If you’ve tried to edit your WordPress blog setting page under the ”General Setting”, and now you can’t access your WordPress admin after changing the URL, by adding, or deleting the,www then, this is a natural error, and we’ll solve it in one minute. But, why you get that error and why you can’t login to WordPress dashboard?

First of all, you’re not the only one who makes this mistake and be locked out of WordPress. Most of the new bloggers will try to edit their blog setting anywhere, but the problem is if you’re not familiar with WordPress. You can get some problems when changing anything wrong.

So, make sure the next time to ask, or search for settings that you want to edit, and you’re not sure about them. That will save you time and avoid problems.

The problem with adding or deleting the www in your site URL and WordPress address is that the file ”wp-config.php” located in your WordPress root, will see your new setting as a new domain name that it can’t work with. So, you can’t login to your WordPress dashboard.

Fixing the WordPress admin login problem

Recover your admin login access by setting the site domain

Now, the solution is simple, all you have to do is to add the following code at the end of your ”wp-config.php” file.

define('WP_HOME','http://www.yourdomain.com');
define('WP_SITEURL','http://www.yourdomain.com');

Of course, you should change yourdomain with your own domain name.

To make things even more simple, let’s add that code together:

Step by step tutorial in cPanel

The first thing that you need to do is to log in to your cPanel account, and then locate the file opener.

Now, you have all your files, just search for the file ”wp-config.php” and click on ”edit file”.

All you have to do now is to add the code at the end of the file and save it.

Update your blog homepage URL in the database

This is one of the best ways to get admin access back to your WordPress website using the database. If you’re unable to login and also you can’t find any way to edit the site domain and homepage URL, then, only the database can fix that.

• Read also: Fixing unable to locate WordPress content directory (wp-content)

First, log in to your PHPMyAdmin account. Your web hosting provider should have provided your login detail. So, make sure to check your welcome email to find them, or if you’re on a managed web hosting, chances are you still have the PHPMyAdmin logins on your dashboard.

When you log in, you’ll see the website database, click on it form the left area. That way, you’ll get all the WordPress database tables listed in a clear way. Now, what you need is a single table called wp-options. That table contains all your WordPress options in one place.

Luckily, the blog homage and URL are on the top of that table rows. First, click the wp-options, and then, you’ll get something like the following screenshot.

Now, change your site URL for both “siteurl” and “home” and save as this example.

You have to clear your browser cache if the problem persists. Then, reload your page and you will get access to your WordPress admin dashboard. You will notice that you can’t change the URL from your ”General Setting” page, and this is normal because you changed it directly from the ”wp-config.php” file, it’s simpler and safer.

In other cases, you can change the URL from your WordPress dashboard, directly, and it can be changed another time again. Things become easier with the latest WordPress versions, but please remember to make a backup before doing anything in your blog settings, especially, if you’re a newbie.

That can cause problems and it’s not easy to find solutions for every specific error online. The WordPress forum is a great place to ask questions and find solutions, but, you can get a response instantly and you will never get a reply in other cases.

People there are volunteers, and not all of them are really helpful as you expect. So, make things easy for you and never change your URL if you’re not sure about your settings.

If you really care about your website, you should verify that you can access your blog files through FTP like Filezilla. Also, make sure that you can log in and edit your files directly from your cPanel account. If one method is not working for you, you still have another access to your WordPress files and make the changes or correct things.

Fathi Arfaoui

I’m a WordPress expert with over 6 years of experience in solving problems with themes, plugins, code, and structure. Let e help you fix your blog or website issues through tutorials or contact me directly.