How to Hack a Default WordPress Installation
I just did a fresh install of WordPress today as I was planning on getting this site ready to launch. I switched to WordPress because I needed an effective Blogging platform. I also wanted to create the site behind the scenes while the regular website stayed up so, I was using the temporary URL that the hosting company gave me.
The first issue I encountered was that the site password wasn’t working and I couldn’t reset it. Then the page was redirecting to my primary domain. Here is some quick tips to get around these issues.
Get around common security plugins in WordPress
When you are locked out of WordPress because of failed login attempts, too many 404 requests, etc. there is always an easy way to get around the lockout. When you setup your hosting account, more than likely you have an FTP account. Simply log in using a FTP client like Dreamweaver or Filezilla and go into the ROOT/wp-content/plugins/ folder and rename the security plugin. This will disable it so that you can continue to fiddle around with your login.
WARNING
Don’t forget to put the name back and re-enable the plugin!
How to fix WordPress redirecting to a primary domain when on temporary URL
Sometimes you want to create a development site on a certain host before you point your domain to that host. With a fresh install of WordPress your hosting provider may use an “installation wizard” to automate that task. With those automated solutions, they will probably ask for the primary domain for the site. That will cause your fresh WordPress installation to redirect to your current production site instead of the admin dashboard of the new account.
How to change the default siteurl and home URLs for WordPress:
- Log into your hosting cPanel
- Open up phpMyAdmin under the Database section.
- Click on the database for your WordPress installation
- Click the wp_options table. NOTE: more than likely the prefix is not just ‘wp” for security reasons.
- Change the option_value for both ‘siteurl’ and ‘home’ option names to the URL of your dev server. NOTE: values are changed by double clicking in the option_value cell. When you type or paste your URL, the value will be saved when you click off the area in focus.
