problems with new install 2.7: blank admin pages, error on database import

This is a fresh install — I just changed hosts

Did your fresh install work initially before you tried to import the database? Are you changing your blog url? Did you disable all plugins on your old blog before dumping your database? Were you using a custom theme on your old blog that is not installed on your new blog?

There are several ways to go about this, but, in general, here is what I would suggest.

1. On your old blog, log in and disable all plugins.
2. Change to the default theme

Then, dump your database and download your uploads directory and any custom themes you may have.

On your new site:

1. Do a fresh wordpress install and make sure it’s working.
2. Drop the tables in the database
3. If your new blog is at a different address, then open your old database dump in a text editor and do a search/replace to change all instances of the old url with the new url
4. Import the old database dump into the new database
5. Upload your uploads directory to your new install
6. Login to your new install (use the username and password of the old install)

If everything works, then upload your custom themes and plugins.

Again, there are several ways to move a blog…this is just my preferred method and works well for me.

The fresh install did not work. The admin problems were there from the begining. I want to resolve that issue before I attempt anything else. There’s no point going any further if the admin won’t work.

I have no idea what you mean by “drop the tables” in the database.

I can no longer access the old site. It was on an incompetent hosting provider, and once the domain propagated to the new server I had no access to any files on the old one. Which is why I exported all of my databases and downloaded all of my files before changing the dns. The new url is identical to the old one.

The only plugin is askimet. It was not activated when the errors first appeared.

The theme is custom, and has been uploaded, but it is really just a modification of the default theme. Minor changes to graphics and css, nothing else modified.

There is no uploads directory to upload. That function was wonky on the old site, so I uploaded everything via ftp, and those files are already in place.

I assume you mean that the database import should be done through phpmyadmin, but, again, I have no idea what you mean by “drop the tables” in the new database. I would appreciate it if you would explain.

Thanks for taking the time.

Okay, your first objective should be to get a fresh install working on your new host. Since I don’t know who your host is, I’m not sure what tools you have, but take a look at the video at the link below…it may give you an idea of how to get your new site installed and working first. Once you do that, then we can talk about importing your existing database.

Does your existing host have Cpanel?

https://educhalk.org/blog/?p=1

No c-panel. Plesk. The video is interesting, but I’m installing via ftp. So far as I can tell, everything has been done properly, but I’m still getting the blank admin pages when I make changes.

Well, without being able to login to your account and look at things, I’m just shooting in the dark…sorry. Maybe someone else has some ideas…

I managed to get the database imported through phpmyadmin (I found the drop tables feature in there), and everything is working, but I’m still getting blank screens after I make changes. The changes are getting saved, but I have to use the back button to get back to a place where I can access admin.

So, the site is working. I would just like to fix this blank screen issue. Any suggestion?

I ask again. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding the blank screen on save in admin issue?

blank pages indicate a fatal php error — what do your server logs say?

There are literally thousands of lines of errors just for today. In addition to the admin problems, it appears that the rss feed is also screwed up, so I have all those errors to deal with, as well.

If this version requires a specific server setup, the documentation should say so. As things stand, I believe that this version is not worth all the trouble it is causing.

I’m having the same error, the “dashboard” link used to point to
“/wp-admin/index.php”
now it points to:
“/wp-admin/admin.php?page=index.php”

it works fine each time I install it and then it breaks after a few days with no changes to the installation.

DUH! ok i figured it out.
I did change something …
in my case, the server owns some of the directories in my installation so I can’t change the permissions. I copied the index.php file from my wp-content dir into some sub dirs (themes, plugins, uploads) to keep snooping eyes out. WordPress saw the index.php (probably in the plugins directory) and tried to execute it. that index.php file contains only the comment “silence is golden” so that’s what displayed in my admin area.

hope that helps someone else.