Website Critical error after PHP Update & Unable to Logon WP-ADMIN

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Using Wordpress I updated PHP out of security concerns and how the website will not display  getting some Critical error.  I took a Backup and simply thought I'd recover, but I keep getting an error that my ID is also not valid?  Any way to do an off-line recovery of my website? 

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michael wright

Hi Arnel.  I looked today and the Site is BACK up and running.  Thanks!! 

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IMH Support Agent 2
Quote from michael wright

I was able to get a good download from Total Upkeep so I tried the updates suggested.  I first updated the Plugins and all the Themes.  Then executed the update for WordPress 6.0.   Script started to run, seemed fine, but then I got this error.   "Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 41943040 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 32768 bytes) in /home/vacati63/public_html/wp-content/themes/Divi/includes/builder/functions.php on line 12532".   Now I can't log back on.  

Hello again Michael,

Sorry for the continuing errors!  Generally speaking, when you see the "Allowed memory size...exhausted..." error, it's a PHP memory setting.  Each hosting account is provided access to the hosting server memory.  On a shared server account (the type you're using), memory is shared, so it's a resource that you shouldn't use excessively.  PHP has a setting in the PHP.INI file that sets the memory to 32M by default.  That's probably the cause of the error.  You can change it in the MultiPHP INI Editor - in cPanel.  Or you'd have to set the line in the PHP.INI file for the website.  I went ahead and made it larger than the 41MB the error is indicating in order to fix the error.  

If you require more control over the resources for an application, then you should be on a VPS account.  If you require total control over server resources for a web application or website, then you would need a dedicated server.  Smaller or starter websites should be fine on a shared server, but keep in mind your options to scale up based on your website traffic and resource needs of your application/website.

If you want to see the official settings for the Divi theme that you're using, check out this link.  I went ahead and also made sure that the domain is set to use PHP 7.4, since that's part of the recommended settings from Divi.

Anytime you use a third party theme, always double-check the installation requirements.  They can often be more than what WordPress needs or requires.


Anyways!  I hope that helps you get on track!  If you continue to have any issues, we're happy to help.   Also, if you require an immediate response, make sure to contact our live technical support team via phone or chat.


Kindest regards,

Arnel C.


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IMH Support Agent 2
  • Answered
Quote from michael wright

OMG.  Thank you Sooooo much Arnel!  I can now log-in to the WP-Admin using my account!  I also uninstalled Jetpack first thing.   I'm hesitant to upgrade Wordpress just yet, I'd like to get access to the File System and export to my local machine (Just in case).  I've used this Total Upkeep plugin for backups and I don't trust it.    I can't do much else in the WP interface (or done know how), so being an old school DOS/BAT/FTP guy, I tried to logon to the CPANEL, but the ID I have will not work.  I also tried to use FTP access to the site to GET/PUT any PHP or htaccess files I manipulate.  That also did not let me login.  Does the Wordpress UI have a similar function as the CPanel File Manager?   Is my issue that they only set me up as the Wordpress Administrator in WP?  That's why CPanel or FTP is not working?  

Hi Michael,


First, Total Upkeep is simply a backup application.  It doesn't do anything to your WordPress site other than provide pretty good backups.  It's a good program and for it what it can do for you for free, I'd recommend it.

I totally understand the whole old school DOS/BAT/FTP thing - I've done my fair share of dealing with it since BEFORE Windows.  :)

You will need to contact our live support team - try the chat - to get help with your login to cPanel.  To get access, you would need to have some type of verification for the account. 


As these responses are public domain, I can't help with login passwords or user names.  FTP uses the cPanel user name and password for the main account.  You can also create FTP accounts in cPanel. 

WordPress works primarily through the web and through its MySQL database and installation files. If you only have a WordPress Admin login, it will be insufficient to thoroughly troubleshoot the problems you've been facing.  At the very least, if they won't give you cPanel access, you will need database access, and an FTP account that can access the WordPress installation files.

cPanel is the software that provides interface with the hosting server so that you can manage email, web applications, databases, and files that are installed for the account.

cPanel and FTP are working, you just can't log-in.

Hope that answers all your questions!  I'll answer your next post in just a sec.

If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.

Kindest Regards,

Arnel C. 



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michael wright

I was able to get a good download from Total Upkeep so I tried the updates suggested.  I first updated the Plugins and all the Themes.  Then executed the update for WordPress 6.0.   Script started to run, seemed fine, but then I got this error.   "Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 41943040 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 32768 bytes) in /home/vacati63/public_html/wp-content/themes/Divi/includes/builder/functions.php on line 12532".   Now I can't log back on.  

Avatar
michael wright

OMG.  Thank you Sooooo much Arnel!  I can now log-in to the WP-Admin using my account!  I also uninstalled Jetpack first thing.   I'm hesitant to upgrade Wordpress just yet, I'd like to get access to the File System and export to my local machine (Just in case).  I've used this Total Upkeep plugin for backups and I don't trust it.    I can't do much else in the WP interface (or done know how), so being an old school DOS/BAT/FTP guy, I tried to logon to the CPANEL, but the ID I have will not work.  I also tried to use FTP access to the site to GET/PUT any PHP or htaccess files I manipulate.  That also did not let me login.  Does the Wordpress UI have a similar function as the CPanel File Manager?   Is my issue that they only set me up as the Wordpress Administrator in WP?  That's why CPanel or FTP is not working?  

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IMH Support Agent 2

Hello Michael,


Thanks for your patience and apologies for the continued headaches with the WordPress site.  The staff here takes turns covering the support center, so we may not all see a response.  Ronnie H. let me know that you had replied again, and I had asked to see if there was any account information.  I personally run several WordPress sites, so I'm a little more familiar and I'm not shy about looking to see what's going on if there's a problem.  I can definitely see what's going on once I can see the account - if you are an InMotion Hosting customer.

So, the error that you are having was the result of a problem with Jetpack.  I was able to figure it out.  I know that you initially only saw a "critical error" but no details.  The way you get details on these errors is to turn on WordPress debugging.  I went ahead and enabled it in your wp-config.php file.   And currently, it's still enabled. There's simply a line in the file that I set to true. It looks like this:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );

You can easily disable it by setting it to "false". You can disable plugins by simply renaming their folder name in the plugins folder (wp-content/plugins).

The .PHP and .htaccess files are text files.  You can use File Manager from cPanel to look at the WordPress files and edit them.  The primary website on an account is installed into the PUBLIC_HTML folder.  The major headache that you were having has to do with the PHP and WordPress version.  You're using a very old WordPress version (relatively speaking).  

When I looked in your cPanel under MultiPHP Manager it indicated that you had set PHP 7.4, but the domain for your website was set to PHP 7.2.    HOWEVER - There was an issue with the .htaccess files.  They can be recursive.  Meaning, if there was an .htaccess in a directory above the public_html, then it would take precedence over the public_html's .htaccess file.  And this is what was happening - it was loading PHP 7.0.  And that, in turn, was causing headaches to the Jetpack plugin.

So, I fixed that issue by disabling the .htaccess file that was conflicting with your WordPress .htaccess file. I did have to disable the Jetpack plugin before I was able to see the WordPress Admin load the login screen. 

I highly recommend that you upgrade WordPress to the current version.  This will include upgrading your plugins and themes.  If you're using a good set of plugins and themes, they will be regularly updated.  If they're not being updated, then it could lead to problems in the future - especially security ones. 

I would deactivate/delete Jetpack at first.  It shouldn't be a necessity for your site.  Then once you have everything running and updated, re-load the plugin.  The new version should have taken care of any issues from WordPress 5.3.  The current version of WordPress is 6.0.

So the one thing I can't (or shouldn't do) is jump into your WordPress site with a new password.  You can easily reset it using phpMYAdmin in cPanel.  This is a direct database change.  Follow the directions here:

https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/resetting-your-wordpress-admin-password/

And, hopefully, everything will be running!  Let us know if you continue to have any issues.  We also recommend our live support team. They respond immediately on phone and chat.


Kindest regards,
Arnel C.




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anonymous
Quote from michael wright

Arnel thank you so much and I will look into each of these including calling the support line and talking through the issues.   As you suggested the URL information is ".../WP-Admin" and if you can look it up and verify if the WordPress is down or running that may help.  I even tried FTP to see if I can replace a few of the PHP files to get access, but even that the Authentication Admin account I was using will not work.  

Hi Michael, glad to hear that you're making progress. We are unable to directly access accounts in the support forum, as everything here is publicly available. I'd suggest continuing with your plan to contact our live Support team for more direct support as they'll be able to work with your site directly. 

I removed the information you provided, but only after checking the URL using the publicly available 'whois' database. I should note that the URL you provided in the post used the word 'vaction' where I believe you meant 'vacation'. That's fine if it was just a spelling error in the post (the domain using the word 'vacation' is pointed to our nameservers), but please make sure that the domain isn't listed with the typo 'vaction' somewhere in the config files or Softaculous, because if so that could be the issue. 

Other than that, have you tried disabling your WordPress plugins from cPanel or the command line? That can often help in situations like this. Changing the theme to one of the WordPress defaults can also help resolve this issues. As always, please make sure you have backups before doing so. 

Hope that helps!

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michael wright

Arnel thank you so much and I will look into each of these including calling the support line and talking through the issues.   As you suggested the URL information is ".../WP-Admin" and if you can look it up and verify if the WordPress is down or running that may help.  I even tried FTP to see if I can replace a few of the PHP files to get access, but even that the Authentication Admin account I was using will not work.  

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IMH Support Agent 2
Quote from michael wright

Thanks Arnel C.   I'm sure all this would help if I could only get on the WP-Admin site.   I'm helping a friend with this site that now down with very little information.  It says in the document they gave me the Hosting is with Inmotion and its Wordpress with the ID's and Passwords, but noe of them work.  I'm at a loss.  Thanks.  

Hello Michael,

Sorry for the continued headaches with the login. The link that I provided below gives you a way to recover a user password without having access to the WordPress admin.  Specifically, the option to reset the password in phpMyAdmin.  If you want direct assistance with the site, then you can call into our live technical support team.  They will need to be able to confirm that you have access (or own) the account before they can assist you.

Also, please note that if the WordPress site was created using cPanel, you have 2 options to login to the WordPress Admin through either the Softaculous Install list or through the WordPress Manager.  These options will only work if WordPress was installed via cPanel's WordPress shortcut or the Softaculous Apps Installer.

You may want to look, just in case the WordPress site was installed in that manner.


Softaculous Apps Installer

1. Log in to cPanel.

2. Go to the Software section.

3. Click on Softaculous Apps Installer

4. In the top right corner, click on icon labeled All Installations (it looks like a box)

5. Find your WordPress installation, then click on the icon under Admin to login to that site.


WordPress Manager

1. Log in to cPanel

2. Go to the Software Section OR (depending on the version of cPanel you're using), you may see the WordPress Manager/Toolkit options in the column to left of the screen.

3. Click on WordPress Manager (by InMotion Hosting).
4. Find your installation, then click on Login - Manage Users.

If you could provide a URL or account information, we can also look it up and verify if the WordPress is down or running.  If you need to work with someone, then your best options are either phone/chat. 

I hope this helps to lead you to a solution! If you need further assistance, please let us know!

Kindest regards,
Arnel C.



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michael wright

Thanks Arnel C.   I'm sure all this would help if I could only get on the WP-Admin site.   I'm helping a friend with this site that now down with very little information.  It says in the document they gave me the Hosting is with Inmotion and its Wordpress with the ID's and Passwords, but noe of them work.  I'm at a loss.  Thanks.  

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IMH Support Agent 2
  • Answered

Hello Michael,

Sorry for the issues with your website not operating after updating the PHP version.  First, I would double check which PHP version is running and if your WordPress site is compatible with it.  I've provided the link that shows the versions and if they're compatible.  Also, if you've changed versions, you need to give some thought to your plugins.  If you have a security plugin that doesn't take kindly to the change, then may have locked you out.

I don't have any account information and we can't really give you password help in the support center since these responses are public.  However, we do have several articles that should help you recover your admin login.

Changing the PHP version will not change your login ID or password, so it should not be changing it.  The typical cause of that happening is when a security plugin goes awry and it stops letting you in.  You may need to disable that plugin.


Can you do an "off-line" recovery of your website?


WordPress is an online application and even "offline" versions typically run with local web server and database server setups (e.g. WAMP or MAMP).  If you want to recover a backup, you should reverse your PHP version first using either an .htaccess change or the option in cPanel (if you're an InMotion customer with the cPanel interface).  

Then you can recover your WordPress backup so that you're working in the same version as before.  

In regards to the original issue of seeing a critical error...check out how to enable WordPress Debugging.  This article covers a variety of ways to make an error appear. If you're getting one.  The official WordPress documentation also provides information that the article may not have covered.

I hope this helps!  If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.


Kindest Regards,

Arnel C.