Before you start with phpMyAdmin, you need to create a md5 hash of your new password. You can use this md5 encrypt tool. After you created the new md5 hash, save it and kept it for later.

Note: use phpMyAdmin at your own risk. If you are not sure on how to use it, seek further advice. I’m not responsible for any loss of data.

1. Open phpMyAdmin.
2. Click on the drop down menu and select your WordPress database.

3. From the list of tables, look for the wp_users table and click on the Browse icon. (the prefix may defer with different databases)

4. Click on the Edit icon (pen icon).

5. Look for the md5 hash of user_pass under the Value column.

6. Change the md5 hash with the one you created earlier. If you want to use a different username, you may also change the present value with a new one.
7. Close phpMyAdmin
8. Login to your WordPress blog with your new password (and username if you changed it).

I hope this series would provide you with the needed information on how to restore or recover your WordPress password. Some of you might know a totally different way of recovering WordPress user passwords, so any suggestions and corrections would be greatly appreciated.

I signed-up last Friday but I was too busy and didn’t have time to do it. So if you noticed any downtime earlier, that because I was setting up my account, moving all my files and restoring my backups and finished around 1 AM Sunday morning. I supposed to finish this entry and publish it but I was so sleepy. The transition went well and I didn’t have any problems restoring my backups. The only thing that caused delay was me trying to get used to Dreamhost’s user panel. It’s totally different from Cpanel of which I’ve been using for a long time.

I’d also like to thank the guys at IGB for hosting my blog totally free for several years. You’ve been a great help to me and for JaypeeOnline.Net and I will never forget your kindness and hospitality.

Other Updates:

First update: When WordPress 2.1.3 was released, I wasn’t able to upgrade my installation right away because I was more worried about the problems I was experiencing within my blog. The only time I was able to upgrade was when I moved to Dreamhost. It was also easy coz they have a One-Click install section where you get to choose different programs like WordPress, Joomla, phpBB and have it installed for you with just one click of a button. All I had to do was upload my custom files and restore my database using phpMyAdmin.

Second update: I installed a plugin called Edit Comment created by Andrew Sutherland. What it does is that it enables blog readers to edit their comments within a specified time limit. This is useful because there are times when readers want to change or add something to their comment or sometimes correct a misspelt word and couldn’t do it because they’ve already hit the submit button. I know how it is coz I’ve experienced it a lot of times myself while leaving comments on other blogs. I’ve configured the plugin to let readers edit their comments within 30 minutes. Please let me know if it doesn’t work or if you experience problems with this feature.

Third update: I’m slowly switching to Gmail. If I frequently visit your blogs, you might notice that I’m using a new email address. I now use one of my Gmail accounts as my primary email account for blogging and for personal use. One of the main reasons why I made the switch is because of the POP access which I couldn’t do with Yahoo! Mail or Hotmail without using a third-party program. With Gmail, I can download email on my desktop using Thunderbird or in my Pocket PC. I’ll still be using my Yahoo! accounts but only for backup purposes and other subscription details.

There are times when we inadvertently lose or forget our blog passwords and when this happens, there are several ways to recover your WordPress password.

Automatic Remailer

If you can still remember your username and email address, you can use the WordPress automatic remailer or “lost password” feature found on your blog’s the login page.

• Go to your WordPress Login page (http://yoursite.com/wp-login.php)
• Click on Lost you password?
• You will be redirected to a different page where you will be asked to enter your user name or email address.
• Check your email inbox for your new password.
• Login to your WordPress blog with your new password.
• Go to Profile in your Admin panel and change the password to something that you can remember.

The problem with this feature is that it doesn’t work all the time, especially if the internal PHP mail function is disabled by your web host. I’ve had several experiences where I used that option and I never received the email.

If that happens, the next thing you can do is reset your password through the MySQL command line. You can do this by connecting directly to your server via SSH, or by using the MySQL client on your workstation to connect to your server. This is a bit complicated but you’ll be able to do it as long as you follow instructions. This process resets your password.

Through a MySQL command line
(replace all details in bold with your own data)

1. Type “mysql -u root -p” (Logs in to MySQL)
2. Enter your password at the prompt.
3. Type “use name-of-database;” (Select your WordPress database)
4. Type “show tables LIKE ‘%users’;” (Finds the WordPress user table)
5. Type “SELECT ID, user_login, user_pass FROM name-of-table WHERE user_login = ‘username‘;” (Observe the encrypted password)
6. Type “UPDATE name-of-table SET user_pass=MD5(‘new-password‘) WHERE user_login = ‘username‘;” (Updates the database with the encrypted password)
7. Type “SELECT ID, user_login, user_pass FROM name-of-table WHERE user_login = ‘username‘;” (To confirm password was changed)
8. Type “exit” (Exits the MySQL client)
9. Login to WordPress and using your username and new password.

If you don’t have this type of access or if this is too difficult for you, you can ask your web host to do it for you and once you have your new password, login and change the password to something you know and can remember.

Next part of this series will feature how to restore or recover your WordPress password using phpMyAdmin which is also a bit complicated but easier.

Check out HowTo: Recover WordPress Password Part II

I just recently found out that an upgrade to WordPress 2.0.1 messes up the WP-ShortStat plugin.

At first, I was wondering why my stats weren’t changing after 1 day, I still had the same stats. Checked my Blogflux Mapstats and saw that there were several new hits. I knew something was wrong with the plugin, but I didn’t know what. I checked my databases using phpMyAdmin, there was nothing wrong with my tables. Next thing I did was to deactivate the plugin, drop the tables used by the plugin and then reactivate the plugin. This didn’t fix the problem.

I thought of doing a Google search using the keywords “shortstat not working” and found a thread in the WordPress support page. I saw one fix posted by one user and tried it but it still didn’t fix the problem. Then one post gave a url to one blog and I followed the link and ended up in a German blog. Hehe. I didn’t understand a thing but I saw that it had a link that had shortstat in it, so I clicked on it and found myself in an English page. In that entry, it had a download link to an edited version of Shortstat. I downloaded the file, uploaded to my plugins folder, activated it and it worked! Thank goodness!

You can download the updated version of the ShortStat plugin here.

Extra: I added a Live Preview for the comments and I’ve activated the Tiger Admin plugin again which works nicely with WordPress 2.0.1