500 Internal Server Error from Updating

  • trying to update from 4.2.3 to 4.3

    First I tried to update my WordPress to the latest version by just hitting the update button on the dashboard (seems obvious enough) then my site went into maintenance mode..it was stuck there for a while. I looked into a solution to that. I researched and found that I needed to delete my maintenance file from my wordpress folder in my file manager (I used this solution to fix an old error with a plug-in issue once before). I did that and now I have a ‘500 Internal Server Error’ that I am unable to overcome.

    I have no access to my dashboard or able to view my site.

    I looked into a solution for that where I supposedly rename a .htaccess file in my wordpress subfolder but there isn’t a .htaccess file in there are anywhere in my file manager.

    From there I found out a .htaccess file isn’t there from the start in your file manager. I would have to create it. So I went into notepad made a .txt file typed one space in the file like suggested. renamed it to .htaccess.txt then uploaded into my wordpress subfolder. Renamed it to .htaccess.

    This is where my situation is different from the walkthrough on the forums. I don’t use filezilla I use GoDaddy’s file manager. I couldn’t change permissions for the file the way they said. I couldn’t change CHMOD to 666 then CHMOD to 644. Those aren’t options in my GoDaddy FTP.

    So I am stuck.

    If anyone could help me I would appreciate.

    Thanks,
    Andrew

    Also why does this happen? All I did was hit the update button on the dashboard..why is that button there if it just crashes everything?

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

  • Hi, Andrew, & welcome to the WordPress support forum. I’m really sorry you’re having this difficulty.

    A 500 internal server error can mean a great many things. Yes, sometimes it’s the .htaccess file, sometimes it’s a bad database connection–it can really mean a lot of things. So, here are a few things that may prove helpful:
    1) Please give us your site address. I’ll trust you if you provide it via an url shortener.
    2) I believe, in GoDaddy’s control panel, there may be an option to see the log of errors for your site. If so, those would be invaluable.
    3) Often, WordPress itself creates error logs. These too could be helpful. If you do provide us w/any error logs, however, please go through them carefully to ensure that no credentials are disclosed.
    4) I also suggest you get rid of the dummy .htaccess file, as I don’t think it’s the source of your problem.
    5) I’d also suggest that if you’re not using a WordPress cor theme, you might wish to consider renaming that theme folder by appending a 1, i.e., if the name of your theme folder is mytheme, then rename it to mytheme1 or mytheme.old. Then try logging into your site, though I’m pretty doubtful that will help. You can also try doing this w/your wp-content/plugins folder. If that does help, then you’ll need to rename the folder back to its original name but rename each plugin folder inside except for 1. I’d start out by not renaming Akismet, as it’s a core plugin. Then rename 1 folder at a time to its original name & log in each time till you find the 1 that’s the culprit. Again, I’m not sure whether this would cause a 500 error & suspect perhaps a database connection problem. I think in this case, providing us a site url & error logs would prove to be the most beneficial, but please try these solutions & let us know if they help.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
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