Somehow it is in human nature to always think that something will not happen to them. And it happens. This is definitely the case with owners of WordPress sites because WordPress, as a very popular CMS today, is the target of frequent hacker attacks.
Since you do not have to do anything today to make your site the target of such an attack, you always have to think ahead and do everything in your power to protect your site as much as possible and mitigate the problems that may arise after the attack.
Thanks to everything we will talk about below, it is possible to provide some form of protection for your site and prevent bad consequences of hacking, crashing, and being corrupted.
Precautionary measures you need to take
So, the possibilities for protection measures are many, and in addition to those standard things such as backup, antivirus, anti-malware software, and the like, it is necessary to have so-called “emergency tools”. One of the best emergency tools known today when talking about WordPress is definitely Emergency Recovery Script.
What is ERS, and how does it work?
Emergency Recovery Script (ERS) can be defined as a standalone, single-file, WordPress-independent PHP script whose role is to recover your site after some serious problem happened on the same.
Simply, in the worst situations when you cannot fix things even with a plugin, this script is the only way to recover from the problem that will quickly and without coding, using the database or modifying any file, not only fix the site but also save you from complete reinstallation of the site as well as all the accompanying problems that would arise after that, such as data loss and the like.
This script, therefore, has a wide application and helps in various situations even when there seems to be no help. Some of the more serious situations where this script will show its capabilities include the following:
- you cannot log in for whatever reason
- you can log in, but you do not have administrator privileges
- you can log in, but the whole admin dashboard is empty
- one or more core WP files have been deleted, moved, or edited or are possibly infected by malware
- you accidentally added files to WP core file folders, and you want to remove them
- you were trying to reset WP to start fresh, but something got messed up in the process
- you have a snapshot created with WP Reset and want to restore it
- site is stuck in an endless redirect loop and cannot be opened
- site is stuck in maintenance mode
- you have a snapshot saved and want to restore it but cannot do it from the WP admin
- a plugin added something to the .htaccess file, and the whole site is down
- you messed with the .htaccess file, do not have a backup, and want to get it back to the default WP version
- password recovery email is not coming
- password recovery email is coming, but the link does not work
- you forgot your username, email, and/or password…
ERS contains many tools, which are very helpful for the above-listed situations. These tools are:
- WordPress Information
Offers various information detected by ERS about a WP installation and also insurance that ERS is hooked on the right WP installation in case of having multiple installations on the same hosting account.
- Server Information
Provides information about the server, including PHP and MySQL versions, and allows full access to the phpinfo() function.
- Core Files
It goes through every single WP core file and compares it to the secure master copy found on the official WP website and reports on any change found. When a modified core file is found, ERS automatically downloads the original version from the WP repository so it can be easily replaced with an unmodified one. It also scans for files that do not belong in the core file folders, reports on them, and provides an easy way to remove them.
Note: In case of having malware or any other malicious code on-site, it will be able to detect it in the core files but not in any other ones.
- Reset WordPress
Completely resets a WP installation. It will not delete any files, but the database will be wiped and returned to the default values. It will also remove all user accounts.
Note: Use the Administrator Account tool to create a new user for yourself.
- Snapshots
If you took a snapshot using the WP Reset plugin, when you find the snapshot either on the WP installation or anywhere you saved it, you will use the RESTORE option to return the site to the state it was in when the snapshot was taken.
- Plugins
If you want or do not want to use a plugin at the moment, you can easily enable or disable any plugin without any complications using this ERS tool.
- Themes
If you want or do not want to use a theme, you can easily enable or disable any theme without any complications using this ERS tool.
- Options – coming soon
Instead of using phpMyAdmin or some other SQL client, find and edit any WP option you need. This tool works with options stored in the wp_options database table and supports easy manipulation.
- User Privileges & Roles
In case the site’s database table prefixes have been changed, and you can no longer log in, or can log in, but as a guest, this restores default privileges and roles and matches them as best as possible to the ones an account previously had. If the tool fails, you should create a new admin account.
- Administrator Account
This tool will help you fix any problem by creating a new administrator account. Enter a username, password, and email, and that is it with just one click.
Note: username and email cannot be already in use on your WP installation.
- WordPress URLs
In case of switching from HTTP to HTTPS without a valid SSL certificate, problems with logging in can appear, but with this tool, you will be able to easily change URLs and repair the site.
- Delete or Reset .htaccess
Messing with the .htaccess file can be tough. These two tools either completely delete the .htaccess file or restore it to default WordPress values for pretty permalinks. After regaining access to WP admin, click on Permalinks in the Settings menu and click Save to regenerate them.
- Disable WordPress Maintenance Mode
This tool will help fix the problem of a site stuck in maintenance mode with just one click.
Why is ERS so special?
There are many things that set ERS apart. From the fact that it is free, very easy to install to the fact that it gives ideal results when combined with the already well-known WP Reset plugin.
WP Reset will take database snapshots of your site, and with the help of ERS, you can use them quickly and easily and return your site to the state it was in when taking snapshots using WP Reset. So, you can simply recover your site at any time with the combination of these two great tools.
Conclusion
When using a site on a daily basis, creating or working on it, or simply maintaining it, it is very important to use plugins that will help you get the most out of your site. The most important thing in all this is security and protection. Given the above, the ERS is simply a necessary tool because, with all its features, it possesses a superior solution for a hacked, crashed, or damaged WordPress site.