Can't delete theme via dashboard OR FTP

  • Resolved Nevis-1

    (@nevis-1)


    11 years ago

    I had at one time installed a theme called Shopperpress by Premium Press, I stopped attempting to use it a long time ago due to it’s inadequacies…but that is another story.

    Today I tried to do a little house cleaning by deleting unused plugins, themes etc.

    From inside WP the theme manger shows the following message:

    The following themes are installed but incomplete. Themes must have a stylesheet and a template.

    Name Description
    shopperpress Stylesheet is missing.

    Nothing new there, been there fixed that.

    So off I go with my trusty Filezilla and delete the theme, presto it is gone…or so I thought. Go back into theme manager and there it was again, refresh, same thing.

    Back into Filezilla, and there it is again!

    Tried renaming, changing permissions, clearing cache, even deleted the WHOLE themes folder, the folder came back but with ONLY the shopper press theme 2013 was still there.

    Tried searching for hidden files, no luck there either.

    Got me stymied, any ideas?

    BTW It is only the themes folder structures that comes back, there are no files.

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

  • I’d try SSHing into the server and deleting them as the super user. Sometimes FTP clients don’t have proper privelages but it will show it as deleted until you refresh.

    The SSH command would be: rm -Rf your-folder-name

    Thread Starter Nevis-1

    (@nevis-1)

    s3w47m88

    Thanks for the tips, have never used SSH or putty before, quite enjoyed it. Took me back to my old DOS days…well in a bit.

    At any rate I waffle on, saw the directory, deleted it with the command you stated above, worked fine. Went into WP, checked on themes, still showed broken theme. Went back with SSH and putty and there was the directory shopperpress again.

    Damn thing just won’t die. Any more ideas?

    Thanks.

    Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    Sounds like a possible directory ownership issue. You’ve contacted your hosts support group and asked them what they think?

    Thread Starter Nevis-1

    (@nevis-1)

    Hi Clayton, thanks for getting back. On the phone with hosting provider now. Called them yesterday too. They have the same problem. It won’t delete.

    Thread Starter Nevis-1

    (@nevis-1)

    OK I think I know where the problem lies. Just did a search using PHP MyAdmin, and found the shopperpress theme referenced numeous times in several tables.

    Not being great at editing mysql files, any advice?

    Thanks

    Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    I can’t think of any reason right off the top of my head why something in your database would prevent you from deleting a directory from your web space.

    On the phone with hosting provider now…
    ….They have the same problem. It won’t delete.

    If you are on a shared server, and support only offered a shoulder shrug with no additional inquiry or guidance, that might be a red flag.

    When you get a moment, re-check owner:group on the directory that won’t delete, then compare that to owner:group on /wp-admin (or any other directory in your web-root) and see if there is anything you feel might stand out as unusual.

    [edit] just a clarifying question…

    even deleted the WHOLE themes folder, the folder came back but with ONLY the shopper press theme 2013 was still there.

    How did the entire theme directory come back? By what method was it replaced?

    Thread Starter Nevis-1

    (@nevis-1)

    I can delete the folder just fine. However as soon as I start up WP it rebuilds the directory and sub directory.

    I can see remnants of the shopperpress theme in the database tables using phpmyadmin, and sure enough these are the tables that are being recreated.

    I just don’t have the knowledge on what to delete.

    Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    However as soon as I start up WP it rebuilds the directory and sub directory.

    That isn’t an expected behavior.

    What exactly do you mean by “start up” WordPress? What action is taking place that restarts it?

    What is your hosting situation like? Are you on a shared server or a dedicated server, and is your site a single user WordPress site, or on a sub-domain on a network of WordPress sites?

    Thread Starter Nevis-1

    (@nevis-1)

    What I mean by starting up is logging in. There were several entries in several tables from the shopper press theme from premium themes that were stipulating paths to images, etc. So when I deleted the theme, and then logged back in, WP recreated thee empty directories.

    I have since been brave and by using PHP MyAdmin deleted all references to shopperpress in all tables. I then deleted the folders via putty and SSH, and so far all seems OK. This said I am to burned out to try any new pages or posts.

    Thanks for sticking by me with all of your knowledge and insight. Much appreciated??:-)!!

    Thread Starter Nevis-1

    (@nevis-1)

    All seems OK now.

    Whew! My next suggestion was to perform an exorcism on that directory. :p

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