Server problems resolved

Hello folks – for some months, I have been experiencing problems when using WPClone on target sites. Usually I would get a 503 error – Service Unavailable. This NEVER used to happen on my conventional cPanel based hosting where I have several accounts – it has only been a problem in recent months. I can see from these support queries that others are having similar server problems, so I thought I’d post my latest experience in case it may help someone else.

I needed to clone my model site to set up a new site this weekend and thought I’d give things a go again to see if the problem had somehow disappeared. Alas, no. I even tried one or two other well known solutions but they either repeated the same problem or just didn’t work. I checked logs, etc but found nothing out of the ordinary. I have a query about this with my web host and am waiting to hear back. Must be some kind of problem there I think.

However, I finally solved my problem by doing this on my “target” site.

If you try something similar, please do make sure that you are working on the site you think you are working on !

• I went to cPanel for my hosting account (you may have Plesk or something else)
• I made a list of all my plugins from the wp-content/plugins folder
• I made sure that I had access to all of those plugins so I could add them back again – I say it like that because some old or premium plugins may not be in the WordPress repository and thus you may not easily be able to get them back
• Using cPanel’s file manager, I deleted all of the plugin folders & their contents
• I went back to the site proper and … it worked … kind of – without the plugins it didn’t do what it should, but then you’d expect that. Likewise, the dashboard came up and immediately complained that there were plugins missing. BUT the 503 was gone ??
• Back with the dashboard, I reinstalled each plugin from my list, either via Add new plugin or via upload/FTP for any premium addons I had.
• I have had to do a little bit of reconfiguration

If you try this, DO MAKE SURE that you are working on the right site ! Because I had the “source” site’s pages/dashboard open initially, occasionally I got confused as to where I was, so shut this down if you think you may make a mistake !

And finally, all seems well – I’m still not sure what the problem was: I suspect that it’s some kind of server config issue and if I get anything useful back from the web host, I will report it here.

Let me repeat: Do be careful when bulk deleting stuff anywhere and make sure you’re doing the right thing in the right place ! I take no responsibility for any accidents – you have been warned.

Hope this helps somebody who has experience the same kind of pain that I have had dealing with this plugin.

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wp-clone-by-wp-academy/