Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installation

Having trouble installing serendipity?
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Karbargenbok
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Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installation

Post by Karbargenbok »

Hello,

An old Serendipity installation I built years ago suddenly developed problems when the provider changed "some things" on the server (they haven't exactly been helpful).

I have managed to partially reinstall the blog by overwriting the files with a 1.7.8 installation, but I'm still experiencing major problems:

* I cannot login to the control panel (even after deleting serendipity_config_local.inc.php and changing the mod_rewrite settings, re-checking the password, etc.)
* No styles are applied and I'm getting lots of PHP-errors

So basically the blog is a mess now, but thankfully the database seems completely intact.

The blog is located at http://wumswebsite.nl/wumlog/. I'm an amateur when it comes to CMS's and haven't worked with them in years (doing this to help a friend who owns the site), so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
thh
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by thh »

Karbargenbok wrote:* I cannot login to the control panel (even after deleting serendipity_config_local.inc.php and changing the mod_rewrite settings, re-checking the password, etc.)
"Cannot login" means your password is not accepted? The login screen seems to work.
Karbargenbok wrote:* No styles are applied and I'm getting lots of PHP-errors
The site looks "stylish" and the CSS seems to be loaded?
Karbargenbok
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by Karbargenbok »

Cannot login" means your password is not accepted? The login screen seems to work.
Yes, that's what I mean. The password is not accepted, even though I just created the new administrator account (by reinstalling).
The site looks "stylish" and the CSS seems to be loaded?
Sounds crazy, but this just randomly started working. I guess the webhost is still changing things around.
yellowled
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by yellowled »

I can not really help with this, but a few tips:
Karbargenbok wrote:An old Serendipity installation I built years ago suddenly developed problems when the provider changed "some things" on the server (they haven't exactly been helpful).
Make sure you have a full backup of the site including a database dump.

A web hoster changing things without communicating them transparently and not giving proper support is a bad sign in my book.
Karbargenbok wrote:I have managed to partially reinstall the blog by overwriting the files with a 1.7.8 installation
You'll want to update to a current 2.1.1 as soon as possible, especially if the “some things” changed by the hoster include switching to PHP 7. One way or another, 1.7.8 is ancient, outdated and probably a security risk.

YL
thh
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by thh »

yellowled wrote:You'll want to update to a current 2.1.1 as soon as possible, especially if the “some things” changed by the hoster include switching to PHP 7.
That was what I thought, but when checking, PHP 5.x was used.

(The site seems to be offline now.)
Karbargenbok
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by Karbargenbok »

Make sure you have a full backup of the site including a database dump.
I have both of these, a full database dump and all the original files - just the original serendipity_config_local.inc.php is missing. What would be the easiest way to restore this?

I have tried reuploading all the original files, but this just gives me the 'Don't hack!'-message. The only thing that works is uploading the 1.7.8 files and include my own template in it.
A web hoster changing things without communicating them transparently and not giving proper support is a bad sign in my book.
I agree completely, but switching webhosts isn't an option at the moment, unfortunately.
You'll want to update to a current 2.1.1 as soon as possible, especially if the “some things” changed by the hoster include switching to PHP 7. One way or another, 1.7.8 is ancient, outdated and probably a security risk.
I'll try this if fixing the 1.7.8-built fails. However, updating via the update-feature isn't possible.

The site is back online now, though some features are not working (static pages, Smarty plugin) and I still cannot log in.
thh
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by thh »

Karbargenbok wrote:I have both of these, a full database dump and all the original files - just the original serendipity_config_local.inc.php is missing. What would be the easiest way to restore this?
You can do that by hand. It should contain:

Code: Select all

<?php
        $serendipity['versionInstalled']  = '1.7.8';
        $serendipity['dbName']            = 'DBNAME';
        $serendipity['dbPrefix']          = 'serendipity_';
        $serendipity['dbHost']            = 'localhost';
        $serendipity['dbUser']            = 'DBUSER';
        $serendipity['dbPass']            = 'DBPASS';
        $serendipity['dbType']            = 'mysql';
        $serendipity['dbPersistent']      = false;
        $serendipity['dbCharset']         = 'utf8';
?>
You just have to check / insert the right values: your installed version, the name of the database, the host the database is running on, the prefix for all database tables, database user and passwort and database charset.
Karbargenbok
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by Karbargenbok »

thh wrote:[You just have to check / insert the right values: your installed version, the name of the database, the host the database is running on, the prefix for all database tables, database user and passwort and database charset.
What you showed is what's in the new serendipity_config_local.inc.php. As you can see, the site is sort of up and running, but with some errors, and I still cannot log in to the control panel (http://wumswebsite.nl/wumlog/serendipity_admin.php works, but my password is not accepted).
MarioH
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by MarioH »

Hi,
to reset your password you should follow this instruction:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20998&p=10446521&hi ... #p10446521

Regards
Mario
Karbargenbok
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Re: Trouble getting Serendipity to work after (re-)installat

Post by Karbargenbok »

Hi,
to reset your password you should follow this instruction:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20998&p=10446521&hi ... #p10446521
I have tried this, but no dice. My password is still rejected.

I have also now updated the blog to the latest version.
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