How to resolve a bad plugin server 500 error wordpress

Question

I was just working on a Wordpress site and after updating a plug-in (which had not yet been activated, only installed) I activated it. Instead of the activation working, it gave me this error:

Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete >your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@ibsmithmedia.com and inform them of >the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the >error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 500 Internal Server Error error was encountered while trying to use an >ErrorDocument to handle the request.

I am getting this error on every page of my wordpress site, not just the plugin page or my user admin area.

How can I fix this? Is there a way to undo this plugin activation (I'm pretty sure it's what's causing the issue).

I don't have access to the actual FTP files of the site, I'm working on it for a friend. But I can get access if that's the only way to fix this. Thanks!

Answer 1

First you need to connect to your website using FTP client, or File Manager in cPanel. Once connected, you need to navigate to the /wp-content/ folder.

Inside wp-content folder, you will see a folder called plugins. This is where WordPress stores all plugins installed on your website. Right click on the plugins folder and select Rename. Change the name of the plugins folder to anything that you like. In our example, we will call it “plugins.deactivate”. Once you do this, all of your plugins will be deactivated.

Usually, this method is used when you are locked out of your admin area. If the issue was with your plugins, then you should be able login to your WordPress admin area.

Once you do that, go back to your /wp-content/ folder and rename “plugins.deactivate” back to plugins.

Now you can activate one plugin at a time until your site breaks again. At which point, you will know exactly which plugin caused the issue.

Answer 2

I ended up having to delete the folder for the plugin and then going to my htaccess file and remove extra lines that the plugin had added there as well. That resolved the issue.

Answer 3

I would get access and delete the plugin.
That would be the fastest solution.