Restoring WordPress from Backup

  • ChuckC3

    (@chuckc3)


    10 years ago

    My WordPress site has stopped working for no apparent reason. I have done nothing to change the site that might have caused this problem; and, all of a sudden, I’ve started getting “500-Internal Server” errors when I attempt to access the site.

    I have lots of good backups of the sites but I don’t know how I can restore the site from a backup if I can’t get WP-Admin to run to do the restore. I tried deleting all the plugin directories and theme directories from the web site and I still can’t start WordPress WP-Admin.

    What’s the best way to recover from this? Should I just install a new installation of WordPress, run WP-Admin, and then restore the backup from there?

    This is the second time in several months that I’ve had this kind of problem. What do people recommend as a general approach for protecting against this problem? Perhaps I should do a file backup periodically to a Zip file in addition to doing the normal WordPress backups?

    Thanks,

    Chuck

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • kmessinger

    (@kmessinger)

    10 years ago

    When you sign into the hosted account do you see your files?

    Thread Starter ChuckC3

    (@chuckc3)

    10 years ago

    Yes, when I view the files through a website control panel, I can see the folders and the files and I deleted all of the plugins and all of the themes to see if that would make a difference and it didn’t. I’m still unable to start WordPress to be able to run WP-Admin to do a restore. I’m trying to have my website hosting company do a complete file restore but that is taking a while.

    kmessinger

    (@kmessinger)

    10 years ago

    But the 500 error is a server error not a wordpress error.

    Thread Starter ChuckC3

    (@chuckc3)

    10 years ago

    I’ve checked that with my Web Hosting company and they have told me that its a problem in the WordPress installation.

    kmessinger

    (@kmessinger)

    10 years ago

    I deleted all of the plugins and all of the themes to see if that would make a difference and it didn’t.

    You just need to rename the plugins folder plugins-old. No need to delete themes. Just rename the one you are using.

    In your wp-config.php file change
    define('WP_DEBUG', false); to read
    define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true);`

    That might help to find errors.

    kmessinger

    (@kmessinger)

    10 years ago

    Who is your host?

    kmessinger

    (@kmessinger)

    10 years ago

    Sometimes a .htaccess file will be wrong or corrupted. Yours should look close to this

    # BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

    Thread Starter ChuckC3

    (@chuckc3)

    10 years ago

    I have made some progress on this. I did a complete reinstall of WordPress (but didn’t replace the database). I then did a restore from backup from running WP-Admin and that worked. The install and the restore ran fine but I’ve lost all my plugins. I’m learning a lot about what a backup and restore does. I thought it might backup my plugins but it didn’t. I’m going to have to wait for my web hosting company to do a file restore. That’s a lot easier than manually reinstalling all of my plugins.

    Thanks for your help!

    kmessinger

    (@kmessinger)

    10 years ago

    When WordPress quits there are many things you can do to troubleshoot that do not involve a restore. If it happens again or if a new problem shows up come here first. There are a lot of volunteers who like to help people.

    kmessinger

    (@kmessinger)

    10 years ago

    What are you using to backup WordPress that you need to restore within the admin section?

    Thread Starter ChuckC3

    (@chuckc3)

    10 years ago

    I am simply using the export and import utility to export and import WordPress content. I’m going to have to find a better alternative because I realize now that isn’t a complete backup. Yes, if it happens again, I will certainly ask for help sooner.

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

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