Unraveling the Mystery of WordPress Recovery

WordPress is the ultimate website builder, reigniting an online revolution – powering over 35% of all websites on the internet. This makes it the most popular CMS in the digital terrain, and it’s not difficult to see why. With its relatively easy-to-use platform, you don’t need any significant technical know-how to set it up and run it.

However, as mysterious as it sounds, sites built on WordPress tend to encounter glitches from time to time. These range from minor inconveniences to major security breaches that can compromise your site. The thought of your site becoming unresponsive, unavailable, or hacked can be perplexing. But all hope is not lost because you can approach WordPress recovery in different ways, and we’ll reveal them in this article.

1. Check Your Hosting Provider

The first course of action when recovering your WordPress site is to contact your hosting provider. Their support team can aid you in troubleshooting any issues that may arise. They can detect the problem and work with you to implement the necessary fix.

When your website becomes unresponsive or unavailable, there is a possibility of technical difficulties on the part of your hosting provider. Contacting their support team immediately can ensure that the issue is not from their server.

2. Identify The Problem

You have to identify the cause of the problem before proceeding with any recovery process. This will guide you as to the necessary steps to get your site back up and running. Some of the most common causes of website issues are:

• Plugin conflicts: unstable or incompatible plugins can cause issues with your WordPress installation.
• Theme conflicts: incompatible themes with conflicts can hamper the smooth running of your WordPress site.
• Corrupted files: corrupt files like your .htaccess or wp-config.php can also be responsible for issues in your WordPress site.
• DNS issues: Domain Name System issues can make your site fail to resolve properly, making it unavailable.

3. Restore A Backup

If you have a backup of your website, restoring it may be the fastest way to get things back on track. Most hosting providers have automated backups, and you can achieve the same result by installing a plugin like UpdraftPlus, VaultPress, or any other backup plugin.

Here’s how you can restore your backups:

1. Log into your hosting account and find your backups.
2. Select the most recent backup of your website.
3. Click the ‘restore’ button and comply with the prompts to restore your site.

4. Use Recovery Mode

If you are uncertain about the root of the problem, Recovery Mode is a recent tool that you can leverage to help you troubleshoot without disrupting site visitors. WordPress 5.2 introduced this feature.

Here’s how to activate Recovery Mode:

1. Connect to your site via FTP or cPanel
2. Navigate to the root directory of your WordPress installation.
3. Rename the ‘plugins’ folder to another name like ‘plugins_old.’
4. Log in to your WordPress dashboard
5. You’ll see a “Recovery Mode” screen. Follow the on-screen instructions to fix the issue.

5. Manually Deactivating Plugins

If the issue arises because of a plugin, manually deactivating the malfunctioning plugin should do the trick. Here’s how to do that:

1. Rename the ‘plugins’ folder to another name, e.g., ‘plugins_old.’
2. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
3. Reactivate the plugins one by one, checking your website each time. This checkpoint will help you identify which plugin is causing the issue.
4. Delete the malfunctioning plugin, search for an updated version, or contact the plugin vendor if any problem persists.

6. Scan For Malware

If you believe that your website has been hacked, searching for malware is your best bet. Using a security plugin like Sucuri, Wordfence, or iThemes Security can help you scan your website for malicious activity and remove any malware detected.

If you’re unsure about how to get rid of the malware or secure your website, it’s best to seek the assistance of a professional. They will deploy advanced tools to eradicate any malware problems, secure your website and explore steps to prevent future attacks.

Conclusion

WordPress is a fantastic platform, but like everything else in life, it’s not impregnable. With the tips outlined in this article, you should be able to recover your WordPress site with ease. Remember always to keep a backup of your website, use reliable plugins and themes, and maintain vigilance with regards to website security.