Can’t Access Your WordPress Admin After Switching Hosting? This Is What You Need to Know
Have you ever switched web hosting providers and then been unable to access your admin dashboard? Probably not. But if you have, you know that it’s no simple task getting your accounts, settings, and content back. In this article, we’ll discuss the various possibilities and what you can do to make it easier on yourself.
Possibilities
There are several reasons why you may not be able to access your WordPress admin. Here are some common causes:
- Your hosting provider has revoked your login credentials
- Someone has stolen your login credentials
- Your blog is locked
- You are unable to log into WordPress
- WordPress is down for maintenance
- You changed your password but forgot to update your blog’s database
- Your blog’s database was deleted
- You are using a disposable email address to register with WordPress
- Your blog is on a subdomain
If you’re experiencing any of these issues, worry not. You’re in the right place. We’ll discuss how to solve each one of these problems. First off, we need to establish what you’re trying to accomplish. Why do you need to access your admin?
Why Do I Need To Access My WordPress Admin?
There are many reasons why you might need to access your WordPress admin. Some of the most common ones are:
- To edit content (posts, pages, etc.)
- To add or remove content
- To change settings
- To lock or unlock your blog
- To change your blog’s appearance (e.g., colors, fonts, etc.)
Whatever your reasons for needing to access your WordPress admin, we’ve got solutions for you. So let’s get started.
How Do I Access My WordPress Admin?
WordPress provides several ways to access your admin area. First, you can use the URL directly in your browser (typically either `https://yoursite.com/wp-admin` or `http://yoursite.com/wordpress/wp-admin`). The advantage of using the direct URL is that you don’t have to log in to WordPress. Instead, you just use your web browser’s “Find My Website” feature to navigate to the correct URL and then click the “Login” button. (If you’re prompted for a username or password, enter the credentials for the user account that you created when setting up WordPress.)
If you want to avoid using your browser’s “Find My Website” feature, you can also use a search engine to navigate to the correct URL (e.g., “https://yoursite.com/wp-admin” or “http://yoursite.com/wordpress/wp-admin”):
When you arrive at your WordPress admin area, you’ll see a landing page that resembles this:
If you’re missing any of those elements, it could be because your web host has taken down the corresponding section for some reason. As a result, you’ll see a message similar to this:
If you click the button, you’ll be taken to a page with a form that you need to fill out in order to gain access to your WordPress admin.
Luckily, there is an easier way to access your WordPress admin. You can create a user called “administrator” with all the privileges you need. Just visit your WordPress dashboard and then click the “Users” link in the navigation menu. From there, you can create a new user or choose an existing one and then edit his or her info. In the resulting dialog box, click the “Grant Admin Access” button on the right.
Now, whenever you need to access your WordPress admin, you can do so without having to log in to WordPress. Visit your dashboard’s home page and then click the “Admin” link in the top navigation menu. From there, you can access the various areas of your blog as you would if you were logged in.
Is My WordPress Admin Safe To Access?
The safety of your WordPress admin area is something you need to keep in mind. While you don’t have to be overly protective of your blog’s content, you do need to be careful about what you post there and who you give Admin access to. Make sure that your WordPress admin is always protected by a passphrase and that all of your installed plugins are up to date. (If you use one, make sure to encrypt your databases and FTP accounts so that someone doesn’t crack the password for your WordPress admin and then have access to all your hosted content.)
If you follow these basic guidelines, your WordPress admin should be as safe as any other part of your website. Having a safe WordPress admin area is a lot easier than you think. While there are several ways to make sure that your website is safe, the best way is to use a firewall that is designed for shared hosting environments (such as SiteLock’s Cloudflare Firewall or Sucuri’s Pro-Plus firewall).
Revoke My Login Credentials
One of the first things you should do if you’re unable to access your WordPress admin is to revoke the login credentials for that account. You can do this by going to your Dashboard’s [Settings] > General page and changing the value of the “Admin user’s name” field to an empty string. (Don’t worry; this won’t affect your blog’s content. Only its administration will be affected.)
This action will prevent others from using your account to access the admin area of their own blogs. (You can also choose to lock the account so that it can’t be used at all.) In order to unlock the account, you will need to go back to the Dashboard’s [Settings] page and change the value of the “Admin user’s name” field back to what it was before you changed it. You can also choose to delete the account altogether by clicking the “Delete Account” button on the [Settings] page.
Change The Password For My WordPress Admin
If you use the same password for multiple accounts, you’re making it easier for someone to hack into your blog. You should change the password for your WordPress admin as soon as you can (and, preferably, change it to a unique, complex password that is at least 14 characters long).
You can do this by going to your Dashboard’s [Settings] page and changing the value of the “Admin password” field to a new value. Make sure to change this password immediately after you change the one for your regular account (e.g., the account that you use to write blog posts). This way, your WordPress admin will be protected even if someone manages to guess the password for your regular account. (You can also choose to create a new account with a different password if you want to keep the one for your admin separate from the one for your regular account.)
Protect My Blog With A Security Certificate
There are several free certificate providers out there such as Let’s Encrypt and StartSSL that can be installed on your blog to add an additional layer of security. (Note: these are no longer free; however, they are worth it. See Let’s Encrypt for more information.)
When you install a security certificate on your blog, all SSL-secured sessions will be redirected to the HTTPS version of the service (e.g., https://yoursite.com instead of http://yoursite.com). This way, if someone attempts to snoop on or access your personal information (e.g., credit card data), they will be unable to do so as long as you use a security certificate. (To learn more about implementing Let’s Encrypt on your blog, check out our blog post here.)
Change The Name Of My Blog
If you use the default name of your blog (e.g., `example.com`), it’s fairly easy for someone else to claim that URL if they want it. If you want to keep the address of your blog, create a new blog with a different name (e.g., `yourbloggingexperience.com`) and then transfer your content over to it. (You can use the `WordPress’ tab on your Google Cloud Platform console to easily find and import the content from your old blog.)