case-study-disabling-plugin-dashboard-fubar
(do not delete the plugins – just move them out of the /wp-content/plugin folder temporarily so you can access your admin panel again.

about the spam: consider using AKISMET to filter 99% of spam comments
https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/akismet/

Hi Gerald,

Thanks for the link. I tried this approach several times, but it hasn’t had an effect. Removing the plugins folder altogether hasn’t made it possible to view my /wp-admin screen or dashboard. Any other ideas?

Once I get up and running again, I’ll be sure to get AKISMET running. Thanks for the tip.

Nathan

I just found that my blog theme, Simplepress-2, hasn’t been updated in over two years. Is it possible that it’s my theme that is causing the problems?

To answer my last post, no. I manually switched the theme via phpMyAdmin to twentyeleven, but still cannot view the dashboard.

Can anyone help?

Hey you posted on my post with a similar problem and I thought I should mention this:
today I updated my WordPress to the new version 3.5 and for me that ended my problems!
I was able to turn on all my plugins again without getting that white screen.

So turn off your plugins by renaming your plugin folder through ftp to plugin-hold, if you then can access your admin, update your WordPress to 3.5, rename your plugin folder again to plugins, and see what happens.
I hope this will solve it for you too!

Hey, thanks for sharing. I tried changing the name of my plugin folder through FTP to plugin-hold as you suggested, but I still can’t access my admin. I’m hopeful that the 3.5 update will work, though I’ve never done it as a manual install before. I usually just update through the dashboard. Any tips on how you updated to 3.5? I assume you had to do this without accessing your admin…

I have the same problem, blank dashboard, which happened immediately after I updated to WP 3.5. I had no problem before that.
I’ve tried renaming the plugin folder to plugin.hold but that has no effect.

@james: I’m curious whether it has to do with the theme rather than plugins. What theme do you use? I still haven’t solved this, and I’m starting to wonder if it has to do with my theme becoming obsolete. Did you solve your 3.5 issue?

Okay, so I decided to follow instructions from this thread. Basically, I switched to the twentytwelve theme, deleted everything except my wp-content folder, then uploaded a fresh WP 3.5 install (minus the things I didn’t delete). But then as I went to check my site, wp detected that I didn’t have a config file, and gave me the option to go ahead and set it up. After going through that process of updating my database, I was able to access my wp-admin! Great, except that none of my content was there: the site looks like a template ‘hello world’ site without any of my posts, links, etc. So I decided to put the backup of my config.php file in there. My site is back, but I still can’t access my admin.

Long story short: this looks like a problem with my config file. Any thoughts on how to troubleshoot?

I would look at the wp-config.php file and compare it to the wp-config-sample. php.
I would take your db, username, password and host info from the wp-config.php and paste it in the wp-config-sample.php and then generate a new wp-config.php using that.
Hopefully the new wp-config.php with your old db connection info will let you log back in.

Make sure you keep a copy of your old wp-config.php though…

Christine – this did the trick! My original wp-config.php file didn’t have ‘salts,’ which may have been the difference maker. I did a side-by-side comparison of my wp-config.php with wp-config-sample.php from WP 3.5, noticed the discrepancy, and then defined the salts.

When I logged in, no more blank screen for the dashboard. Phew. Consider this thread ‘resolved.’

Thanks folks!

Well, I guess I’ll have to open a new thread. I tried copying “db, username, password and host info from the wp-config.php and paste it in the wp-config-sample.php and then generate a new wp-config.php” and uploading it. I still cannot see the dashboard. I know I’m successfully logged in, since if I move back one screen on my browser I can see the admin navigation bar at the top of the blog screen.

Hi James, for me it was not just that top part of the config file, but also defining the salts below with unique phrases (in the ‘Authentication Unique Keys’ section). I had an old config file from 2009, and it didn’t have those fields. So I put in all the db, username, password, and host info like you did, but then changed the salts too.

Good luck. I know exactly what you’re talking about.