Experiencing a blank screen when logged in

Try:
– switching to the default theme by renaming your current theme’s folder inside wp-content/themes and adding “-old” to the end of the folder name using FTP or whatever file management application your host provides.

– resetting the plugins folder by FTP or phpMyAdmin.

I am so, so afraid to try switching to the default theme, so I tried resetting the plugins folder, and that looks like it may have helped.

If not, and I have to rename the theme folder, is that a permanent thing or do I name it back eventually? Please bear with me, I really do not understand all the back end stuff and I do not want to mess up this website, which I maintain for a friend.

I am so, so afraid to try switching to the default theme

Why so? The only thing that should happen is that your site will be displayed a little differently. Your site’s actual content is stored in your database – not in any theme files.

is that a permanent thing or do I name it back eventually?

It depends what happens when you switch to the default theme, really. If your current theme is the issue, then, at worst, you may have to look at choosing another, less problematic, theme.

OK, I did that and now the site won’t come up at all. When I try to bring it up, I get a blank screen, no error message, in both Firefox and Chrome.

And so I renamed the theme folder again (took off -old) and still can’t see the site. ??

Re-upload a fresh, unpacked, copy of the Twenty Fourteen folder to wp-content/themes using FTP or whatever file management application your host provides.
https://www.ads-software.com/themes/twentyfourteen

Sorry to be so ignorant, but when you say “unpacked” do you mean unzipped?

Yes – exactly that! ??

OK, so it looks like that worked. Yea! (I can put the paper bag down now.) I assume that means that the theme I was using (Church) is what was causing me problems and that I should look for another theme, is that correct?

Did you get around to resetting the plugins folder?

I tried that first. It seemed to work for a few minutes, but then the screen went blank again.

Then, based on what you have described, it does seem that the Church theme is the root of your problem and you either need to look for another theme or take this issue back to its developers.

Thank you!

Glad I could help ??

I updated plug-ins and tried to update theme (https://thomvernon.com) and site went blank. Yikes.

I have tried to get into dashboard to uninstall plugins, etc. but can’t get back there. Very scary. WP is so great—until it is so not.

Can you help?