EXTREMELY ticked off new user – WF crashed me site!

Please change the subject to MY site. Yes, I can’t even type straight I’m SOOOO upset!

Hello,

Very sorry to hear that you are having this trouble.

Am I right in my understanding from your post that you attempted to restore your website from the backup you created prior to installing Wordfence? If so can you explain please in more detail the process that you went through to restore your backup.

It’s a process that I am in the middle of now. I had to erase every file in my directory and create a new WP site from scratch. I’ve uploaded the SQL data and I’m now in the process of uploading all the files. I’m HOPING this works, as the install of your WF plugin completely destroyed my site to where it reset it as if I were setting up a new site.

It will take a couple more hours to restore the files, and again I’m hoping that this works. I had much better things to do early on a Sunday morning than rebuild my website. But, that is why I chose a Sunday morning to install your plugin. I can’t believe that with as many installs as you have that this happened. My initial scan just froze at about 97% (7100 of 73xx files scanned). When I tried to access the dashboard, I was greeted with the question of what language I wanted my new site to use.

I would love to use your plugin, but how can I ever trust it again? It is supposed to prevent being hacked, but I can’t imagine a more critical hack then a plugin taking the entire site down to the point it has to be recreated from scratch.

Hello,

One probable cause is that a database table became corrupt. Looking at the SQL error logs may show that this is the case. They are usually stored in /var/lib/sql. Your hosting provider may help if you don’t have access to the logs.

If we look at the SQL logs and narrow it down to a corrupt database table then we can investigate further for you.

Normal procedure when a plugin causes problems is to FTP into your site and delete or rename the plugin directory. This usually works fine and unfortunately is all too common of a procedure since Worpress plugins do fail to work, in my experience fairly often. Beyond that, it’s a good idea to continue with FTP and check your .htaccess file for anything the plugin might have written to the file. More, doing a complete refresh of browser cache that includes a computer restart is essential, as sometimes the error screen will simply be served up by the browser cache, when your site is actually working! Happened to me… Did you do those things before doing an entire website wipe!?

I have to say that a few of these recent “Wordfence ruined me!” posts appear to be trolls from competitors. They just look odd. Moderators, are you watching out for this?

I have to say that a few of these recent “Wordfence ruined me!” posts appear to be trolls from competitors. They just look odd. Moderators, are you watching out for this?

*Drinks coffee*

Yeah, but there’s an obvious typo in the subject line and besides, wfphil’s reply is really good.

I’m not editing the subject line and let’s see how this topic plays out.

Thanks Jan, appreciate your work. MTN

@phil: I don’t see anything obvious in the logs, but I would be happy to send them to you off-board.

@Guy2: I tried replacing the web content, but the issue persisted. I didn’t replace the database (at that point), so it’s entirely likely there was database corruption. All I know is that the scan stopped and there were three processes indicating that they were running (all three started about the same time). Some processes completed.

I also tried another browser on another PC, so that eliminates any cache on the user end. I am disappointed that you find the “need” to trash someone who is asking for help.

@jen: You refuse to fix a typo? What hope is there that any SW issues will be fixed and won’t simply be left there out of spite if that is the prevailing attitude from WordFence? I hope you go through what I did. I had to “learn” wordpress after the person who was supposed to be working on the site went MIA (found out just within the past couple days he had a personal emergency). I managed to fix the remaining issues, beta test the site with a select group of users, then went live a little over 24 hours before I installed this plug-in which SEEMED like a good idea at the time. I really would like to use this plug-in but I can’t risk taking the site down again without some assurances that the issue will not recur.

But, to refuse to fix a typo that makes ME look like an illiterate idiot (when I was frantically trying to get help at 3AM from a site that crashed) just because you don’t want to? Some support! It’s “playing out” to look like some moderators here are more interested in games than solutions.

Phil, can you contact a moderator who is willing to fix that?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by airspy.

Deleted – I CAN edit typos in replies.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by airspy.

Hello,

If you have uploaded a working backup of your WordPress installation files, but not the backup of the database, then it does look likely that the database is corrupt.

Can you send the following files to me in a zipped folder please to phil [at] wordfence [dot] com:

1. SQL error log
2. Root directory error log (if you still have it).
3. wp-admin directory error log (if you still have it).

Since your last post have you re-installed the backup of your database yet?

Thank you.

Sent via eMail. As I mentioned before, “I didn’t replace the database (at that point)”. I did eventually that night replace the database – I had to since recreating the WP required a new database, and I was/am at my limit, so I had to erase the existing database, let the WP install create a new one, then restore from a backup.

I provided additional details in the eMail including what I believe is the primary suspect as to the cause (which involves writing to the database).

Hello,

We have had a look at the files that you sent. Unfortunately without the PHP error logs we can’t determine if Wordfence was involved at all.

However, from the logs that you did send, the errors there are generic and could have a number of possible different causes, pointing to a potential problem on the web server.

What you could do is speak to your hosting provider about setting up a staging environment and clone the site. Re-install Wordfence and if the same issue occurs ask your hosting provider to work with you to pinpoint the fault. If they determine that it is an issue with Wordfence then we can certainly assist you further.