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WordPress How to Make a Website with WordPress Installing WordPress Domain Names, Hosting, and WordPress

j c
PLUS
j c
Courses Plus Student 1,375 Points
Posted by j c
j c
Courses Plus Student 1,375 Points

White Page in Wordpress

I took over an existing Wordpress site. I was working on it for a couple of hours just fine. Then I uploaded a zip file for a theme and when I activated it, everything disappeared. I mean white screen. No way to log in, no dash board, no website, nothing...

4 Answers

Martin Graulund Larsen
Martin Graulund Larsen
26,279 Points

Try open your ftp and delete the theme you just uploaded

Rich Bagley
Rich Bagley
25,869 Points
Rich Bagley
Rich Bagley
25,869 Points

Hi Jana,

I can't tell you why it has happened but this page from the Codex may help you to debug it.

Enabling WP_DEBUG in your wp_config.php should display the error but please remember to disable it again afterwards or users of the website will see all errors.

Hope that helps.

-Rich

j c
j c
Courses Plus Student 1,375 Points
j c
j c
Courses Plus Student 1,375 Points

Thanks for getting back but I don't know what steps to take

I get a 500 error when I try to view the actual page or ANY of the wp pages... there's no menus, no dashboard... I can't even see what needs debugging, just a white screen. Any ideas?

Rich Bagley
Rich Bagley
25,869 Points

Hi Jana,

You should be able to edit the wp_config.php file via FTP which will allow you to change the WP_DEBUG setting and identify the issue.

This video will explain FTP in case you're not familiar with it.

-Rich

Yalcin Arsan
Yalcin Arsan
5,149 Points
Yalcin Arsan
Yalcin Arsan
5,149 Points

The white screen is usually related with a faulty theme or plugin. You need to use an FTP program to undo what you just did: Delete the theme you tried to activate. It should be located as a sub-folder in wp-content folder.

j c
PLUS
j c
Courses Plus Student 1,375 Points
j c
j c
Courses Plus Student 1,375 Points

thanks everyone, working on getting the ftp passwords to try that

Rich Bagley
Rich Bagley
25,869 Points

No problem, hope it helps :)