afraid you wont like the answer… the only files required to run simple press are the plugin files in plugins/simple-press itself… at least that I can think of that would keep any part of the site from working… but not sure why db issues would even bring down the whole site…

so lets start from the beginning and be a bit more detailed about what can only run the site and admin if the plugin is deleted… what does that mean? what do you see on any page front or back?? and anything in the server error log?

When I try to activate the forum I receive this warning:

“Plugin could not be activated because it triggered a fatal error.”

how did you get the plugin to your server? looks like maybe the wp plugin installer which does not work on plugins with more then 1 directory level depth… can you confirm?

I uploaded it directly via FTP. Took the latest one from the download page.

So what else? Did you remove all the files that were already there first? Which might be worthwhile. And what version was running previously? And can you define what you mean by ‘hacked’? What exactly happened?

I deleted the whole simple-press folder first, then uploaded a new one from your download page. The replacement that I uploaded was also the latest version.

Which files are you referring to removing? I only replaced the simple-press folder and nothing else. Should I remove the /wp-content/sp-resources folder too? Any other folders or files? I was able to get the site working but the only plugin that won’t activate is the simple:press plugin.

According to my host:

Pierre,

It looks to me like the files were hacked and something inserted in to most of them, I tried to replace the core wordpress files from the base package but still having trouble with it. Do you have a clean backup copy of the site?
————————-
Regards,

James
GOTOnames Support Department

Sounds like you did the right thing.

The problem here is that we have many hundreds of downloads and activations that do NOT trigger any errors so assuming the files you uploaded were not themselves corrupted in any way there should be no reason why yours should be any different.

Coupled to this is the fact that the WP message is woefully useless and of no help at all. It also does not necessarily mean that the problem lies in SP. I am not for one moment trying to claim that the problem can NOT lie in SP – just pointing out the probabilities.

‘It looks to me like the files were hacked and something inserted in to most of them’ is also not really that informative.

If this were me I would be replacing the entire WordPress codebase. NOT the ‘wp-content’ folder initially but all of the rest. ‘wp-content’ is for your themes and plugins and other data so that needs to remain and, if necessary, be combed manually for any issues if they remain when all of the other code is replaced.

It would be useful if your host were to actually look into how any attack happened in the first place.

Thanks,

I realize that my host is not very useful. I guess you get what you pay for. I asked several times how the attacks could have taken place and which files were added but never a response.

Since I have switched hosts with Fiddlerman.com I have never had an issue.

Thanks for your great and quick reply as usual.

Please do let us know what you do and if it works etc…

The host guy is saying this:

Hello Pierre,

That error message by wordpress is indicating that the plugin is using callback codes from an older version of wordpress that the latest version no longer supports.

The plugin might be outdated and need to be updated by its developers.

lol. this is the host you dont like, right?

again, not helpful and incorrect..   we actually use the wp core dev tool that tells you if you are using deprecated functions…  if they really, really think that, they ought to be able to provide with said callback codes..

and this would certainly be more wide spread…

Exactly. Now you understand what I am dealing with.

In any case, what can I try to do now? I don’t much believe in getting the right help on their side.
I asked for the callback codes. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear back. IF I DO

I am worried about the db… do you not have a backup?

I am too.

My back-ups are way too old. I got too comfortable.