Can’t Delete Plugin While Active On Main Site?!?

Hi markolbert,
sorry that you are getting an issue like this.

If a plugin is inactive, it should ALWAYS be possible to delete without issue. It sounds to me like this might be an actual WordPress bug (both of our plugins have “quiz” in the name. Maybe this causes a bug in WordPress?) or perhaps an issue with your specific installation.

If you have access to your host/file system, the easiest way is to log into your host and go to the /wp-content/plugins/ where you can delete the folders for each plugin directly.

If you still need help then your best best is to contact your host for help, or you can request WordPress help from here: https://www.ads-software.com/support/forum/miscellaneous/

How do I delete anything stored in the database? I do have access to the site via command line (it’s a VPS) and am reasonably proficient in linux (Debian) and doing basic editing in mysql.

I’m also confused — and I hope you’re concerned — that somehow installing one plugin (Quiz Cat) got me two. I’ve never, ever run into anything like that before, despite using WordPress for quite a number of years.

What you are describing should be impossible. So if you installed one plugin and ended up with two – yes – that’s very concerning! So please contact the WordPress support team so they can help you track down how such a thing is even possible.

For whatever it’s worth – this is the first instance I’m aware of something like this ever happening with any plugins, and there is certainly nothing done on my end that could have caused such an issue (by this I mean that there is no code in HD Quiz that could cause something like this).

As far as database – HD Quiz uses custom post types. So the easiest way is to reactivate HD Quiz, and then go to the main quizzes page. From here, select “bulk delete questions”. You can now delete all questions at once. You can also do the same for quizzes after. Once done, you can remove the plugin from your host and it will be as if it were never on your site to begin with ??

Let me know if you are set on deleting from the database directly using PHPMyadmin or something, but the above method is probably the easier and quicker way.

Also, please feel free to reference this thread to the WordPress support team and I can provide them and yourself with any relevant information that might help track this down for you.