We’ve all known the excitement of creating and running a website. You get to create content, try out interesting plugins, play around with themes. It’s an all-around great time. But what happens when you try to log in and you can’t? You’re either greeted with an error message or the notorious white screen of death. Plugins can’t do anything if you don’t have access.
What Is Emergency Recovery Script?
As we all know, you can fix most of your WP problems by installing a plugin, but what happens if you can’t access the WP dashboard at all? Well, in that case, ERS might be your only hope.
This is a single-file PHP script that doesn’t require a plugin or any other resources to work. What it does is analyze your whole WP installation and gives you 12 tools that help you fix whatever issues might have occurred so that you can once again access your WP site without problems.
What Can This Script Help Me With?
There’s a whole list of problems that could cause your WP installation to become inaccessible, and for brevity’s sake, we’re just going to explain a few of the most common ones ERS can fix. An all too common issue that can really mess up your site is an issue with core files. You can accidentally delete or move one. Some of them can get inflicted by malware, etc.
On a similar note, updates can often cause your site to crash and burn completely. Let’s say you’ve had a plugin for a while, and on your dashboard, there’s an option to update it. You click the update button, and something goes wrong; this sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Then, there are situations where you can log in to your installation, but when you do, lo and behold, you have no admin privileges, or your admin dashboard is entirely empty.
It’s reasonable enough to assume there’s absolutely no way you could fix any of these problems yourself, especially if you don’t know how to code or don’t have any programming experience in general. But, you couldn’t be more wrong in assuming that.
With Emergency Recovery Script, all of those seemingly life-ending problems can be taken care of in a matter of minutes. All you have to do is load up the script and let its set of tools fix whatever it is that went wrong, or alternatively, if you’ve been using WP Reset, turn back time and restore the site to its previous functional state using database snapshots.
Why pay someone loads of money to remedy the errors on your site when you can do it yourself for free.
Tools Offered by ERS
WordPress Information – This tool provides you with a lot of general information, including the WP version, database access details, and site URLs. This is a great starting point from where you can commence the fixing process. Plus, if you have multiple installations, this way, you can also make sure you connected the script to the correct one.
Server Information – In case you’re not a techie, we’ll try to explain in simple terms. Similar to the first one, this tool provides information about the server and allows full access to the phpinfo() function. This can be extremely valuable as the phpinfo() function carries EGPCS (Environment, GET, POST, Cookie, Server) data.
Core Files – If anything gets messed up with the core files, your entire site could be ruined, which is one of the top reasons why you should never mess with them. This problem often occurs when you update WordPress. Upon updating the new files, override the old ones, which means if any of them have been chopped up, the changes will be completely wiped out. This, in the end, causes a good chunk of the installation to stop working.
Luckily you can fix issues similar to this with the Core Files tool. This tool will check every core file, and if even a single byte has been changed, it will report it. Once you find the modified file, all there is to do is replace it with a working one that this tool automatically downloads from wordpress.org.
Another thing that happens too often is that people try to modify WordPress and add files that shouldn’t be there. Well, ERS takes care of that problem too. It scans for files that don’t belong in the core and provides an easy way to remove them.
Reset WordPress – This is an extremely powerful tool but should always be used cautiously and not unless it’s absolutely necessary. As you can assume by its name, this tool completely resets your entire installation. It doesn’t delete any files, so there’s no need to worry about plugins or themes, but the database will be completely wiped out along with every user account.
Snapshots – This tool can work wonders when it comes to fixing your installation. If you’ve taken a database snapshot of your site, this tool will show it to you and recommend uploading it, even if it was stored off-site. This is great for when your site’s been corrupted by an update gone bad.
Plugins – As we’ve mentioned before, one of the most common causes of WordPress crashes is bad plugin updates. Now, when that happens, if you want to disable a plugin and can’t access the admin dashboard, you’ll have to reach for FTP. If you don’t already know how to navigate it, you’ll likely spend a good chunk of time checking out a few tutorials and then messing around before finally getting it done. All of that can be avoided as this tool allows you to enable or disable any plugin and access your site in no time.
Themes – The situation with themes is pretty much the same as it is with plugins. Instead of using FTP, enable or disable any theme using this tool to regain access.
Options (coming soon) – Usually, in order to edit WP options, you’d have to install an SQL client. But ERS works with the wp_options database and allows for easy manipulation. You can add, edit or delete any option, even options with sterilized data.
User Privileges & Roles – There are quite a few reasons why you might not be able to access the admin panel or if you get logged in as a guest. This could be a result of corrupted core files, something going wrong with .htaccess, etc. This tool restores user privileges as well as roles and matches them to the ones your account previously had.
Administrator Account – If something has gone horribly wrong and the previous tool couldn’t help you, consult this powerhouse instead. Whatever happens to your WP account, this tool can help you fix it by creating a brand-new administrator account. Create a username, add a password, an email, and you’re good to go. The only thing you need to make sure of is not to repeat an already existing username and email.
WordPress URLs – Problems can often occur when you change the site address and home address without using a proper SSL certificate. With ERS, you can quickly gain access and change both of the URLs again.
Delete or Reset .htaccess – Just like with core files, messing with .htaccess can be tricky because even the slightest mistake can cause the white screen of death. With the help of ERS, you can either completely delete the .htaccess file or restore it.
Disable WordPress Maintenance Mode – This tool is convenient if you often add plugins. Most of the time, when you update a plugin or a theme, everything goes well. But considering that WordPress automatically goes into maintenance mode whenever an update is happening, sometimes it can get stuck. ERS will take care of this problem with a single click. Just disable maintenance mode, and you’re done.
How Do I Get Emergency Recovery Script?
The free version is available at this link. However, the entire script is available with the PRO version of WP Reset, which we can wholeheartedly recommend. With the PRO version of the plugin, the script can do wonders in most situations. For instance, you can restore a site to its previous working state if you’ve used WP Reset’s snapshot feature to take a snapshot.
FAQ
Is Emergency Recovery Script Safe?
Yes, absolutely. In order to access ERS, you need to know quite a long URL and a password given to the user only. So, unless you have an unhealthy habit of sharing your passwords, you’ll be okay. More info at this link!
Is Emergency Recovery Script Free?
Yes, most of its functionalities are free. However, in order for some of them to work, you will need to have WP Reset.
How to Install Emergency Recovery Script?
It’s quite easy, really. All you have to do is download the file and use an FTP client to upload it to the WP root folder. After that, just enter the password and sleep a little sounder at night, knowing your site is safe. If you want a more in-depth guide, consult this article.
Do I Need This Tool?
Well, no, not really. It’s not a necessity in terms that if you don’t have it, your site is bound to fail. However, if a problem occurs and you can’t access the WP dashboard anymore, you’ll probably regret not having a way to fix it.
Considering that ERS is free, and it can get you out of many sticky situations, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t install it.
Plus, if you’re the type to fret over the safety of your WP site (I know I am), do install WP Reset. ERS comes as part of WP Reset, and having both means more security and less worry about anything bad happening to your site.