Dashboard link only refreshes the wp-admin page

Sorry to read you are experiencing difficulty.

Am I reading your post correctly? As far as I know the wp-admin page and the ‘Dashboard’ (Home) are one in the same. I believe you have described a properly functioning WordPress installation.

Not really clear on what the issue is. wp-admin is the default dashboard-link’s destination.

edit: St. Even beat me to it!

Thanks for your reply. The wp-admin page is this https://www.terowie4wdpark.com/wordpress/wp-admin/ – the content of this page is the same as the homepage of the website – there is no dashboard

There is a ‘dashboard’ link in the bottom left under meta – isn’t this supposed to take me to the dashboard where theme changes can be made etc?
clicking on this link only refreshes the page.

Thanks again for your help

I see what you mean now. Something not right about the installation or url, I think. Was this site moved? The admin pages’ addresses are in a sub-directory (/wordpress/) but the functioning theme is reachable at the main domain. Look at the files on the server to see where things have been installed. Are they in root or in a ‘wordpress’ folder? Your link above is just going to a 404 page (page not found).

Reference this page for what it should look like:
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Installing_WordPress

I’m not sure if the site has been moved or not, but I don’t think so. I’ve had a look at at the installation via the file manager, but can’t locate anything to do with page location? Is there a specific file name I should be looking for?

Download a copy of WP from here. Open that on your computer and look at its contents. The files and folders should have basically the same order and relationships on the live installation on the server. There may be minor differences depending on what version is on the server, but not much if any.

Thanks Bill. After comparing the two, the differences I’ve noted are:
Root folder – my installation has these extra files:
– Old_home.html
– .wpcli
– .htaccess
– cgi-bin (folder)
– stats (folder)

The downloaded version of wp has a php file called ‘link’ in wp-admin folder that is not there in the installed version. Other than that, everything looks pretty much the same.

I was going to update their website with a new theme, content, pics etc – would it be easier simply to delete the current installation and upload a fresh install and begin again?

If it were me and there wasn’t much content yet, I’d start with a clean install. But that’s just me.

Before any of that, check a couple more things. First make sure there aren’t other files or folders in a /wordpress/ directory in that same root folder. Do you see a ‘wordpress’ folder? A functioning Twentyfourteen theme is running fine at the root domain, but those 404 pages are coming from a sub-directory.

Also check the htaccess file and compare it against this default one:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

Here’s a bit more I wrote before Bill posted last…

If there’s any possibility they want to keep any of the content, themes, or plugins, be sure to keep the /wp-content folder intact.

To continue using the existing site’s database, be sure to keep the wp-config.php file.

Sometimes it’s important to keep a .htaccess file intact. in your case there may be more than one and probably only one is relevant, so keep them all on the side just in case.

Other than those caveats, it is usually safe to rebuild/replace all other WordPress core files and folders as described under “Manual Update” https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Updating_WordPress

Thanks for adding that, SE!

the only wordpress folders i can see are in /wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress and wp-includes/js/tinymce/skins/wordpress

My .htaccess contains the code below. (the icon of the .htaccess file is a little black bomb with a fuse, when looking at it in the file manager…

# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header append Vary User-Agent env=!dont-vary
</IfModule>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/x-component application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript text/x-js text/html text/richtext image/svg+xml text/plain text/xsd text/xsl text/xml image/x-icon application/json
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
# DEFLATE by extension
AddOutputFilter DEFLATE js css htm html xml
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch “\.(css|htc|js|js2|js3|js4|CSS|HTC|JS|JS2|JS3|JS4)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch “\.(html|htm|rtf|rtx|svg|svgz|txt|xsd|xsl|xml|HTML|HTM|RTF|RTX|SVG|SVGZ|TXT|XSD|XSL|XML)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch “\.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|json|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|mpp|otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|wav|wma|wri|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip|ASF|ASX|WAX|WMV|WMX|AVI|BMP|CLASS|DIVX|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|GIF|GZ|GZIP|ICO|JPG|JPEG|JPE|JSON|MDB|MID|MIDI|MOV|QT|MP3|M4A|MP4|M4V|MPEG|MPG|MPE|MPP|OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|PNG|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|RA|RAM|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TAR|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|WAV|WMA|WRI|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW|ZIP)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
# END W3TC Browser Cache
# BEGIN W3TC Page Cache core
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} =443
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Encoding} gzip
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_ENC:_gzip]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !=POST
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} =””
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \/$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !(comment_author|wp\-postpass|w3tc_logged_out|wordpress_logged_in) [NC]
RewriteCond “%{DOCUMENT_ROOT}//wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}” -F
RewriteRule .* “//wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}” [L]
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Page Cache core
# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header append Vary User-Agent env=!dont-vary
</IfModule>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/x-component application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript text/x-js text/html text/richtext image/svg+xml text/plain text/xsd text/xsl text/xml image/x-icon application/json
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
# DEFLATE by extension
AddOutputFilter DEFLATE js css htm html xml
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch “\.(css|htc|js|js2|js3|js4|CSS|HTC|JS|JS2|JS3|JS4)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch “\.(html|htm|rtf|rtx|svg|svgz|txt|xsd|xsl|xml|HTML|HTM|RTF|RTX|SVG|SVGZ|TXT|XSD|XSL|XML)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch “\.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|json|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|mpp|otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|wav|wma|wri|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip|ASF|ASX|WAX|WMV|WMX|AVI|BMP|CLASS|DIVX|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|GIF|GZ|GZIP|ICO|JPG|JPEG|JPE|JSON|MDB|MID|MIDI|MOV|QT|MP3|M4A|MP4|M4V|MPEG|MPG|MPE|MPP|OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|PNG|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|RA|RAM|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TAR|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|WAV|WMA|WRI|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW|ZIP)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
# END W3TC Browser Cache
# BEGIN W3TC Page Cache core
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} =443
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Encoding} gzip
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_ENC:_gzip]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !=POST
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} =””
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \/$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !(comment_author|wp\-postpass|w3tc_logged_out|wordpress_logged_in) [NC]
RewriteCond “%{DOCUMENT_ROOT}//wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}” -F
RewriteRule .* “//wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}” [L]
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Page Cache core
# Begin cache control #
ExpiresActive on
<FilesMatch “\.(css|png|bmp|ico|gff|js|jpg|jpeg|gif|gcf)$”>
FileETag MTime Size
ExpiresDefault “now plus 240 minutes”
</FilesMatch>

ExpiresDefault “now plus 60 minutes”
ExpiresByType text/html “now plus 60 minutes”
<FilesMatch “\.(htm|html)$”>
FileETag MTime Size
ExpiresDefault “now plus 60 minutes”
</FilesMatch>

# End cache control #

# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header append Vary User-Agent env=!dont-vary
</IfModule>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/x-component application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript text/x-js text/html text/richtext image/svg+xml text/plain text/xsd text/xsl text/xml image/x-icon application/json
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
# DEFLATE by extension
AddOutputFilter DEFLATE js css htm html xml
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch “\.(css|htc|js|js2|js3|js4|CSS|HTC|JS|JS2|JS3|JS4)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch “\.(html|htm|rtf|rtx|svg|svgz|txt|xsd|xsl|xml|HTML|HTM|RTF|RTX|SVG|SVGZ|TXT|XSD|XSL|XML)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch “\.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|json|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|mpp|otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|wav|wma|wri|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip|ASF|ASX|WAX|WMV|WMX|AVI|BMP|CLASS|DIVX|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|GIF|GZ|GZIP|ICO|JPG|JPEG|JPE|JSON|MDB|MID|MIDI|MOV|QT|MP3|M4A|MP4|M4V|MPEG|MPG|MPE|MPP|OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|PNG|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|RA|RAM|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TAR|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|WAV|WMA|WRI|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW|ZIP)$”>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.3”
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
# END W3TC Browser Cache
# BEGIN W3TC Page Cache core
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} =443
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Encoding} gzip
RewriteRule .* – [E=W3TC_ENC:_gzip]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !=POST
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} =””
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \/$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !(comment_author|wp\-postpass|w3tc_logged_out|wordpress_logged_in) [NC]
RewriteCond “%{DOCUMENT_ROOT}//wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}” -F
RewriteRule .* “/wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}” [L]
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Page Cache core
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase //
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . //index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

What happens when you navigate to https://www.terowie4wdpark.com/wp-login.php and log in?

I can log in no problems but clicking on any link just takes me back to https://www.terowie4wdpark.com/wp-admin…same as before.

It might be best just to have the web host take a look at the installation just to make sure things are where they should be. Also have a look at this page to help you figure out what’s going on re: there’s a clean and functional theme accessible at https://www.terowie4wdpark.com but all assets are being called from https://www.terowie4wdpark.com/wordpress/ and so aren’t found.
(out of time for now, sorry)

Thanks very much for your help Bill, and St.Even. Much appreciated.

Cheers,
Ben.