Log in button disabled

This may be a plugin or theme conflict. Please attempt to disable all plugins, and use one of the default (Twenty*) themes. If the problem goes away, enable them one by one to identify the source of your troubles.

If you can install plugins, install “Health Check”: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/health-check/ On the troubleshooting tab, you can click the button to disable all plugins and change the theme for you, while you’re still logged in, without affecting normal visitors to your site. You can then use its admin bar menu to turn on/off plugins and themes one at a time.

See https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-deactivate-all-plugins-when-not-able-to-access-wp-admin/

Thanks for the quick response, Steve. Unfortunately, that didn’t make a difference. Using the 2014 theme, the button is still disabled. I’m using the same theme on my stage site as I am on the prod site, and I don’t have the disabled button there.

I’ve also tried disabling plugins one by one and nothing seems to fix the issue.

Must be something else, but I can’t figure out what it is….

Please try with ALL plugins disabled and the twentynineteen theme.

Steve, thanks for sticking with me.

I’ve installed twentynineteen and used the Health Check plugin to disable all plugins and use the twentynineteen theme.

On my stage site, the login button is live under this scenario–just as it is with my theme and all plugins enabled. No problems at all there. But on my prod site, even under the scenario of twentynineteen and all plugins disabled, the button is still disabled. Furthermore, on the register and lost your password pages linked from the log in page, the button is disabled as well. These buttons are live on the stage site–both under the clean scenario and with my theme and all plugins.

It’s odd, but something is adding the disabled item to that line of html on my prod site, but not on stage.

I had a similar issue, but with the searchform’s submit button on my website. The problem was the latest version of WP-Spamshield that disables itself automatically (and the buttons, apparently).

I resolved the issue uploading an old version of WP-Spamshield (1.9.21) in the plugin folder and then I deleted the plugin from the dashboard. I hope this can be useful for you too…

That may be it. I noticed this after I updated to WP-Spamshield 1.9.42 from 1.9.41.

Once I noticed the problem, I reverted the update to 1.9.41 and the button came back. But within a day, the plugin updated itself and the problem returned.

In the meantime, I had left a comment on the Code Canyon page about this, assuming it was a bug in the new release of the plugin, and then the author suspended my license. (Nice, right? Try to help out by reporting a bug and getting your license suspended.) Now I can install older versions of the plugin, but it won’t activate so the button remains disabled.

I have deleted the plugin entirely from the site, but that didn’t enable the login. I’ve tried reinstalling WordPress, thinking the plugin may have overwritten something in one of the core WordPress php files, but that didn’t fix it either.

Any suggestions on what else I could try? I do assume this is related to this plugin, but I’m not sure what else to do beyond disabling and deleting it which hasn’t fixed the problem.

I think you need to substitute the folder of the plugin with a very old version like I did (fortunately I have backups of my website when the plugin was free on www.ads-software.com!) and then delete it. Or maybe a version previous to 1.9.40. I don’t know what else you can do…

I think it’s related to the license, because when I updated to the 1.9.43 version stopped working for a “license issue” (Why? I purchased the plugin!)

Unfortunately, that didn’t do the trick for me. I uninstalled the plugin and then reinstalled v 1.9.2 from scratch. And I’m still getting the software piracy warning and am unable to activate the module. And even with this one installed, I don’t have the button enabled. So frustrating!

So you have purchased the plugin and you’re seeing it disabled with a license issue warning too? That’s what happened to me.

Exactly, but I started to see this warning when I updated to the latest version.I’ve purchased it on January and installed on my website without any problem, until now!

I’ll try to explain what I did in detail (and sorry for my bad english):
1 – I restored my site to a precedent backup (2-3 days before) when it was still working
2 – I opened the FTP and substituted the wp-spamshield folder with the old version one.
3 – I deactivated the Envato Plugin (I don’t know if you have this installed and I don’t know if this works)
4 – I deleted wp-spamshield from the dashboard and then Envato plugin too because I don’t need it anymore.

I think we’ve found the problem!

WP-Spamshield creates a file called am-integrity-scanner in the mu-plugins directory. This is what is causing both the problem with my login button being disabled and with the license error message. I can see on my site that this file was updated on activation of version 1.9.42 and wasn’t removed when I removed the plugin. By manually deleting this file, my login button problem is fixed.

Interestingly, I tried reverting to version 1.9.41 of the plugin which worked without issue for me. On activation, the plugin created this file again, and the problem returned. I think the author must have made some changes on the backend with his licensing system and when the plugin is activated it’s writing this file incorrectly.

I removed the file and the module and then installed the old version 1.9.2 again (a version from before this file began to be used), and it works again. I have the plugin back–albeit in a form from several years ago.

Good catch!

I recommend posting at https://www.ads-software.com/support/plugin/wp-spamshield/#new-post so the plugin’s developers become aware of this.

I have had the exact same problem this week. I found the exact same solution.

Spamshield help desk was unworkable for me. I tried to comply with their lengthy terms and conditions. The online form repeatedly wouldn’t send and finally they locked me out for 24 hours. I tried to send a communication via Code Canyon and I got an email saying I was trying to abuse/circumvent their system and threatened to cancel my licence. This is the most unapproachable premium plugin service provider I have ever sought help from. I have been a fan of Spamshield but, sadly, their service has entered to “too hard” department for me.

My first issue of the day was a 500 error on my site. I was alerted by a client that my site had a problem. My host Help team at SiteGround sorted that problem but said I would have to talk with Spamshield Help for the Admin login issue. They couldn’t replicate the disabled button.

Meanwhile, after trying to login to my site, I received an alert from WP’s new email notification service. It’s great.
“Since WordPress 5.2 there is a built-in feature that detects when a plugin or theme causes a fatal error on your site, and notifies you with this automated email. In this case, WordPress caught an error with one of your plugins, WP-SpamShield.” It included a log of error details. I tried to connect with Spamshield help, to no avail. A frustrating and circular problem for a non tech person.

Yes, exact same problem with trying to contact the developer for me–but with the addition of one more complication. The developer’s site, where support tickets can be created, has an overactive firewall. When I try to access the site, I get a firewall message telling me I’m unable to access the site because my IP range has been blocked. So I can’t access the support system and when I try to leave feedback by comment on the Code Canyon page, the comments get hidden and I receive emails threatening to revoke my license because I am attempting to bypass the support system–which I can’t reach because there’s a firewall keeping me locked out.

I continued to leave comments with helpful information about what I’ve found and where the problem is figuring that since my license is already deactivated because of the error in the plugin what good is the threat to revoke my license? ?? Here’s to hoping the comments get read and the developer fixes the issue. I agree, it’s a very useful plugin and I’ve been happy with how it works.

From the large number of comments that have been left and hidden in the last week, it appears that many more people are aware of the problem and are trying to report it. It would be nice if the developer would at least leave a comment himself acknowledging the situation and providing info about what to do to address it.

Hi Todd. Exact same, same. Again. Thanks for writing up my experience with their firewall too. I just got tired of reconstructing the ‘full’ scenario that has wasted much of my time. Additionally, I thought by paying for a year’s Help Desk Support $34.93 USD that someone might connect with me. Big mistake. It seems goodwill and happy clients is not important enough in their business. As you say, Code Canyon’s response was threatening, and I see it as demeaning. Adversarial to an honest enquiry. They don’t get any stars from me.

Same here too. 5 client sites currently showing the piracy message. The plugin was also blocking login to the admin areas until I fixed them by using similar methods to those mentioned above. The plugin is still automatically disabled by the developer and the sites are being plagued by spam again.

The WordPress debug logs on these sites have filled with tens of thousands of PHP warnings about undefined variables since version 1.9.42 was automatically installed by the Envato market plugin. I tracked down the bug in the code and contacted him on Twitter to show him the problem, and his response was to block me.

When the developer was contacted and asked for a refund, he wrote back, saying the refund request was fraudulent.

I’ve also got a screen grab of a support message posted yesterday on Codecanyon posted by someone with the same problem, but today this message is hidden and saying “This comment is currently being reviewed”. along with many other recent messages which I can only assume are about the same issue.

It’s a shame, as when the plugin is working properly, it does its job well. Unfortunately, the developer’s customer service attitude is aggressive and reprehensible & we will be removing the plugin from our clients’ sites and looking for an alternative, even if he does end up fixing these problems.