wp-login.php is blank, all else fails!

  • Resolved byingeborg

    (@byingeborg)


    10 years, 8 months ago

    Hi there! I managed my fraternity’s website back in the days, and since I left there’s most likely been a hack or the like at the website, and no one knows how to deal with it. I’ve offered to help them, but I’m lost.

    The issue: we cannot access the login screen, the admin area or anything else. The website is still up and you can browse all pages and posts as before. The URI /wp-login.php takes us to a blank page, and so does any other version of the login site.

    What I’ve tried: I’ve tried disabling all plugins (deleted them via FTP) I deleted unused themes from the theme folder. I’ve installed a fresh copy of the wp-login.php file, I’ve checked the database URI siteurl in wp_options. Everything seems normal, but I still can’t access the login area with any redirect URI or direct URI. Before I tried all this, the URI returned an error message about the path/page not existing in this directory, now it’s just plain blank.

    I’ve also tried adding a new installation of WordPress on the server in a different subfolder, and exporting the database from the old site, but that just didn’t work because I get an error telling me that “This does not appear to be a WXR file, missing/invalid WXR version number” and now I’m super frustrated.

    Version and themes: They probably haven’t updated the WordPress version since I left in 2012. It runs an Atahualpa theme that hasn’t been updated either. I tried to disable the theme by renaming it so that it would change back to the default theme, but then the whole site turned blank. It reappeared when I changed the theme folder name back to ‘atahualpa’. The site is installed in a subfolder named /wp. The siteurl in tables is set to that subfolder. The WordPress site is set to root.

    Website: https://pikekoretivar.com & login screen https://pikekoretivar.com/wp/wp-login.php (blank)

    I’d really appreciate any help here!

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

  • Hey there.

    Have you checked the server error_log to see what the white screen outputs?

    You could also enable the WP_DEBUG. To output the WordPress debugging information you can open your wp-config.php file and change:

    define('WP_DEBUG', false);

    To:

    define('WP_DEBUG', true);

    You can also have these errors output to a debug.log file located in your /wp-content/ folder, to do this add the following to your wp-config.php file:

    define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);

    Using WP_DEBUG would put the errors on the site, you can hide those and just have them out put the WP_DEBUG_LOG (if set to true) by using this as well:

    define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

    Also, have you tried uploading a fresh set of all the WP files not just the wp-login.php?

    You mentioned that you installed a new version of WP, this totally worked without issue before trying to import the data?

    Let me know what you find.

    Thread Starter byingeborg

    (@byingeborg)

    Hi there, and thank you for your reply!

    I’m not really a developer, so the debug mode just confuses me. I’ve enabled the WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG, but now I don’t know what to look for. I’ve launched the site after enabling, and there is no debug info on the site.

    I haven’t tried to upload all WP files. Could I do that, just keeping my content folder the way it is? I didn’t install a new version of WordPress, since it was created several years ago. Same goes for the theme so there shouldn’t be a conflict there.

    Thank you so much, I know this isn’t much information from me. I really appreaciate your help.

    Hey

    I haven’t tried to upload all WP files. Could I do that, just keeping my content folder the way it is?

    You would retain your .htaccess, wp-config.php and wp-content folder. You should carefully check these for any rogue files or alterations.

    The rest are default WP files and you should be able to remove those.

    I didn’t install a new version of WordPress, since it was created several years ago. Same goes for the theme so there shouldn’t be a conflict there.

    But you said originally:

    I’ve also tried adding a new installation of WordPress on the server in a different subfolder

    So now I’m confused, did you add a new installation?

    And if you did how was the admin/site on that.

    Something must have changed from when it was working to when it wasn’t, these things don’t just break on their own. This could be a plugin, theme, custom code, upgrade to your host, etc.

    If you’re not seeing the debug.log then please consult with your host about the error reporting and ask them to check.

    Take care.

    Thread Starter byingeborg

    (@byingeborg)

    Oh, now I get it. Yes I installed a separate WordPress in a root subfolder, which works normally, however I’m not able to import a database export, so I’m not able to replace the new install with the old one. I get the error “not valid file type” even though the file extension is according to the requirements… (can’t remember the file extension name on the fly).

    I’ll try to reupload the default wordpress files and look for rogue files. I think the site was hacked, and I’ve removed some zip files I’ve found that I’ve never personally added to the server.

    This is such a mess. Thank you for taking your time with me. I’ll let you know if any of this works or not.

    Thread Starter byingeborg

    (@byingeborg)

    I reuploaded all the default files and that did the trick! Thank you so much for your help.

    That’s awesome, I’m glad that suggestion worked out for you. ??

    You’ll be a hero to your fraternity. ??

    Have a great weekend!

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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