Urgent: Change to https in wp_admin took my website down

  • Hi,

    I was getting ‘not secure’ browser feedback for my (http) site. In an attempt to fix this I changed the WordPress Address and Site Address in wp_admin from http to https. This step immediately made my site and admin for my site unavailable, with a

    Not Found
    The requested URL /wp-admin/options.php was not found on this server.

    browser error. I’ve also tried manually entering

    https://www.movingsky.co.uk and I get:

    Forbidden
    You don’t have permission to access / on this server.

    Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

    I need this site for job-hunting and I have an interview tomorrow. How can I bring my website back?

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    Edit wp-config.php and set this for the https://URL. See https://www.ads-software.com/support/article/editing-wp-config-php/#wp_siteurl

    Thread Starter justinfarquhar

    (@justinfarquhar)

    So, I should access wp-config.php via FTP client, and edit to include:

    define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://www.movingsky.co.uk' );

    Is that right?

    In the meantime, I called by hosting provider who said that the issue was that I didn’t have a package that included an SSL certificate. Does that sound correct? They said that they would try to revert my site to http for now.

    Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    NO. The define should be the HTTP version, https://www.movingsky.co.uk`.

    Next, you need to install an SSL cert. Most hosts provide free certs from LetsEncrypt.org. Once the cert is installed, you can remove that line from wp-config.php. Then, install the plugin “better search replace”. Search for https://www.movingsky.co.uk and replace with https://www.movingsky.co.uk

    Thread Starter justinfarquhar

    (@justinfarquhar)

    I managed to get the host to revert to http and it’s now working again.

    My host charges ￡25+ for SSL certificates. So, I’m going to think about that (not even sure if I’ll still with this host). Plus, I don’t want to risk any more potential down time right now (as you can probably tell, I barely know what I’m doing).

    But thanks for your advice.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • The topic ‘Urgent: Change to https in wp_admin took my website down’ is closed to new replies.