Why is Network Setup screen blank?

  • I’m trying to switch a single-use site (running 4.7) to multisite, but can’t get the Tools > Network Setup screen to display anything.

    What I’ve done:

    1. Backed up wp-config.php and .htaccess.
    2. Disabled all plugins.
    3. In wp-config.php, added the line:
      define(‘WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE’, true);
      …just above the “stop editing” comment. (Also tried putting it at the top.)
    4. Uploaded the file.
    5. Did a hard refresh, logged out, logged back in.

    The result: The Network Setup screen is now available, but it says “Warning: Please deactivate your plugins before enabling the Network feature.” The rest of the screen is blank and doesn’t have any options.

    What do I do now? I searched all over and haven’t found anyone else having this problem.

    • This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by The Daleks.
Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    Did you disable the plugins by clicking Deactivate for each one in the admin screen or just did the rename plugins folder shortcut? If you did the shortcut, restore the name and do the tedious click each Deactivate link.

    If you did the tedious way and still get the same message, and you’re absolutely sure all plugins are inactive, use phpMyAdmin to edit the options_value named “active_plugins” to a:0:{} (an empty serialized array). Be sure you’ve done a full backup. If you change this value while plugins are supposed to be active, bad things can happen.

    The network setup script should run now. Good luck!

    Thread Starter The Daleks

    (@tunghoy)

    Thank you.

    On the Plugins screen, I selected them all, then from the Bulk Options drop-down, selected Deactivate. When that didn’t work, I renamed the plugins folder to plugins-disabled and created a new, empty folder called plugins. (Saving me the tedium of renaming or deleting each one individually.) Neither of these methods was I able to get a working Network Tools screen.

    But your suggestion worked like a charm! So why do my first two methods not work? It seems that WordPress either really isn’t disabling plugins or there are plugins running that aren’t in the plugins folder.

    Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    I wish I could explain! I’ve heard of sporadic reports of bulk actions not working, usually in the context of updates. Anytime anyone tries to debug it, they find nothing wrong. Renaming the plugins folder prevents them from loading, but they are not truly deactivated because many plugins have deactivation scripts that must run and that doesn’t happen when the folder is renamed. The same situation is created by entering an empty array in the DB, but it has the added “benefit” of appeasing the network script’s safety check.

    Thread Starter The Daleks

    (@tunghoy)

    I finally gave up. Created the development site in a new, empty hosting account with a somewhat different set of plugins. The old site gets nuked when the development is done. So whatever this was will remain a mystery.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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