WordPress (still) not working!

Hello @greenpeas,

Yes, old files are necessary to work properly.
Although you should delete the clean install of WordPress you say you have done.
I also recommend you to replace the database again from the backup you have, to avoid future problems.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by stfrosty.

Actually technically I don’t have a have a recent back up, but the database is still on 1and1.com server. The site hasn’t been updated very much in a while, it just has a lot of old family history information on it.

Is an export considered a backup?

Hello,

In database, an export is considered a backup but ONLY of the database.

What you are trying to do is to make an omelet without a frying pan. You have the omelet, but not the pan. It’s a stupid example but I didn’t know what else to relate it to but here it is the same thing, you have the database but not the files.
You need to delete the WordPress installation that is there when you access the website and restore the old one, only the files from the old one.

I backed up my WP Content files, but haven’t replaced them

You have the files, so you just need to replace them.
Then verify that the passwords, prefix, database and bd user are correct.

Anyway, you can try contacting 1and1.com and ask if they have any ‘recent’ backup of your website.

Thanks for the illustration ?? that does make it easier to understand. I have the wp-content folder backup, is that what you mean regarding 1and1 or a database backup?
I was thinking the database is still online and can be linked via config file…

Good morning,

Look, in this screenshot you can see the files of a WordPress installation.
To make a backup, you need to compress all those files and download them to your computer. This is not your query but I just wanted you to keep it in mind for the next one.

From what I understand, you only have the ‘wp-content’ folder and a database with information, okay.
If you access to your file manager on your hosting account, you will see that inside the existing wordpress installation there is a folder called wp-content as well. You can try to delete it and upload the one you have, maybe with a little bit of luck… it would work.

I’m sorry this is taking longer than necessary, but remember that we don’t have access to your hosting account and we are guided by what you tell us, so be as specific as possible.

Hope it helps ??

Thanks, yes that helps. Here’s my FTP program, yet I don’t see an option to compress prior to downloading. How is that done? I’m on a Mac.
my ftp program

It appears that my database is not working. When opening phpMyAdmin, I see the posts/links and other information but it doesn’t show up on my site. I’m using the original backed-up files.

Any additional ideas?

Hello,

Sorry for not replying before.

Have you restored the original files as well? The wp-admin, wp-content and wp-includes folders along with all their contents?

Check that the user and password of the database in the wp-config file is correct. I think you are using another database.

yeah, I noticed that. I am recovering the backup files via 1and1’s webspace backup. I checked the config file again and make sure it reflects the correct database.

Unfortunately, I’m back to a previous error now:

ArgumentCountError thrown
Too few arguments to function WP_Widget::__construct(), 0 passed in /homepages/40/d154139219/htdocs/stembridge/wordpress/wp-includes/class-wp-widget-factory.php on line 61 and at least 2 expected

EDIT Ok, cleared the database temples as described here as a non-destructive way to get a db back online. It worked, except it is reading the initial date from the file, which is mainly what I want!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by greenpeas.

Have you recently upgraded your PHP version or WordPress version?

Yes, actually that’s what caused the site to not load. After I upgraded to PHP 8, the site was loading fine, as my other sites. I noticed this one was not working a few days later. It was using the twentyten theme. I was going to use a new but similar theme.

It is possible that some plugin you use does not support PHP 8.0, this usually happens with plugins that have few downloads or that have not been updated for a long time.
It is also possible that some of the plugins are not yet compatible with WordPress 5.9.2 (I have seen that is the version you use).

To rule out the possibility, try downgrading PHP 8 to PHP 7.4 and see if it fix your main problem. Check if Posts or Pages exists, also with plugins.

Going back to PHP 7.4 worked. I still need to relink some photos but it is working again!
Thank you for your help @stfrosty !

https://stembridge.us/

Hey,

It was a pleasure being able to help you ??
After restoring a back-up, don’t forget to update the permalink structure. You can do this in Settings > Permalinks. Just click on ‘Save Changes’, and the links will be updated again.

If there is anything else I can help you with, feel free to reply in this thread and I will be happy to assist you.

Have a good day! ??