Latest Version – Cannot Access WP Dashboard while Active

In addition, I just now tried deactivating all plugins (in batches of 5 or 6) and re-activating W3 Total Cache, but the problem persists.

Hello @ozzo75

I am sorry about the issues you are experiencing and I am happy to assist you with this.
Regarding the WP error message, does it say where the actual error is or just suggesting that the error is with W3 Total Cache?
I am using wp rollback plugin and when I click on rollback itis showing all previous versions of the plugin so yes potentially the issue is what the plugin being renamed via FTP.
I can only guess at this point but there is a possibility that the Cerber security plugin saying caused some issues with the files or your wp/installation.
I would suggest that you completely remove W3 Total Cache and re-install the fresh version.
Since you do not have access to wp-dashboard while W3 Total Cache is active you should manually delete all files and folders related to W3 Total Cache from your server:

1. Check .htaccess File (make backup)
W3TC will create many directives in the .htaccess file to control caching behavior. Each section will start and end with comments like “#BEGIN W3TC Page Cache core” and “#END W3TC Page Cache core”.
Ensure that no residual entries are leftover in your .htaccess file after deleting the plugin.
2. Delete wp-content files and folders
– cache folder
– w3tc-config folder
– object-cache.php (if exists)
– advanced-cache.php (if exists)
– dbcache.php (if exists)
– upgrade folder
– delete w3-total-cache folder in wp-content/plugins/ (if exists)
3. Delete Cached Files from CDN (if using CDN)
Besides deleting all the relevant files, if you use CDN then ensure to purge the cached content from your CDN. This is necessary when you enabled the minify option in W3TC settings. You should delete the minified and combined scripts and CSS files from your CDN server to avoid the site breaking on the browser.
4. Go to your wp dashboard and re-install W3 Total Cache

As for the previous version of the plugin, you can download any previous versions at the bottom of this page or download 0.14.3 version here.
Please let me know if this fixes your issue and if you have any other questions.
Thanks!

Hi, and thanks!

Yes, the email just suggested the problem was with W3 Total Cache, but didn’t give any specific error.

I’m going to give your suggestions a try and see what happens. Will report back.
Thanks!

Hi again!

Ok, I first tried installing the older version and it didn’t work. So I went ahead and followed your suggestion and deleted everything. Then reinstalled the latest version. Success!

So I went back through the settings trying to put things back the way they were and BAM…the same problem reoccurred.

I kept a copy of the master.php file in the w3tc-config folder and swapped that in FTP and everything came back just fine. Through trial and error I have it narrowed down to the Object Cache. After I enable Object caching I get that “critical error” message.

I had object cache enabled before without any problems, so I’m not sure what has changed to cause this problem – whether it’s w3tc or Cerber. I think I’ll try rolling back to the previous version to see if object caching with work. Then I’ll at least know it’s probably not w3tc.

Thanks!

****The below problem is fixed now. No need to answer any questions for this one****

Now I’m having a strange issue. I’m unable to roll-back because W3TC is set as “disabled” in my plugin page. BUT…it’s actually enabled because I can use it. Does that make any sense?

I think because of the way I disabled and deleted it before, for whatever reason WP thinks it’s disabled?

When I’m in the admin panel I can see the “Performance” tab at the top. But then when I click to go to the Plugins page, the “Performance” tab disappears…and W3TC is in the “disabled” mode. If I click out of the Plugin page to any other page, the “Performance” tab comes back.

I tried to “Activate” the deactivated W3TC and just got an expired page warning. Also cannot delete it.

In addition, when I’m in the Plugins page, I get these error messages at the top:

W3 Total Cache Error: somefiles appear to be missing or out of place. Please re-install plugin or remove /home/*****/***/wp-content/advanced-cache.php.

W3 Total Cache Error: some files appear to be missing or out of place. Please re-install plugin or remove /home/********/***/wp-content/object-cache.php.

But ONLY in the plugins page. All of the rest of the pages in the admin panel don’t show that. I believe this may be some residual errors left over from the old install, because those two errors were always showing up after I disabled W3TC.

Would this be a database issue? Or is there some file somewhere I need to check?

Thanks!

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by ozzo75.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by ozzo75.

Hi,

Sorry! I’m writing so many messages, your head probably wants to explode!

So I went ahead and deleted the advanced-cache.php file and the above problem went away. I’m positive I deleted it before when deleting everything else, so not sure what happened. All is good for that problem.

Still having the Object cache problem though.

Last one for tonight…

I rolled back to the previous version, enabled Object Cache, and the problem happened again. So it seems it has nothing to do with the new version.

Cerber has had an update recently, as well as Yoast. But again, I’ve disabled them with no effect. Not really sure where the problem is. If you have any ideas, I’m happy to poke around.

Thanks again!

Hello @ozzo75

Thank you for the information and sorry for the late reply.
Are you on a shared server, VPS or dedicated? Also can you please share if the caching method for OC is Disk?
Thanks!

Hi, no problem!

Yes, I’m on a shared server and the caching method is/was set to Disk.

Hello @ozzo75

Thank you for the information.
As a rule of thumb, Object Cache is not worth using on shared hosting for the same reason as Database Cache, i.e. database is often not the performance bottleneck, but disk input-output operations.
However, like Database Cache, it can be beneficial to use if you are on VPS or a dedicated server, get a lot of traffic, have a lot of comments. Also, if you know that database is the bottleneck of your website performance, then Object Cache (like Database Cache) is beneficial to use. But in this case, it’s recommended to use Memcached or Redis options.
So in your case, and with the other issues you mentioned, it’s best not to use Object Cache on a shared server.
Thanks!

Ah great. Thank you for explaining that. I was aware of the Database Cache probably not being beneficial for my site, but I didn’t realize Object Cache isn’t advisable on a shared server.

Ok, everything seems to be running smoothly now. Thank you for your time!

Hello @ozzo75

You are most welcome!
Thanks!