Can’t Log into my WordPress Site!

A member asks…

Hi Chris, trying to edit my WordPress site, I can’t login to it. Cookies seem to be blocked on my PC, even though the setting shows that cookies are enabled. I’m using Google Chrome. Could my security software (your recommended NIS 2012) be blocking them? Is there is a simple way to fix this? Thanks!

Google Chrome has a few quirks about it that can sometimes trip you up. One of those quirks are how it deals with cookies, especially used by dynamic websites like WordPress. Although it’s unlikely that your security suite is blocking this, there is a possibility (so I cover that last).

Dynamic websites change a lot, often there are parts that change every time you visit. These parts can be visible on the website, or sometimes invisible. And Chrome isn’t good about updating the cookies when something’s changed.

Sometimes reloading the page will solve the problem, sometimes you have to clear out the cookies so Chrome will get new ones from the websites you visit. Read on for specific instructions, along with a hint about how to fix a potential problem with your website by using Norton Internet Security 2012.

To reload the page, right-click anywhere on it, and select Reload from the list.

To clear the cookies, click the wrench in the Google Chrome toolbar, then select Settings:

That opens a new tab with a menu on the left-side. Select Under the Hood, and then click the Clear Browsing Data button:

Click the box to select how far back to clear (or just keep the current entry, usually “the past hour”), then click the “Clear Browsing data” button:

• If you can login from another web browser on the same computer, you may have to reinstall Google Chrome (download it here).
• If you can login from another computer, but not from the first computer on any web browser, check your computer security suite settings.

For NIS 2012, you should first check the log to see if your WordPress site has malware embedded. Right-click the NIS icon (that’s in the system tray at the bottom-right of your screen), and select the first entry to open the program. Then click the Advanced menu item:

Now look under Computer Protection, and click the Quarantine and/or History link:

Check the Quarantine list first, it should be empty. If there are any items in there, see if the date & time correspond to your attempts to access your WordPress file. If there’s nothing, take a look at the History view, and scroll down, looking for anything that relates to your WordPress Site.

Of course, if you do find something NIS has found related to your WordPress website, you’ll need to take action to clean up the website – anyone with good computer protection will have your website flagged.