My website down because one plugin!

If you can’t access your admin pages, you’ll need to use an FTP client (like FileZilla), or your host’s cpanel (or File Manager) and navigate to the files on the server.

In your WP installation there, find wp-content/plugins and rename the bad plugin to something like plugin-hold or delete it. That will disable it and hopefully allow you to get back into WP admin.

First, thank you for your reply Bill! your awesome!
I have rename plugin folder to “plugin-hold” and work again. but (sadly), it’s deactivate all my plugin. Then, i found the bad plugin (on wp-content/plugins/name-of-plugin) and i rename it to ‘plugin-hold”,but still get this message. Because this fail, i delete it. and still get this message So, i guess the bad plugin is still active in my database. so what’s the table name to deactivate plugin from phpMyadmin ? i will try it, please. thank you

Some plugins leave traces after deletion that you need to remove manually. Check your .htaccess file for rules associated with that plugin:

#PLUGIN NAME
rules
#PLUGIN NAME

Also worth checking the plugin forum FAQs and support threads for guidance on how to remove the plugin manually.

Hi :),

If you know the plugin folder name then just go to wp-content/plugins, and rename only bad plugin folder. So that other plugins will still be active.

Then, i found the bad plugin (on wp-content/plugins/name-of-plugin) and i rename it to ‘plugin-hold”,but still get this message.

How did you know which one was the bad one, if disabling it didn’t fix the problem?

Just to make sure, you should disable all the plugins again to see if the site comes up. If it does, re-activate them one at a time to see if any other plugin is also causing a problem. It could be more than just the one you think it is. @barnes makes an important point too.

You might also try disabling the plugin you think is the bad one, and changing to the default WP theme. If you can’t get to your admin pages, you can rename your active theme’s folder (in wp-content/themes) like you did the plugin, and WP will use the default theme. That way you know if it’s theme related.

Hi Bill and Russell. Thank You For Helping Me.
I know which one was the bad one because my friends told me he install that bad plugin yesterday, then he activate that bad plugin and get “error” message. so, i try to rename it, delete it, then still don’t work. but, i guess the problem is that bad plugin is still active on my database, but i don’t know how to deactivate that bad plugin from phpMyadmin. and i’m so sorry if you confused. my english so bad. ??

Your English is fine. ??

Above you said you disabled all plugins and the site came back up. I would still like you to try what I said in my last post. We need to know if there is more than one plugin causing the problem, or maybe the theme also. Let us know what you find.

What is the plugin you disabled? Do you know what the error message was? Also read again what @barnez wrote.

Hi Bill. Thank you very much to help me.
The “bad plugin” is the audio player and just compatible in 3.6.1 version (and i forget to tell him -_-” ). The error message just say “error”. and i will also read again what @barnez wrote then, i’ll try it.

Hi PHPMatters, i will try it. thank you for your instructions.

And i hope my blog will active again. ??

Hi everyone. Big thank you to make my blog is came back up!! holy crap i will heart attack if my blog not resolve ’cause too many important post. I found in .htaccess and in my database using phpMyadmin. Now, can i mark this topic as resolved ? I can breathe now |VoV|”

I had the same issue on a client site last night and he was down for a few hours. I highly suggest Updraft Backup plugin (I have no affiliation) but it has a double backup system which is wonderful and I set it up on like 10 WP sites of ours today.

Wow, very help @delvalwebdev ! btw, is this plugin free or paid ? i really need it if someday my website is down again. Thank you for your suggest. i appreciated that. ??

Very glad you got this worked out! Go ahead and mark this resolved if you don’t mind. Good luck with your site.