How can I reactivate a plugin without access to my dashboard?

I’ve been working on a wordpress site (geniedrinks.co.uk) using the Jevelin theme. Last night, I deactivated a plugin called WP Bakery Page Builder (js_composer) which immediately resulted in HTTP error 500 across all pages – I can’t even access my wp-admin page.

I have a feeling reactivating the plugin might correct the issue, but can’t find a way to do so from within the control panel (server host is names.co.uk). I’ve looked for an options tab within PHPMyAdmin to try and find a list of active plugins (to add the plugin manually to the list), but can’t locate said tab. Any help or alternative solutions gratefully received.

Many thanks in advance,

Nic

You can do this by editing the database via PhpMyAdmin.

Go to your database’s Options table and find a row called active_plugins.

You should see something like this…

a:10:{
    i:0;s:49:"1and1-wordpress-wizard/1and1-wordpress-wizard.php";
    i:1;s:29:"acf-repeater/acf-repeater.php";
    i:2;s:30:"advanced-custom-fields/acf.php";
    i:3;s:45:"limit-login-attempts/limit-login-attempts.php";
    i:4;s:27:"redirection/redirection.php";
    i:6;s:33:"w3-total-cache/w3-total-cache.php";
    i:7;s:41:"wordpress-importer/wordpress-importer.php";
    i:8;s:24:"wordpress-seo/wp-seo.php";
    i:9;s:34:"wpml-string-translation/plugin.php";
}

You can add a new row for your plugin. You will need to know the following.

• a:10 : 10 = the count of row (how many plugins are in the list)
• i:0;s:49 : i = the item position in the list
• i:0;s:49 : s = the character count

So you you can activate a new plugin by adding a new row and change the values like this…

a:11:{
    i:0;s:49:"1and1-wordpress-wizard/1and1-wordpress-wizard.php";
    i:1;s:29:"acf-repeater/acf-repeater.php";
    i:2;s:30:"advanced-custom-fields/acf.php";
    i:3;s:45:"limit-login-attempts/limit-login-attempts.php";
    i:4;s:27:"redirection/redirection.php";
    i:6;s:33:"w3-total-cache/w3-total-cache.php";
    i:7;s:41:"wordpress-importer/wordpress-importer.php";
    i:8;s:24:"wordpress-seo/wp-seo.php";
    i:9;s:34:"wpml-string-translation/plugin.php";
    i:10;s:20:"my-plugin/plugin.php";
}