When you change the WordPress login screen using the SiteGuard WP Plugin, it becomes more secure, but at the same time, you run the risk of being unable to log in if you forget the login screen URL.
There are several ways to deal with this situation.
- Check the login screen URL from the server files
- Temporarily disable the SiteGuard WP Plugin by renaming its folder and then log in
- Disable the plugin from the database and log in to WordPress
This section explains these three methods.
Check the login screen URL from the server files
From what I have confirmed, the login screen path is written in the .htaccess file.
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<IfModule mod_rewrite.c> RewriteEngine on RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^wp-signup\.php 404-siteguard [L] RewriteRule ^wp-activate\.php 404-siteguard [L] RewriteRule ^login_12345(.*)$ wp-login.php$1 [L] </IfModule> |
Therefore, if you can view the .htaccess file, you can check the URL used for logging in.
Temporarily disable the SiteGuard WP Plugin by renaming its folder and then log in
On the WordPress server, rename the folder of the SiteGuard WP Plugin. Doing so will temporarily disable the plugin, allowing you to log in via wp-login.php. After logging in, restore the folder name and review the settings.
(If you are able to do this, the first method described above is probably the easiest.)
Disable the plugin from the database and log in to WordPress
This situation is rare, but if you cannot check the files yet have access to the database, you can make changes there. In the options table, look for the row where option_name = 'active_plugins'. (If you plan to restore it later, make sure to save the current option_value somewhere.) Change that option_value to a:0:{}. This disables all plugins, allowing you to log in via wp-login.php. After logging in, restore the original value to re-enable the plugins.
This method is also useful when you update WordPress but a plugin is not compatible with the new version and causes errors. In such cases, you can disable all plugins once, then re-enable only the safe ones one by one.
