Fatal Error: Undefined function wp_get_current_user () in user.php

  • I get this error after installing a number of basic plugins:
    “Fatal error: Call to undefined function wp_get_current_user() in /home/gushbook/public_html/wp-includes/user.php on line 209”
    (This crashes my site and also my admin dashboard! So the only thing I can do is FTP to the site and delete the entire plugin!)

    I searched the forums and I have tried going into capabilities.php and adding require_once(‘pluggable.php’); but that gave me an error:
    “function.require_once failed to open stream”

    So, what do I do?
    (I tried basic plugins like Adrotate and Google Analytics that really should work on any WP installation…)

    Thanks!
    (Needless to say, I am quite the beginner so take that into account when helping me!)

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    Fatal error in the output generally indicates either: (1) your theme doesn’t like your version of WordPress (2) you have a plugin that doesn’t like your version of WordPress (3) or you have an incomplete install/upgrade.

    Have you tried:

    -deactivating ALL plugins temporarily to see if this resolves the problem. If this works, re-activate them individually (one-by-one) to find the problematic plugin(s). If you can’t get into your admin dashboard, try deactivating via FTP or SFTP or whatever file management application your host provides. If applicible, also remember to deactivate any plugins in the mu-plugins folder. The easiest way is to rename that folder to mu-plugins-old.
    – To rule out any theme-specific issue, try switching to the unedited default theme for a moment using the WP dashboard. If you don’t have access to your admin area, you can switch to the default theme by renaming your current theme’s folder in wp-content/themes and adding “-old” to the end of the folder name using via FTP or SFTP or whatever file management application your host provides. Alternately, you can remove other themes except the default theme. That will force your site to use it.
    – resetting the plugins folder by FTP or PhpMyAdmin. Sometimes, an apparently inactive plugin can still cause problems (because the hooks remain unless plugins completely removed or some plugins stick around in cached files. So by renaming the folder, you break them and force them inactive).
    – If the above troubleshooting steps fail to resolve the issue, try manually re-uploading all files and folders EXCEPT the wp-config.php file and the /wp-content/ directory from a fresh download of WordPress. Make sure that you delete the old copies of files & folder before uploading the new ones. Read the Manual Update directions first!
    – Always backup everything (including your database) before doing any actions, just in case.

    First, you definitely do not want to modify a WordPress core file. The problem is with one of your plugins.

    wp-includes/pluggable.php, which contains the wp_get_current_user() function, doesn’t get loaded until *after* plugins are loaded, so trying to use that function in a plugin will cause a fatal error. You should contact the plugin author and submit a bug report. The author should be able to use a hook that runs later in the WordPress lifecycle.

    You’ll need to follow Tara’s advice to narrow down which plugin it is.

    Thread Starter sholem

    (@sholem)

    Thanks for the replies.
    I have this issue with a number o fplugins – every second or third plugin I try to install!

    I assume this is rather something with the WP installation or site files, rather than a specific plugin?
    (I am getting this error with tried and tested highly popular plugins.)

    Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    What theme are using? Have you tried switching to the WP default theme?

    Tara has a very good point. Try using another theme. If that fixes it, then look in the culprit theme’s functions.php file and see if it’s using wp_get_current_user() anywhere. If the wp_get_current_user function is not running in a hook, it’s very likely you’ll get this same error.

    Thread Starter sholem

    (@sholem)

    I will try WP default theme to see if my theme is the issue. (Again, my theme is also not a fly-by-nighter but rather from a trusted theme provider…)

    BUT – I do not see any call to wp_get_current_user() anywhere in functions.php…

    (Thanks again for the help…)

    Just a thought – maybe *I* am the problem??
    ;->

    It’s not likely WordPress, but it could be something the install. I could see a not commonly used plugin being a problem, but if you’re having the problem with multiple well-known plugins, then that leaves theme (or a faulty WordPress install).

    As far as the theme, wp_get_current_user wouldn’t necessarily have to be in functions.php, it could be in any other php file in the theme. I’ve had to fix major bugs in premium themes before, but granted, very obscure and unusual bugs.

    So let us know if using a default WordPress theme like TwentyThirteen or TwentyTwelve fixes the problem.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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