If you run the “WP Restore and Enable Classic Widgets Plugin No Expiration” By Bill Minozzi on your WordPress powered website, the auto-update for v2.5 and v2.6 on August 28th has probably crashed your site. Here is how to fix it.
Your WordPress website may have sent you a crash report that looks like this:
WordPress has a built-in feature that detects when a plugin or theme causes a fatal error on your site, and notifies you with this automated email.
In this case, WordPress caught an error with one of your plugins, Restore Classic Widgets.
First, visit your website (https://WordpressWebsite.com/) and check for any visible issues. Next, visit the page where the error was caught (https://WordpressWebsitenct.com/wp-admin/) and check for any visible issues.
Please contact your host for assistance with investigating this issue further.
If your site appears broken and you can’t access your dashboard normally, WordPress now has a special “recovery mode”. This lets you safely login to your dashboard and investigate further.
https://WordpressWebsite.com/wp-login.php?action=enter_recovery_mode&rm_token=111222Ds4AhaFJcs2m1555&rm_key=333444XT0MSjZQe4L8f666
To keep your site safe, this link will expire in 1 day. Don’t worry about that, though: a new link will be emailed to you if the error occurs again after it expires.
When seeking help with this issue, you may be asked for some of the following information:
WordPress version 6.3
Active theme: Custom v1
Current plugin: Restore Classic Widgets (version 2.6)
PHP version 7.4.33
Error Details
=============
An error of type E_ERROR was caused in line 20 of the file /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/restore-classic-widgets/includes/checkup/class_bill_catch_errors.php. Error message: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function is_plugin_active() in /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/restore-classic-widgets/includes/checkup/class_bill_catch_errors.php:20
Stack trace:
#0 /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/restore-classic-widgets/restore_classic_widgets.php(337): require_once()
#1 /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-settings.php(462): include_once(‘/home/customer/…’)
#2 /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-config.php(105): require_once(‘/home/customer/…’)
#3 /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-load.php(50): require_once(‘/home/customer/…’)
#4 /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-admin/admin.php(34): require_once(‘/home/customer/…’)
#5 /home/customer/www/WordpressWebsite.com/public_html/wp-admin/index.php(10): require_once(‘/home/customer/…’)
#6 {main}
thrown
You can use the “recover mode” link from this crash report to get past the error message and login to WordPress.
Steps to remove the broken plugin:
- First. Verify your site is down. In general we never trust links in email messages because they could be fake. Just types in your website address to verify your site is down.
- If the site is down, and the email looks right, assume the recover link is legit. Click the recovery mode link. This will disable the broken plugin and bring you to the login box. In my case I had to click the link twice, before the login box would come up.
- Go to the Plugins section in your WP Admin.
- The Restore and Enable Classic Widgets plugin should be listed as disabled
- Click the delete link to remove the plugin.
- Exit Recover Mode using the red button at the top of the WP Admin screen on desktop, or the Exit Recover Mode link near the top on mobile.
- If you still do not want to use the block editor widgets, there is another plugin that provides the same functionality. See below.
If you don’t have the WordPress Crash Report
Check you web hosting account. Some control panels (like SiteGround’s Site tools) have a tool for disabling all Plugins in a WordPress site, without having to login. Once the broken plugin is disabled, you can login to WordPress and delete the plugin. Replace it with one that works.
Replacement Plugin:
You can use the Classic Widgets By WordPress Contributors plugin as a direct replacement. It offer the same functionality, and it works. It has 244 5-star reviews and more that 2 million active installations. I just swapped my site, and many client sites over to it. This “Classic Widgets” plugin works perfectly.
Classic Widgets
My Favorite Plugins:
Looking to add more features to your WordPress website? Here is a list of the Plugins I use the most:
