Critical error – no login into the backend/admin area possible

  • Resolved Patric

    (@patric70)


    10 months, 3 weeks ago

    Hello,

    Since January 1, 2024 I can no longer log into my backend – the following message is displayed:

    “There was a critical error on your website. Please check your website administrator email inbox for further instructions.”

    I’ve been using Really Simple SSL for a few years without any problems – however, I forgot to renew my SSL certificate before it expired.

    The certificate expired on December 31, 2023 – on January 1, 2024, when I tried to log in, I received the above-mentioned error message.

    I have now renewed the certificate, but I still get the error message and can’t access the backend. So it seems reasonable to assume that it could have something to do with the certificate and the SSL plugin – could that be?

    I’ve already tried a lot to find the error, but I hardly have any clues because the debug log or the website doesn’t show me any other errors.

    I have already deactivated all plugins and themes with rename, and I have also loaded the page with a default .htaccess and wp-config. This means that the SSL is mainly deactivated, but as soon as I log in, http(s) appears again on wp-admin url.

    The front end works perfectly, everything is displayed correctly and the plugins are running – but you cannot register again, the message “Invalid login data” then appears.

    I saw that you can deactivate the plugin with the file “force-deactivate.txt”, but I haven’t run it yet – I’d rather ask first, not that the page will then “crash” if the cause is not the SSL plugin.

    Should I deactivate the plugin and then activate or install it again when I get back into the admin area?

    Thanks in advance for your help

    Greetings

    Patric

    • This topic was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by Patric.

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Thread Starter Patric

    (@patric70)

    I just found your instructions – this could be the cause/solution:

    https://really-simple-ssl.com/uninstall-websitebackend-not-accessible/

    But I’m still waiting for your feedback on how I should proceed.

    I probably have to deactivate the plugin first, then go to the admin area and reinstall it or can I reactivate it in the admin area ?

    or do I have to install the plugin again manually via ftp by overwriting the old files?

    In the .htaccess and in the wp-config there are also a few entries regarding SSL – do I have to remove them manually or is this done by executing the deactivation script?

    Thanks

    • This reply was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by Patric.
    • This reply was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by Patric.
    Plugin Support jarnovos

    (@jarnovos)

    Hi @patric70,

    To obtain more information about the cause of the error, and to verify if there’s a relation with Really Simple SSL. Would it be possible for you to enable Debugging on your WordPress site (by including the define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); line in your wp-config.php file, details here), and trigger the error once more when that has been enabled?

    This should result in more information about the error being logged in the debug.log file, typically located in the /wp-content/ folder. Could you share those error messages here?

    Kind regards, Jarno

    Plugin Author Rogier Lankhorst

    (@rogierlankhorst)

    @patric70 to deactivate the plugin I would recommend to rename the plugin folder using ftp, in wp-content/plugins

    But it would be great if you can share the logs, so we can find the issue.

    What php version are you on?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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