error message

  • Can someone please tell me why I am receiving Error establishing a database connection

    “This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can’t contact the database server at localhost. This could mean your host’s database server is down.

    Are you sure you have the correct username and password?
    Are you sure that you have typed the correct hostname?
    Are you sure that the database server is running?

    If you’re unsure what these terms mean you should probably contact your host. If you still need help you can always visit the WordPress Support Forums.”

    when I click on my bookmarked link to my blog, or try to type into the dashboard manually? I haven’t changed anything and was able to get in yesterday. Thank you in advance for any advice!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Thread Starter kaseycaruthers

    (@kaseycaruthers)

    any help would be greatly appreciated! This blog worked fine Thursday-Sunday and then this message appeared this morning.

    Check your wp-config.php file to see if anything has changed there. If it hasn’t check your database and see that it’s name, the username and the password still match what is set for the database from the database server.

    If these are all correct, it means that your web server (what runs your WordPress files) can’t connect to your database server (where the data is stored). This could be because the settings are wrong (but you’ve checked that 4 or 5 times haven’t you?), that your database server is down (it will need to be restarted) or that the connection between the web server and the database server is down (one or both will need to be restarted and probably have some configuration done to it).

    If you are 10% sure that you have your database details correct in your wp-config.php file, contact your hosting company and get them to check the database server.

    Thread Starter kaseycaruthers

    (@kaseycaruthers)

    Thanks Michael!
    Now I will show you how dumb I am. Where is this wp-config.php file? I have combed through my cpanel and have found a section about php stuff, but I am seriously struggling under all of this. I can’t log into my dashboard at all, so I can’t even tell you what’s going on with passwords or usernames. I’m terribly confused.

    It’s not something that you’ll see easily in CPanel. ??

    You can look in the file manager section but I’d suggest looking into an FTP program so that you can see things properly. This may take a bit of time to get used to and understand, but it is well worth it and will help you a lot in the future.

    The wp-config.php file is stored (in a CPanel site at least) in ‘/public_html/wp-config.php’. The contents of that are all PHP code, so it might look strange at the start.

    BUT – If you don’t know any of this so far the chances of anything being changed or wrong in this file are pretty remote. I’d start by contacting your hosting company and asking them to check the status of the database server. You should explain why and tell them about the wordpress site and that might help them track down what’s happening on it.

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