Title: Update gone wrong
Last modified: June 8, 2019

---

# Update gone wrong

 *  [aehernandez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aehernandez/)
 * (@aehernandez)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/)
 * Hi everyone!
 * After performing some updates on a few plugins, my site stopped allowing me to
   do any changes. Now, when I try to access the website it requests me to download
   a file that says as follows:
 *     ```
       <?php
       /**
        * Front to the WordPress application. This file doesn't do anything, but loads
        * wp-blog-header.php which does and tells WordPress to load the theme.
        *
        * @package WordPress
        */
   
       /**
        * Tells WordPress to load the WordPress theme and output it.
        *
        * @var bool
        */
       define( 'WP_USE_THEMES', true );
   
       /** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */
       require( dirname( __FILE__ ) . '/wp-blog-header.php' );
       ```
   
 * I’ve deactivated the plugins via FTP, as well as updating wordpress via FTP except
   for wp-config and wp-content.
 * Can someone please help? Thank you in advance!
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fupdate-gone-wrong-5%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

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

 *  Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/)
 * (@t-p)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619213)
 * > I’ve deactivated the plugins via FTP, as well as updating wordpress via FTP
 * Have you also tried switching to the unedited default Theme (Twenty Nineteen,
   etc.) for a moment to rule out any theme-specific issue (theme functions can 
   interfere like plugins).
 * If you don’t have access to your Dashboard’s Appearance page, access your server
   via [SFTP or FTP](https://codex.wordpress.org/FTP_Clients), or a file manager
   in your hosting account’s control panel (consult your hosting provider’s documentation
   for specifics on these), navigate to /wp-content/themes/ and rename the directory
   of your currently active theme. Alternately, you can remove other themes except
   the default theme (Twenty Nineteen, etc.). That will force your site to use it.
 *  Thread Starter [aehernandez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aehernandez/)
 * (@aehernandez)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619216)
 * Hi! Thank you for responding [@t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/)
 * I just renamed the directory of the theme, but unfortunately it’s still not giving
   me access to any part of my site and when trying to load, it throws me the file
   with the php code I wrote about before.
 *  Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/)
 * (@t-p)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619281)
 * Please check the error logs on your server for a more specific error message,
   which may give a clue to why this is happening on your website/server. If you
   are using cPanel, the following tutorial has more information about the error
   log in cPanel: [How to view cPanel Error logs](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/cpanel/how-to-view-cpanel-error-logs).
   If you need help locating them, ask your hosting provider to help you with that.
 *  [bwstandard](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bwstandard/)
 * (@bwstandard)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619283)
 * I’m just wondering here as I don’t have a solution but is it trying to find the
   blog header file? That’s what it seems like it wants. Again I don’t know, but
   moreso jumping on this thread to find the answer.
 * Question: Does your theme folder have a wp-blog-header.php file? Or is it missing?
 * I’ll just lurk here and wait to see what happens.
 *  Thread Starter [aehernandez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aehernandez/)
 * (@aehernandez)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619305)
 * Thank you for responding, [@bwstandard](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bwstandard/).
   I thought the same thing, but the directory does include the wp-blog-header.php.
 * [@t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/), the last error in the log is:
   
   PHP Deprecated: Comments starting with ‘#’ are deprecated in ./fastphp.ini on
   line 18 in Unknown on line 0
 *  [JNashHawkins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jnashhawkins/)
 * (@jnashhawkins)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619358)
 * That file you’re seeing is the index.php file which should be run to cause WordPress
   to then run and respond to whatever request it has received.
 * You probably should call Blue Host and see what they say. For some reason the
   permissions on that file are messed up, it’s not being executed, or else PHP 
   has stopped running.
 * Your other option might be to restore the backups but if PHP isn’t running then
   you need more help even if you need to restore.
 *  Thread Starter [aehernandez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aehernandez/)
 * (@aehernandez)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619433)
 * Thank you for your suggestion [@jnashhawkins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jnashhawkins/)!
 * I took a closer look to my bluehost options and was able to restore the site 
   by changing the php version to the required one of the update.
 * I’ve been able to restore my themes, except for the plugins, where it opens the
   download dialog with the plugins.php file when I try to access this section from
   the wp-admin.
 * Any suggestions for this issue? Thank you in advance!
 *  [JNashHawkins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jnashhawkins/)
 * (@jnashhawkins)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619454)
 * Hi Again,
 * I kind of ruled out a PHP version issue affecting the whole site as you said 
   you were updating plugins, but I wondered if you might have touched something
   else to clobber PHP.
 * Anyway, you mentioned you killed the plugins via FTP … If you renamed the plugin
   directory to accomplish that then you should rename it back… That should bring
   back the plugins you had also, if you deleted it instead then you’ll need to 
   recreate it.
 * It also needs to have permissions of 755 (I think) and should be owned by the
   same user as the rest of the WordPress system. Else just set it to 777 temporarily
   until you get the plugins added back then take it back to 755. You’ll need to
   fix that before you go too far though. This article explains file permissions.
 * [https://wordpress.org/support/article/changing-file-permissions/](https://wordpress.org/support/article/changing-file-permissions/)
 * This part of that article above explains why 777 isn’t very safe permission setting
   so you’ll definitely want to fix that if you need to use it.
 * [https://wordpress.org/support/article/changing-file-permissions/#the-dangers-of-777](https://wordpress.org/support/article/changing-file-permissions/#the-dangers-of-777)
 * If you just needed to rename the plugins directory back then the permissions 
   should be fine and your plugins should all be there.
 * Let us know if you have further questions or need more help.
    -  This reply was modified 7 years ago by [JNashHawkins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jnashhawkins/).
 *  Thread Starter [aehernandez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aehernandez/)
 * (@aehernandez)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11619484)
 * Thank you [@jnashhawkins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jnashhawkins/)!
 * I just renamed the plugins, but after restoring the file’s name it is still showing
   me the download dialog in all of the wp-admin control options.
 * The PHP version I switched to is 5.6
 *  [JNashHawkins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jnashhawkins/)
 * (@jnashhawkins)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11620152)
 * PHP 5.6 is still okay from what I’ve been told but I’ve been hearing good things
   about PHP 7.3 lately. If your host offers 7.3 you might want to go ahead and 
   step up to it. 7.X versions are supposedly faster but some implementations are
   missing a few needed extensions so beware if you update PHP and have troubles…
   Call your host for more.
 * If you need to download the plugins then do that. If the download still doesn’t
   work then call your host for help. At PHP 5.6 you should be fine to download.
   If the download works then you may find your settings are still in the database
   and it will start working again once downloaded and enabled if needed.
 * At this point, your host is ‘the people’ who can look into your server and see
   any problems the easiest.
 * One trick to working with your host is, if the support person you reach isn’t
   very helpful, then you probably should wait several hours and then call back.
   Shift changes often bring in a more experienced, helpful person.
 * Most of the support people at the hosts are good at what they do but some of 
   them truly relish a good problem.
 *  [bwstandard](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bwstandard/)
 * (@bwstandard)
 * [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11620212)
 * I’ve upgraded all my sites to the 7x and like it. Things work a lot more efficiently
   now, I’d recommend it.
 * Good luck with the hosts as well. Dreamhost, which is becoming more and more 
   cumbersome always has some sort of cop out these days. I rarely use them for 
   support and rather use my friends at another website.

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

The topic ‘Update gone wrong’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [update](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/update/)
 * [update core](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/update-core/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 11 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [bwstandard](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bwstandard/)
 * Last activity: [7 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-gone-wrong-5/#post-11620212)
 * Status: not resolved

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