Google Site Kit: Stuck in sign-in loop

Hi @coodjon,

Thanks for opening a support topic and providing details of your experience. In other cases there have been configurations at host level resulting in this behavior. So we can determine more in your case please share the following:

1. Your Site Health information. You can use this form to share privately if preferred. If using the form please include your current hosting provider where request.
2. When you’re directed back to the dashboard homepage during setup is this directly after granting permissions and pressing “allow” or does this occur elsewhere, such as at the final stage after clicking on the “Visit Dashboard” screen?
3. Do you see any errors or warnings when checking your “Site Health Status“, which differs to your Site Health information above (Tools > Available Tools > Reset Site Kit)? This can include any REST related errors.

Let me know if you have any questions with the above. If we can’t determine anything obvious we can perform some checks with the responses between your site and the Site Kit service.

Hi James,

Thanks very much for coming back to me.

1) Please find below the site health info.

2) It happens after I have selected my Google account, then chosen the permissions I want to allow for Site Kit. At that point I select the “Continue” button and then I get redirected back to the WP main dashboard. I presume this is the same as the “allow” step you mention.

3) It was flagging some updates, including the version of PHP so I have actioned these, reset Site Kit and tried again. However the problem persists. The health info below has been updated after that step in case it had changed post update.

Cheers,

Jon

### wp-core ###

version: 5.8.3
site_language: en_US
user_language: en_US
timezone: +00:00
permalink: /%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/
https_status: true
multisite: false
user_registration: 0
blog_public: 1
default_comment_status: open
environment_type: production
user_count: 1
dotorg_communication: true

### wp-paths-sizes ###

wordpress_path: /home/coodorgu/public_html
wordpress_size: 50.07 MB (52501245 bytes)
uploads_path: /home/coodorgu/public_html/wp-content/uploads
uploads_size: 26.50 MB (27783345 bytes)
themes_path: /home/coodorgu/public_html/wp-content/themes
themes_size: 7.42 MB (7780076 bytes)
plugins_path: /home/coodorgu/public_html/wp-content/plugins
plugins_size: 18.49 MB (19388181 bytes)
database_size: 6.17 MB (6471680 bytes)
total_size: 108.65 MB (113924527 bytes)

### wp-active-theme ###

name: PopularFX (popularfx)
version: 1.2.2
author: Pagelayer
author_website: https://pagelayer.com
parent_theme: none
theme_features: core-block-patterns, widgets-block-editor, automatic-feed-links, title-tag, post-thumbnails, menus, html5, customize-selective-refresh-widgets, custom-logo, woocommerce, wc-product-gallery-lightbox, wc-product-gallery-slider, widgets
theme_path: /home/coodorgu/public_html/wp-content/themes/popularfx
auto_update: Disabled

### wp-themes-inactive (3) ###

Twenty Nineteen: version: 2.1, author: the WordPress team, Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Twenty: version: 1.8, author: the WordPress team, Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Twenty-One: version: 1.4, author: the WordPress team, Auto-updates disabled

### wp-plugins-active (6) ###

GDPR Cookie Consent: version: 2.0.8, author: WebToffee, Auto-updates disabled
PageLayer: version: 1.5.9, author: Pagelayer Team, Auto-updates disabled
PopularFX Website Templates: version: 1.2.1, author: Pagelayer Team, Auto-updates disabled
Site Kit by Google: version: 1.49.0, author: Google, Auto-updates disabled
Smash Balloon Instagram Feed: version: 2.9.10, author: Smash Balloon, Auto-updates disabled
UpdraftPlus - Backup/Restore: version: 1.22.1, author: UpdraftPlus.Com, DavidAnderson, Auto-updates disabled

### wp-plugins-inactive (2) ###

Akismet Anti-Spam: version: 4.2.1, author: Automattic, Auto-updates disabled
Hello Dolly: version: 1.7.2, author: Matt Mullenweg, Auto-updates disabled

### wp-media ###

image_editor: WP_Image_Editor_GD
imagick_module_version: Not available
imagemagick_version: Not available
imagick_version: Not available
file_uploads: File uploads is turned off
post_max_size: 128M
upload_max_filesize: 128M
max_effective_size: 128 MB
max_file_uploads: 20
gd_version: 2.2.5
gd_formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, XPM
ghostscript_version: 9.25

### wp-server ###

server_architecture: Linux 3.10.0-962.3.2.lve1.5.27.el7.x86_64 x86_64
httpd_software: LiteSpeed
php_version: 8.0.14 64bit
php_sapi: litespeed
max_input_variables: 1000
time_limit: 30
memory_limit: 256M
max_input_time: 60
upload_max_filesize: 128M
php_post_max_size: 128M
curl_version: 7.71.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1d
suhosin: false
imagick_availability: false
pretty_permalinks: true
htaccess_extra_rules: false

### wp-database ###

extension: mysqli
server_version: 10.2.41-MariaDB-cll-lve
client_version: mysqlnd 8.0.14

### wp-constants ###

WP_HOME: undefined
WP_SITEURL: undefined
WP_CONTENT_DIR: /home/coodorgu/public_html/wp-content
WP_PLUGIN_DIR: /home/coodorgu/public_html/wp-content/plugins
WP_MEMORY_LIMIT: 40M
WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT: 256M
WP_DEBUG: false
WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY: true
WP_DEBUG_LOG: false
SCRIPT_DEBUG: false
WP_CACHE: false
CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_CSS: undefined
WP_LOCAL_DEV: undefined
DB_CHARSET: utf8mb4
DB_COLLATE: undefined

### wp-filesystem ###

wordpress: writable
wp-content: writable
uploads: writable
plugins: writable
themes: writable

### google-site-kit ###

version: 1.49.0
php_version: 8.0.14
wp_version: 5.8.3
reference_url: https://cood.org.uk
amp_mode: no
site_status: not-connected
user_status: not authenticated
verification_status: not-verified
connected_user_count: none
active_modules: site-verification, search-console, pagespeed-insights
required_scopes: 
	openid: ?
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.profile: ?
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email: ?
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/siteverification: ?
	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/webmasters: ?
capabilities: 
	googlesitekit_authenticate: ?
	googlesitekit_setup: ?
	googlesitekit_view_posts_insights: ?
	googlesitekit_view_dashboard: ?
	googlesitekit_view_module_details: ?
	googlesitekit_manage_options: ?
enabled_features: 
	dashboardSharing: ?
	ideaHubModule: ?
	serviceSetupV2: ?
	swgModule: ?
	userInput: ?
	unifiedDashboard: ?
search_console_property: none

Many thanks for sharing the additional details. As nothing obvious stands out from your Site Health information or the checks I’ve performed on your site let perform some checks with your current hosting provider. Before doing so please share the following:

1. Your current hosting provider
2. The URL you land back on once you’re redirected. This may include details of the callback URL.
3. Do you see any console errors on this URL once you land back on this during setup, or can you share the details of any Site Kit related XHR response?

Feel free to share the above using our user submission form if you prefer.

Once you share the above one check you can perform is to setup another WordPress site on the same hosting provider before checking Site Kit setup. Based on the details you kindly provided I suspect there is something at host level blocking setup, maybe a Firewall or other block. Not a problem if you’re unable to create a separate WordPress site, the above requested information may be sufficient for us to check for any hosting related blocks.

Hi James,

1. Our provider is https://www.kualo.co.uk/

2. https://cood.org.uk/wp-admin/

3. No errors, the only message I see in the console when I get redirected is
JQMIGRATE: Migrate is installed, version 3.3.2

No XHR that I could see when I get redirected, just a 302 redirect from
https://sitekit.withgoogle.com/

Many thanks for sharing these additional insights. I’ve setup an account with the same hosting provide and I encounter the same on a shared hosting plan. I’ll perform some more testing on this before updating you here with any updates.

@coodjon On one of my test sites I used a domain which was previously registered on the Site Kit service, which caused the issue in that case, with a previous wp-admin path differing to this new test site. From further checks on other WordPress installs I don’t encounter the same.

As there are no connected users can you perform a reset of the plugin before attempting to connect once more (Tools > Available Tools > Reset Site Kit)? This will result in any previous records on the Site Kit service being removed, if any exist. If the same occurs once more during we can perform some checks with your plugin environment and configurations.

Let me know how you get on after resetting.

Hi James,

Thanks for continuing to help with the investigation.

I tried the reset, then went through the setup again and unfortunately I still get the same result.

Hi Jon,

Sorry to hear that. In that case there are a couple of checks we can perform. The first one is to rule out any plugin, theme or function related issues. In order to do so please follow the steps below:

1. Login to your site from a Chrome browser incognito window
2. Install and activate the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin.
3. Navigate to “Plugins > Health Check & Troubleshooting > Troubleshoot”.
4. From the same screen click on the “Available Plugins” tab at the top right and then click on the “Enable” option next to “Site Kit by Google”
5. Attempt to setup Site Kit once more

If the same occurs we can perform some checks with your hosting configurations, or check from another WordPress site on the same hosting package.

Hi James, I have done the steps above but still have the same issue.

I also subsequently tried the SiteKit reset and repeated the install process but still no joy

Hi Jon,

Thanks for performing that check. Now that you’ve ruled out plugins and theme related issues are you able to check for the same issue if using your hosting plans Softaculous app to create another WordPress site? From there you can attempt Site Kit setup once more and see if the same occurs. From my testing on a shared hosting account this doesn’t occur on any of the test WordPress installations setup.

If the same occurs on a separate WordPress install then let me know. I can provide you with some steps to share some responses from between your site and the Site Kit services.

Hi James,

Apologies if this is dumb question but will I need to create the new WordPress site on a new domain / subdomain to avoid it over-writing my current site?

Cheers,

Jon

Hi James,

I set up a subdomain (https://test.cood.org.uk/), did a fresh WP install, installed/activated Site Kit but still got the same issue with the sign in loop.

Cheers,

Jon

Hi Jon,

Many thanks for going to the trouble of setting up a separate WordPress install. This does indeed indicate there could be something blocking Site Kit setup at host level. In my case I did setup an account with the same hosting provider, on a shared hosting plan however I couldn’t replicate the same error on a new WordPress site, on a domain never registered with Site Kit.

In your case there are a some other checks you can perform to see if any of these are blocking Site Kit setup:

1. You can try switching PHP versions before checking Site Kit setup once more
2. You can use the fix file permissions feature (if you’re using a hosting plan with cPanel access)
3. You can ask your hosting provider to check for any ModSecurity or other potential blocks. I didn’t see any ModSecurity configurations options on the shared hosting plan on the same platform to check with.

Note that I also created a GitHub issue in relation to your experience however this doesn’t seem Site Kit related.

Let me know how you get on with the above checks. Alternatively if you’re happy to perform some additional troubleshooting on your site directly I can suggest a plugin that can help output any error or response logs, which may provide further insights.

Hi James,

I tried options 2 but that seemed to have not effect.

The site is currently on v8.0 of PHP. When I first experienced this issue it was on an older version so I upgraded to this version (see my first reply on this thread).

I will log a ticket with the hosting provider to see if they are able to help.

If you have any other suggestions please let me know.

Cheers,

Jon

Hi James,

The issue seemed to be to do with permission that are optional. I figured I would share it with you in case it needs looking at or at the very least might help any other people with similar issues.

I had to opt-in to usage data;
https://screens.kgix.net/lj/Site_Kit_by_Google_Dashboard_%E2%80%B9_COOD_%E2%80%94_WordPress_27A40120.png

I also had to allow Site Kit full access;
https://screens.kgix.net/lj/Sign_in_-_Google_Accounts_27A40161.png

Once I had done that I was able to get to the following page;
https://screens.kgix.net/lj/Setup_-_Site_Kit_by_Google_27A4017B.png

From there everything then worked.

Many thanks,

Jon