screwed up code

Here’s the site…

Here’s the old site, and what it should look like…

Doh! The highlighted link is the broken site! I guess you can see how new I am to wordpress.

I cannot go back and fix it. What do I do?

Why not?

A) Use an ftp client to reverse/remove the code that caused the problem.

B) Restore to the original file from the backup copy you made before making experimental changes in the files.

Now it seems to have crashed, too!

WordPress is just fine… “I was playing with my php trying to get two sidebars. A suggested site on this forum showed how to change the code. As soon as I updated, I only get an error page”

There’s the cause of your crash

??

ClaytonJames, please give some more detail on both of your points.

For A) I cannot log into my site – at all – to reverse or remove the bad code… as far as I can tell. No matter how I try to log in, I only get the error page.

For B) I’ve never had trouble with trying different things with the code before and have no backup as yet. I’ve always tried something, then if it didn’t work, I’d go back and undo it. Now, I can’t do that.

And finally, obviously I am the cause of the crash and not wordpress. Thank you for throwing that in my face. Of course, that doesn’t help fix anything does it?

First of all LOSE the sense of entitlement. This is a volunteer forum. Demanding anything will get you pretty much nothing. That being said, the error message indicates to me that you were mucking around in your functions.php file.

You can still get into your site via FTP; that is what ClaytonJames was trying to tell you (but you wouldn’t listen). So NO, you are not locked out of your site unless you have forgotten your web hosting login details.

If I were you, I’d FTP a fresh copy of functions.php from whatever theme you were using, overwriting the one you have fuxored. But before doing that, rename the bad file functions.php.bak so you can at least salvage some good code from it if you want.

HTH.

I understand this is a volunteer forum. I have no sense of entitlement. I appreciate help being offered.

I still don’t understand the FTP instruction. I don’t doubt that you both are correct, but I’ve not used any FTP before. I’ll investigate from my webhost, I suppose.

What does it mean to FTP a copy?

ok, I went through my host and fixed the code there. Thanks guys.

Thank you for throwing that in my face. Of course, that doesn’t help fix anything does it?

Certainly not intended that way, I can assure you. You must have missed the smiley face I left behind for you.

Allow me to be more precise in spite of the fact that you seem to have figured it out, and on the off chance you might view this again.

For B) I’ve never had trouble with trying different things with the code before and have no backup as yet. I’ve always tried something, then if it didn’t work, I’d go back and undo it. Now, I can’t do that.

Then I can say with some degree of certainty that you really haven’t been at this very long. But that isn’t a problem.

Not making a backup before a session of experimental or untested editing is a newbie boner mistake no matter what platform you are using, and not knowing anything about using ftp really tipped your hand, but that’s okay. It’s a great opportunity to learn. Check out the Docs page, or the “Codex”. It’s a great place to pick things up – including tips on using file managers, ftp clients, changing file permissions, how and why to make backups, and just about everything else you can type into a search bar.

I urge you not to give up on WordPress as easily as you did the other platforms you mentioned.

I’ve already set up a website on FrontPage2000 (only to give up on that two months ago), then set it up in DreamWeaver and give up on it, too (last month). WordPress is my last chance!

I also urge you to familiarize yourself with the basic tools you will encounter while working with ANY web based application, and find the ones that work best for you.

Good luck and best wishes.

Thanks, Clayton James. Perhaps my frustration came out at the wrong person.
I make no secret about how new I am. 3 months ago I had the idea to start a site, and I’ve been scrambling to learn as fast as I can ever since. I generally have 3 or 4 library books at a time as well as surfing many of the forums.
Wordpress is not as easy as I’d heard it was… at first. Getting used to any new platform takes time. I’m starting to get the hang of it a little bit. Although PHP is totally new to me.

Thank you for your help and kind words.

No problem. The best part is when something suddenly clicks and you slap your own forehead in one of those Eureka!! moments. It’s well worth the learning curve.