Let’s face it: Murphy’s Law is always waiting to rear its ugly head. In more blunt terms, shit happens. And in blogging, the sight of a 500 Internal Server Error is one those dreaded errors capable of inducing cold sweat. Take it from me because just this weekend, I came face to face with this depressing error once again, this time is for another reason but stupid rookie mistake nonetheless – I accidentally deleted the host database.
Was I able to recover from it? Yes and no. Yes, I was able to get my page back online. No, I lost all my blog posts.
So what did I do to resolve the problem?
1. Accepted fate. Two days after trying my luck by installing, de-installing, and re-installing WordPress 3.4.2 using Filezilla, I accepted the fact that this isn’t the solution. Time wasted but sanity recovered.
2. Gathered composure. After accepting the fact that I just wiped out years of blog posts, I gathered my composure and sought online help. While my search led me to a WordPress.Org help forum where the answers weren’t direct, it gave me a hint on what to check.
3. Created new database. From the emotional part comes the technical aspect of recovering from a 500 Internal Server Error. Based on experience, wherein I encountered compatibility issues between GoDaddy’s Domain and Hosting settings, I created another database with MySQL version 5. This one took only around 10 minutes to do.
4. Modified the file wp-config.php. Assuming that your GoDaddy FTP File Manager is set up properly, this step is surprisingly easy. From the newly created database, I took note of three (3) items: (1) DB Name (this is the usually the same as DB User), (2) DB Password, and (3) DB Host, and then placed these on the wp-config.php file. Here are the lines that need to be changed (underlined):
// ** MySQL settings – You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘IAmACarelessBlogger‘);
/** MySQL database username */
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘IAmACarelessBlogger‘);
/** MySQL database password */
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘IWillbeMoreCarefulNextTime‘);
/** MySQL hostname */
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘ClickOnThePencilIconAndThisOneCanBeFoundBesideHostName‘);
5. Moved on. As expected, I opened my site and was welcomed by an entirely new page, fresh page, all blog posts gone. But there is no point in crying over spilt milk, or in this case a wiped out blog; so yes, moving on and starting all over again is the last step in this process.
***
I am now trying to decide if I should continue catering nuffnand adds. About a month ago I checked and I have got some payment for having it on my blog – about 6 pesos. Yes, just 6 pesos.
***
Mood: 2/10 Honks! (I heard my wife will be going to SM. Note to self: avoid the cashier near the men’s section.)
Marcus Can Blog 