Blog
Actionable tips and updates to help you ship plugins, themes, and client sites faster
5 min readReset a WordPress password: what each method leaves behind
The fastest way to reset a WordPress password depends on what access you still have. None of the methods log out whoever else is already in, and the reset link can no longer be read out of the database.
6 min readHow to export a WordPress site (and what the XML file leaves behind)
Tools > Export gives you a WXR file of your posts, pages and menus. It contains no media files, no plugins, no theme and no settings. Here is exactly what is in it, what is not, and what to use instead.
6 min readWordPress file permissions: why 755 and 644 are not enough
Use 755 for folders and 644 for files, but WordPress decides whether it can write by checking who owns the files, not their mode. Here is the check core runs, and how to fix the FTP prompt for good.
6 min readWordPress recovery mode: what it actually does, and why the email never arrived
Recovery mode pauses a fatal plugin for you alone, not for your visitors, and core refuses to send the email in five specific cases. Here is what the source does, and how to test it before you need it.
6 min readWordPress update failed: what actually happened, and what your site looks like now
A failed plugin or theme update usually leaves your old version running, because core moves it aside first and puts it back on shutdown. Here is which failures self-heal, which ones do not, and how to read the error.
5 min readWordPress "another update is currently in progress": read the lock before you delete it
The core update lock expires by itself after 15 minutes. If the message is still there after that, deleting the row is treating the symptom. Here is how to read it first.
6 min readWordPress stuck in maintenance mode: why it is rarely the .maintenance file
WordPress core ignores its own .maintenance file after ten minutes. If your site is still showing the maintenance message an hour later, something else is holding it there.
5 min readHow to reset a WordPress site, and what a reset leaves behind
Reset plugins clear the database and touch no files. That means mu-plugins, drop-ins and wp-config constants survive the reset, and they are exactly the things that were breaking your site.
6 min readWordPress multisite subdomain vs subdirectory: what the choice actually changes
Subdomains need wildcard DNS and a wildcard certificate. Subdirectories need something nobody writes about: ten reserved slugs, a collision check against your existing pages, and a different cookie scope.