I just got off a call with Tom Woodward on an unrelated matter, and mentioned in passing an issue I’ve been having after moving sites from my WordPress Multisite mansion into stand-alone installs. He likened it to my packing up and letting go of the big old house and trading it in for a condo in Florida. It would make a fun video, and I could play the old guy pretty convincingly these days 🙂
Anyway, the issue I am having besides the usual back aches and broken links of an empty web nester, is that for the four sites I have moved out from my WPMS setup, I can’t add plugins and themes from the repository for any of them. In fact, the option is not even there:
I tried cleaning out the wp_usermeta table and starting fresh given it seemed like a capabilities/permissions issue for the users, basically not giving them access to the WordPress Multisite Network Admin options. This would make sense given bavatuesdays was one of many sites within the setup on its own network, but even after cleaning out the wp_user and wp_usermeta tables and starting fresh, I can’t add plugins or themes through the dashboard (FTPing them work fine).I turned off blogs.dir and mu-plugins, deleted everything in wp-config.php referencing the mutlisite, deleted sunrise.php, cleaned-up .htaccess, disabled then re-activated all plugins, and after all that still no love. I understand this is kind of an obscure problem, but was hoping someone might have some ideas given I am stumped at this point. I can’t fully enjoy my advancing web years when all the appliances are not working correctly in the new condo.
Update: This will be its own post here shortly, but for now I just want to note it was an issue with the wp_user_roles value in wp_options, as Boone pinpointed it in the comments below. In fact, Tom, Boone, and Pat all pointed towards capability issues with user privileges, and I just didn’t realize that was also handled in wp-options. I can now add themes and plugins from the repository cause of some very awesome folks who still use the web for good 🙂 The plugin User Role Editor Boone linked to made it dead simple to add the privileges for adding themes, plugins, etc. back for specific users, but more on that on the coming post.
Total guess: Check wp_usermeta to see if your capabilities key is wp_1_capabilities or wp_capabilities. wp_1_capabilities is a remnant of WPMU, and may not be properly understood by non-multisite WP. Something like the following:
UPDATE wp_usermeta SET meta_key = 'wp_capabilities' WHERE meta_key = 'wp_1_capabilities'
Another thing to try is creating a new admin user. If you can log in and install with a separate user, you could (and maybe should, for security reasons) downgrade your main account to an Editor.
Hey Boone!
This post was worth just to see your avatar on the bava! Capabilities one was something I looked at and changed, but no go. Adding a second user now, will let you know if this solves it. Can I ask you, what is the difference in these two capabilities, is one a WPMS super admin?
a:1:{s:13:”administrator”;b:1;}
a:2:{s:13:”Administrator”;b:1;s:13:”administrator”;b:1;}
The difference is that I have never seen the second one before. It’s not a super admin – WP stores super admin status in a totally different way.
LOL, thank you. I thought I actually knew something 🙂
It could be that your ‘administrator’ role doesn’t have the ‘install_plugins’ capability. This happens sometimes during the migration from Multisite, since on Multisite administrators cannot install plugins. You can check by examining the wp_user_roles value in wp_options, or with a plugin like https://wordpress.org/plugins/user-role-editor/. You can reset role caps with
wp role reset administrator
.Good call, and makes total sense. Looking at this now.
I think Boone has it.
Looks like you’re missing stuff like unfiltered_upload, install_plugins, install_themes, update_plugins, update_themes etc.
That was it! So awesome, thanks so much for this Boone and Tom (and Pat). The bava is whole again, and now I know!
To confirm
You lack
unfiltered_upload
update_plugins
delete_plugins
install_plugins
update_themes
install_themes
You can check the DB for them
(added for future googlers)
Just tried a fresh admin user with new usermeta and no go. Bizarre.
Send me a DB and I’ll have a tinker?
Sending it along now, thank you!
I’d ponder uploading a plugin which does capabilities and seeing if you can turn on the ones you need?
If one doesn’t exist I’ll code one up
Any advice of a plugin that does capabilities? Like user roles? I am up for anything 🙂
Also weirdly, three times last night I added a link here to plugins that would do it – none got posted……
I’ll take a look too if it’s not answered yet. DB link?
There’s that many of us here we should call it Bavastock
Bavastock indeed! Sending it along to both of you now.
“By the time we got to Bavastock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere was a song and a celebration
And I dreamed I saw Amazon delivery drones
Riding shotgun in the sky,
Turning into domains
Above our nation.”
https://izquotes.com/quotes-pictures/quote-by-the-time-we-got-to-woodstock-we-were-half-a-million-strong-and-everywhere-there-was-song-and-joni-mitchell-253578.jpg
Grant,
Are you going to Bristol? I sure hope so!
Headed to Amsterdam with my kids April 21-29 and couldn’t make Bristol work. But Will be stomping terra with them around Belgium and Netherlands.
Well that’s even better! Have fun doctor.
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Only three years ago and it feels like forever.
Right? Weird how times works in Italy 🙂