Transferred site from WP Engine, showing white screen of death

  • I just transferred a web site from a WP Engine installation over to my hosting environment (Apache/UNIX), I got the DB installed and all the site files installed.

    I also made the suggested deletions of certain files within the “Plugins” folder, based on instructions I read about how to move from WP Engine over to another hosting environment. My problem is I can’t log in, and my homepage is blank.

    This site did run under a SSL certificate on WP Engine environment, and I don’t have one installed on my server yet. Would this be causing the problems? The domain isn’t pointing to my server yet, I’m viewing the site using a modified Hosts file for now. Could this be causing the problem? I’ve also tried disabling the Plugins, and Themes, neither of those helped.

    The backend login screen displays correctly but won’t accept any username/password combinations.

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    A blank screen means that PHP is crashing, usually due a function conflict introduced by a plugin or theme.

    Try manually resetting your plugins (no Dashboard access required). If that resolves the issue, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause.

    If that does not resolve the issue, access your server via SFTP or FTP, or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel (consult your hosting provider’s documentation for specifics on these), navigate to /wp-content/themes/ and rename the directory of your currently active theme. This will force the default theme to activate and hopefully rule-out a theme-specific issue (theme functions can interfere like plugins).

    Thread Starter MrTopgun

    (@mrtopgun)

    Hi James,

    Thank you for this information, unfortunately, I tried both those things before posting to this forum. Disabling themes and/or plugins had no positive effect on my issue. It still gives me a blank home page and a login backend that won’t accept username/password.

    Would running the new hosting account without the SSL certificate installed cause this type of issue?

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    Would running the new hosting account without the SSL certificate installed cause this type of issue?

    Most likely not, you’d just get a browser warning about the site not being secure.

    Try downloading WordPress again, access your server via SFTP or FTP, or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel (consult your hosting provider’s documentation for specifics on these), and delete then replace your copies of everything on the server except the wp-config.php file and the /wp-content/ directory with fresh copies from the download. This will effectively replace all of your core files without damaging your content and settings.

    Some uploaders tend to be unreliable when overwriting files, so don’t forget to delete the original files before replacing them.

    Thread Starter MrTopgun

    (@mrtopgun)

    OK the new installation worked, I have a homepage and I can login. So now do I rename the new wp-content folder and change the name of my “wp-content-BAK” folder “wp-content” and then connect the new install of WP to my old DB?

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    Yes, do all of that. ??

    Thread Starter MrTopgun

    (@mrtopgun)

    Hi James,

    Well, I tried that, some of it helped some didn’t. I was able to access and reactivate all my plugins, so that’s awesome. I’m able to login now, so that’s good.

    My problem now is my Posts are all missing, and all my Media in the Media library are gone. No thumbnails are showing up. If I look in the DB tables, the posts content is all there. And the images are all in the right directory.

    I can upload new images, and create new Posts no problem.

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    Make sure that the database connection details in wp-config.php connect to the right database, and that the table prefix in there is right too.

    Thread Starter MrTopgun

    (@mrtopgun)

    Yes I did that, they are correct and if I add a new page or make changes, the changes show up in the right DB. It’s like the link between WP and the database is missing with regards to images and posts. Plugins seem to work fine, adding new images works fine. It just can’t find the old images or posts. I also ran the “Force regenerate” plugin, it hung up and wouldn’t progress.

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    Hm, check with WP Engine on that. They have the access necessary to investigate this more closely and will likely get you a solution quicker than any further back-and-forth here would.

    Thread Starter MrTopgun

    (@mrtopgun)

    Ok will do thanks James. I appreciate all your help.
    ??

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • The topic ‘Transferred site from WP Engine, showing white screen of death’ is closed to new replies.