Title: Cannot Locate PHP Parse/Syntax Error. Last modified: August 21, 2016 --- # Cannot Locate PHP Parse/Syntax Error. * Resolved [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/) * Hi, I received the following error message: * > Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/content/84/10742684/ > html/indynjtl/wp-config.php on line 18. * The site is down and I can only access it via FTP or through the file manager on my web server. I don’t know where to find the file/folder to access this code and fix it. Thank you in advance. Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/page/2/?output_format=md) * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355190) * What is in lines 16 – 20 of your wp-config.php file? * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355194) * These are lines 16 – 20 in the wp-config.php file. // ** MySQL settings – You can get this info from your web host ** // /** The name of the database for WordPress*/ define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘indxxxx’); * /** MySQL database username */ define(‘DB_USER’, ‘_[redacted]_‘); * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355200) * Change your database password now! Never, **ever**, post sensitive information on a public forum. * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355204) * I didn’t. Those are not the real numbers. Sorry for any confusion. * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355207) * I can’t see anything wrong with the snippet above. Can you post lines 10 – 16? * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355209) * These are lines 9 – 16, so you can see the entire sentence. * This file is used by the wp-config.php creation script during the * installation. You don’t have to use the web site, you can just copy this file * to “wp-config.php” and fill in the values. * * [@package](https://wordpress.org/support/users/package/) WordPress*/ * // ** MySQL settings – You can get this info from your web host ** // * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355226) * I uninstalled WP (except for the WP-content folders/files) and then re-installed, and I uninstalled/re-installed the plugins. One plugin (301 redirect) seems to be the possible cause of this error. The error message occurred after I deactivated/ deleted this plugin and refreshed the cache. Might be grasping at straws here, but am trying to offer more information for a possible solution. * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355230) * Has the error disappeared since deactivating the plugin? * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355234) * No. The error message is the only thing I get when trying to sign-in through the admin screen or when looking at the site in a browser. Site URL is [http://indynjtl.org](http://indynjtl.org). * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355237) * Can you recreate a fresh wp-config.php file using wp-config-sample.php as a template? * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355257) * Okay, that might be the solution. I did this, and I now have an error that states: ** Error establishing a database connection.** That looks promising. I did not include the keys/salts that were in the original wp-config.php file. Do I need to add those back? Otherwise, I can go through and just ensure that I don’t have any typos in the data. * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355258) * > Do I need to add those back? * I’d get a new set from [https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/](https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/) * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355265) * Well, no error messages, but the website is completely blank – white screen only. I did add the new set of salts/keys from your suggested link above. I will try without once and see what happens. * Thread Starter [oliver826](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oliver826/) * (@oliver826) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355266) * Ah, success. I was able to access the admin page, and I’m now back in business. Thank you esmi for your assistance and your patience in helping me with this problem. Always a learning experience with WordPress and PHP. * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/#post-4355292) * Glad I could help 🙂 Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/page/2/?output_format=md) The topic ‘Cannot Locate PHP Parse/Syntax Error.’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [syntax error](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/syntax-error/) * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 17 replies * 3 participants * Last reply from: [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * Last activity: [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-locate-php-parsesyntax-error/page/2/#post-4355317) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics