The white screen of death appears, and you can’t log in to your WP admin. Catastrophe has struck. But, don’t be in despair; there is a perfect solution for all your worst-case scenarios. It is called the Emergency Recovery Script, and it is completely free!
What Is the Emergency Recovery Script?
The Emergency Recovery Script (ERS) is a single-file PHP script that works completely independently of WordPress. ERS can help you solve some of the most devastating problems on your WP site.
Missing core files, bad core files, malware, the white screen of death, database errors, and much more can be solved with ERS.
This extremely powerful script is an irreplaceable tool in your web development toolkit.
What Situations Is Emergency Recovery Script Most Useful in?
ERS can help you with several issues. Some of them include:
Missing one or more core files – If one or more of your core files get deleted for whatever reason, ERS can restore them in just one click. This is extremely useful in case you delete some core files by accident or by installing or removing plugins, themes, and so on.
Problems after WordPress or plugin updates – Sometimes, after a WordPress or a plugin update, problems can occur. You see just a white screen, can’t access WP admin; things just don’t work as before. Luckily, ERS can restore your core files or reset WordPress completely/to a working state in a click. To use this second reset option, you will have to create a database snapshot using the WP Reset plugin.
Some core files are infected by malware – In case some of your core files get infected by malware, or you have any bad core files, ERS can identify and remove them with just one click.
You want to restore a database snapshot created with WP Reset – ERS can quickly and easily restore a snapshot created with WP Reset.
Problems with logging in or administrator privileges – If you can’t log in or you have lost your admin privileges, ERS can help you by either restoring your site or creating a new admin account.
These are just some of the issues ERS can deal with. To see ERS in action, you can watch the video below (ERS is covered after the first 18 seconds of the video).
Emergency Recovery Script Tools
ERS has many useful tools available, and new ones will likely be added.
WordPress Information – ERS can detect information about your WordPress installation, version, configuration, database access, and so on. All that information can be very useful when trying to fix any issues.
Server Information – ERS can also detect and show you information about your server, including PHP and MySQL versions and the PHP environment.
Core Files – When you install WordPress, you get core files in your system. ERS can check those core files and compare them with their master copy found on wordpress.org. If your core files are in any way different or contain some files that shouldn’t be there (malware/bad files), ERS can replace them with correct files from wordpress.org.
Reset WordPress – A very powerful tool that can, as its name suggests, reset your WordPress installation. Keep in mind that this ERS tool won’t delete your themes, plugins, or files. It will, however, completely wipe your database and return it to default values. So be careful when using this tool because you will lose all your user accounts, including your own account.
If you want more flexibility and options to reset your WordPress installation, we recommend using the WP Reset plugin instead.
Snapshots – Since ERS is a part of the WP Reset plugin, it shares some of its features. Snapshots are one of them. How? Well, you can create snapshots using WP Reset and then access them using ERS, even if they are stored in a remote location. Then chose your snapshot and simply click Restore.
Plugins – This tool offers you an easy way to manage your plugins from outside WP admin. You can simply disable or enable any plugin that is installed. This can help you if you have any misbehaving plugins that are causing problems.
Themes – Exactly the same as the Plugins tool. This tool enables you to disable or enable any theme you have installed.
Options (Coming Soon) – This powerful tool allows you to access and manage all the WP options from ERS. It works with the wp_options database table and supports easy manipulation, so you don’t need to use any SQL client.
User Privileges & Roles – If you mess with the database and lose admin privileges, ERS can restore the original privileges you had on your account so you can regain website access.
Administrator Account – Have serious problems with your WP account? Just make a new administrator account. Enter your new username, password, and email, and you are done. No need for FTP or phpMyAdmin; ERS can do it all.
WordPress URLs – This tool will help you with changing your WP site and home address. Why is this necessary? Well, if you are switching from HTTP to HTTPS without a valid SSL certificate, you will need to change these addresses to log in.
Delete or Reset .htaccess – As the name of this tool suggests, it can either completely delete the .htaccess file or reset it to its original state. A defective .htaccess file can cause many problems, from the white screen of death to getting you completely locked out of your account. So fixing it is a real lifesaver.
Disable WordPress Maintenance Mode – We all hate being stuck in maintenance mode for no reason. But sometimes that happens. This tool can disable maintenance mode with just one click and save you time.
How Do I Get Emergency Recovery Script?
You can get ERS completely free at this link.
ERS is free and always available for download, but it is just a part of a bigger toolset called WP Reset. WP Reset contains ERS and many more useful tools, including the resetting tools we mentioned before. So to have the full power of ERS, we recommend getting the WP Reset plugin.
FAQ
Is Emergency Recovery Script Safe?
Yes, it is completely safe to use. More details on how it works can be found here.
Is Emergency Recovery Script Free?
ERS is free, but to use its full potential and all of its tools, you should get the WP Reset plugin.
How to Install Emergency Recovery Script?
Simply download ERS, use FTP to upload it to your WP root folder, and enter the password.
More details at this link.
Conclusion
Given that ERS is completely free and powerful, everyone who works with WordPress should have it. It can save countless hours spent on WP development and prevent a lot of headaches. If you need even more tools to help you with development and testing, we strongly recommend installing the WP Reset plugin. It offers a lot, including ERS.
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