Title: Replacing corrupted WordPress files Last modified: August 19, 2016 --- # Replacing corrupted WordPress files * Resolved [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/) * Hi all. * **WordPress 3.0.1 + Thesis 1.8** * I’m trying to chase down a problem that just surfaced out of the blue a few days ago with an existing WordPress installation. The site shows up fine to anyone browsing to it, but I cannot add a new Post or Page. Any attempt to do so results in the error message: _HTTP Error 500.0_ * The host suggests it might be corrupted WordPress file in my installation. * **QUESTION 1:** Anyone seen or have any ideas about this sort of thing? Any particular files that are most likely to be the culprits? * **QUESTION 2:** I found a number of posts outlining how to reinstall WordPress, supposedly without risking losing anything, but there are a few discrepancies between different explanations. Is there a “definitive guide” anywhere to reinstall WordPress “over the top” without screwing up existing posts/pages/plug-ins/etc? If not, maybe one of you experts could list the steps. * Thanks in advance for any help. Not being able to post is costing me credibility and revenue. Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total) * Thread Starter [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670106) * **Also…** * Obviously before I do anything else I need to do a backup. * Is [WP-DBManager](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-dbmanager/) a good choice for that task? * Thread Starter [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670299) * By the way, I can EDIT existing posts. * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670383) * Internal server errors (error 500) are often caused by plugin or theme function conflicts, so if you have access to your admin panel, try deactivating all plugins. If you don’t have access to your admin panel, try [manually resetting your plugins](http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_Troubleshooting#How_to_deactivate_all_plugins_when_not_able_to_access_the_administrative_menus.3F). If that resolves the issue, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause. * If that does not resolve the issue, try switching to the Default theme (WordPress 1.5 – 2.9.2) or the Twenty Ten theme (WordPress 3.0 and higher) to rule-out a theme-specific issue. If you don’t have access to your admin panel, access your server via [FTP or SFTP](http://codex.wordpress.org/FTP_Clients), navigate to`/ wp-content/themes/` and rename the directory of your currently active theme. This will force the Default theme (WordPress 1.5 – 2.9.2) or the Twenty Ten theme( WordPress 3.0 and higher) to activate and hopefully rule-out a theme-specific issue. * If that does not resolve the issue, it’s possible that a `.htaccess` rule could be the source of the problem. To check for this, access your server via FTP or SFTP and rename the `.htaccess` file. If you can’t find a `.htaccess` file, make sure that you have set your FTP or SFTP client to view invisible files. * If you weren’t able to resolve the issue by either resetting your plugins and theme or renaming your .htaccess file, we may be able to help, but we’ll need a more detailed error message. Internal server errors are usually described in more detail in the server error log. If you have access to your server error log, generate the error again, note the date and time, then immediately check your server error log for any errors that occurred during that time period. If you don’t have access to your server error log, ask your hosting provider to look for you. * Thread Starter [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670385) * Well, I don’t know what to make of this. * I decided to tackle plug-ins first because that seemed to be the easiest path to take. I had a lot of deactivated plug-ins, so the first thing I did was delete all those. Then I bulk deactivated all of the remaining plug-ins. * Much to my surprise (because I really didn’t think a plug-in could be causing the problem) I was now able to add new posts! * So then I activated all the plug-ins again in batches of three or four at a time, testing after each activation. * Eventually all plug-ins were activated again and I could still add new posts. In other words, all the same plug-ins activated again and the problem has disappeared. * What do you make of that? * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670386) * > Eventually all plug-ins were activated again and I could still add new posts. > In other words, all the same plug-ins activated again and the problem has disappeared. > What do you make of that? * It sounds like a plugin was stuck. Much light old-fashioned flashlights that refuse to turn on, sometimes you just have to hit it really hard. * Thread Starter [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670389) * Looks like I spoke too soon, as I just discovered an unpleasant side-effect. * I have WordPress configured to show Categories in one of the two sidebars. * It shows a list of category names just as I would expect, and each category name has a number after it in brackets indicating the number of posts for that category. * **EXAMPLE:** I have one category that shows in the list as “WordPress (10)”, and its link is [http://blogname.com/blog/category/wordpress/](http://blogname.com/blog/category/wordpress/). * **PROBLEM:** Clicking that category (or any other) in the list opens a new blog page which is headed with the category name (WordPress in this example), but there is no list of relevant posts/articles displayed on the page. * The exact same thing applies to the “Popular Tags” list (Tag Cloud), also in a sidebar. * Both lists are formed by the built-in Widgets. * Any idea what’s gone wrong and how to fix it? * Thread Starter [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670390) * Incidentally, I’ve just had a look with my FTP client and there is no /wordPress folder at [http://blogname.com/blog/category/wordpress/](http://blogname.com/blog/category/wordpress/). * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670391) * Try deactivating all plugins. If that resolves the issue, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause. * If that does not resolve the issue, try switching to the Default theme (WordPress 1.5 – 2.9.2) or the Twenty Ten theme (WordPress 3.0 and higher) to rule-out a theme-specific issue. * If neither of those help, we’ll need to see an actual link to the problem for further investigation. * > Incidentally, I’ve just had a look with my FTP client and there is no /wordPress > folder at [http://blogname.com/blog/category/wordpress/](http://blogname.com/blog/category/wordpress/). * It’s a virtual directory created by the permalink structure. You should also notice that you don’t have a `/category/` directory either. 😉 * Thread Starter [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670396) * You were right — a plug-in again. * This time the culprit was [Search Unleashed](http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/search-unleashed/). * However forcing a manual re-index in the settings of Search Unleashed solved the problem. * Thread Starter [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * (@caccan) * [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670397) * Again, I spoke too soon… * I have just discovered another undesirable side-effect of the [Search Unleashed](http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/search-unleashed/) plug-in. * Clicking on a link in the list of Categories – e.g. WordPress (10) – returns a page that has more Post entries on it than the 10 that should be displayed. * This happens even after running a re-index in Search Unleashed. * Disable the plug-in and the correct Posts are shown for the Category that was clicked on. * Looks like I’ll be deleting this one. Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total) The topic ‘Replacing corrupted WordPress files’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [HTTP error 500](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/http-error-500/) * [reinstall](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/reinstall/) * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 10 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [CacCan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/caccan/) * Last activity: [15 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/replacing-corrupted-wordpress-files/#post-1670397) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics