Maintaining a website with WordPress

[Nick1236]

So I've been asked to help maintain the website for my wife's work, a simple daycare website nothing too fancy. The previous webmaster is no longer employed there and I have been given access to all the stuff needed. I downloaded an FTP client on my computer and downloaded a copy of the current webpage as a backup (before I go messing with things). The previous web master was using WordPress I believe to maintain it as there is a bunch of WP directory folders and such. I installed WP and began to mess with the backup copy I made however I have encountered a problem. I believe I'm missing a couple directories (ex: programs.php) and I can't get the website to load correctly. I have access to the main hosting site and all the files contained there but I can't find the missing directories on the server file list. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot.

Just looking for some advice. I have created a couple webpages before in school and know how to read most code. I'm not redesigning the page, just maintaining it and adding pictures, updating the calender and such for the daycare, easy stuff.

Thanks.

[gemoose23]

Actually wordpress is very easy to use. Do you have the previous admin's Wordpress login?

Just go to the webpage then add /wp-admin to the end of the webaddress. Login and edit the website server side.

If you don't have the login info and are unable to get it from the previous admin, there are wordpress workarounds if you have server side access.

Since you are maintaining I would just edit live, wordpress has preview and saving of work in progress, before you publish to the website.

[Nick1236]

Actually wordpress is very easy to use. Do you have the previous admin's Wordpress login?

Just go to the webpage then add /wp-admin to the end of the webaddress. Login and edit the website server side.

If you don't have the login info and are unable to get it from the previous admin, there are wordpress workarounds if you have server side access.

Since you are maintaining I would just edit live, wordpress has preview and saving of work in progress, before you publish to the website.

Thank you. I will give that a try. I guessing since the previous webmaster left on not so great terms, getting the old password will not be possible. Can I simply take the backup copy I made and create a new WP admin account?

[lazyworm]

Depends what you have in the backup.

The main thing you need in the backup is your content or the data that makes up the text on your pages. In WP, that is stored in the database.
Everything else can be recreated.

Feel free to PM me if you need help.

[Nick1236]

Will do thank you.

[Nick1236]

Alright this Wordpress thing is really pissing me off.

I doubled checked the mySQL database settings and verified the current admin login/password. I also checked on the wordpress "app" under cPanel and verified the same exact thing. I then doubled checked in the wp-config.php file and the same admin/password is there too. However!!! it still will not let me login. Now i get an error message saying the wordpress admin login is currently disabled do to hackers trying to access it (I'm assuming because of multiple failed attempts by me).

[fredridge]

Contact your hosting company and get them to help. Looks like they may be blocking something from your attempts

[GraySquirrel]

Try using the FTP or phpMyAdmin method found here.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Resetting_Your_Password

[zonerdck]

Silly question but you are using...

admin

as the user name correct?

[gemoose23]

Try using the FTP or phpMyAdmin method found here.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Resetting_Your_Password

Since you don't have the password follow this link above. I have used the FTP and Emergency Password Script, both worked great.

[problemchild]

Get yourself logged into the real site and install a plugin called updraft it will backup the whole site. Once its installed you need to tweak the settings to do what you want. Make a manual backup and download it to your machine.

Now you can work on the real site and if you screw up you can restore it back to normal.

Your login page will be www.yoursite.com/wp-admin

Make sure you install and tweak wordfence for some protection. Delete the admin account after you create your own user/admin. Set lockout to 30 mins after 5 failed attempts. The download and install IQ country block and block China/Russia which are 90% of my hacking attempts.

I can help you if you need any help.......pm me

[Nick1236]

I took a step back and a deep breath. Little calmer now


Whats happening is the wp-admin login is not working. I need to reset that some how. Reading suggestions on google (and here) there is another addon program called phpmyadmin that I can install through cPanel. It should allow me to reset access and then from there its pretty straight forward.

I hope I'm on the right track. If I'm not please suggest something.

Thank you for the suggestions you posted so far. It was a little much at first but I think I understand how WP works now (I hope).

[problemchild]

I took a step back and a deep breath. Little calmer now


Whats happening is the wp-admin login is not working. I need to reset that some how. Reading suggestions on google (and here) there is another addon program called phpmyadmin that I can install through cPanel. It should allow me to reset access and then from there its pretty straight forward.

I hope I'm on the right track. If I'm not please suggest something.

Thank you for the suggestions you posted so far. It was a little much at first but I think I understand how WP works now (I hope).

The old admin "moved" the login which is smart. If you cant find it you cant hack it. If you have ftp access you can reset everything. Look at the plugin folder and rename the plugin that is moving the login. Also reset/redo the user/admin login.

Alternatively, you can rename the plugins folder to something else temporarily to something like /wp-content/pluginsXX/ and they will not be recognized. Rename the folder back to /wp-content/plugins/ once the base WordPress installation has been recovered.

.........


Resetting your WordPress Admin Password

Written by Tim Sisson
Views: 13,002
Published: Nov 18, 2011
Last Modified: Jan 7, 2013


If you have ever lost of forgot your password to your WordPress dashboard, it can be very fustrating. If you find yourself in this situation, there are a few solutions you can use to reset your password.
Changing your Password through FTP

This is an easy way to reset your Admin users password if you have FTP access.

1. Login to your website via FTP. If you are unfamiliar FTP please see our article. Navigate to your theme's functions.php file and downlaod it to your local computer.
2. Edit the file and add this code to it, at the beginning, after the first <?php:wp_set_password('password',1);
3. Upload the modified file back to your website.
4. Then log into your WordPress dashboard with your new password. After you login it is imperative you remove the code and update your password. If you do not remove the code you will reset your password everytime the page is loaded.