Title: WordPress Problems! HELP!
Last modified: March 17, 2023

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# WordPress Problems! HELP!

 *  [benidea](https://wordpress.org/support/users/benidea/)
 * (@benidea)
 * [3 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-problems-help/)
 * I’m in need of some help with this one!
 * I’ve recently taken admin duties for the website: _[ redundant link removed ]_
 * However, it hasn’t been kept updated and it seems to have fallen into disrepair!
   This website is really outdated, doesn’t have an SSL certificate issued and seems
   to be the victim of hackers/spam bots.
 * I’m trying to fix issues in the backend of it and do some updates, however, I
   can’t actually update WordPress to the latest version 6.1.1, and the WordPress
   version the website is currently using is 4.9.7!
 * I also can’t seem to delete or add new plugins. On the plugins page, the ‘Add
   new’ button isn’t there and I desperately need to add some security to the website
   before it gets worse.
 * Anyone have any idea as to why I can’t update the WordPress version or add and
   delete plugins?
 * Any help is appreciated!
    -  This topic was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by [Jan Dembowski](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jdembowski/).
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fwordpress-problems-help%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [pichichi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pichichi/)
 * (@pichichi)
 * [3 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-problems-help/#post-16566616)
 * For SSL most hosts have Let’s Encrypt or some other free option.
 * If you can’t update plugins or the core files you do not have permissions, which
   can be becuase you are not using an Administrator level account, or someone has
   disabled them for your user. You can check your Role in the user tab of the admin
   menu.
 * If you are not an Administrator you need to get an Administrator to increase 
   your role, or you can add a new administrator account via the database in your
   web hosting, there are lots of articles online on how to do this.
 *  Thread Starter [benidea](https://wordpress.org/support/users/benidea/)
 * (@benidea)
 * [3 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-problems-help/#post-16566647)
 * Hi there, thanks for your thoughts.
 * I am an administrator of the website so have the required permissions to do updates
   etc. I believe because the website is so outdated, some malicious code must have
   been embedded into the site to stop me from doing these updates. However, I’m
   not sure how to fix this.
 * Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 *  [pichichi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pichichi/)
 * (@pichichi)
 * [3 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-problems-help/#post-16566685)
 * Checkyour wp-config file for anything that would stop you performing these actions,
   such as
 *     ```wp-block-code
       define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true );
       define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true );
       ```
   
 * You can comment these out by adding two forward slashes to the start of the line
 *     ```wp-block-code
       // define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true );
       // define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true );
       ```
   
 *  [lisa](https://wordpress.org/support/users/contentiskey/)
 * (@contentiskey)
 * [3 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-problems-help/#post-16566787)
 * if you think your site might be compromised – start with this guide [https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/faq-my-site-was-hacked/](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/faq-my-site-was-hacked/)

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘WordPress Problems! HELP!’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [Updates](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/updates/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 4 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [lisa](https://wordpress.org/support/users/contentiskey/)
 * Last activity: [3 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-problems-help/#post-16566787)
 * Status: not resolved

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