Ask Why has my WordPress site broken down after trying to redirect the domain?

[Brajet]

The last few weeks, I've been working on a WordPress website for my girlfriend, who is starting her own practice for orthomolecular dietary advice. I built the site using WordPress + Elementor, hosted on STRATO, but we hadn't purchased a custom domain yet. So, we were just using the default STRATO domain:

praktijkwebsite-tvk5ps71gh.live-website.com

Everything was working fine until a friend tried to "help" by changing the domain settings to annasfoodlab.nl (which we hadn't actually acquired yet). Since then, everything broke:

• The WordPress interface looks completely different.

• The links from STRATO to WordPress stopped working.

• All plugins disappeared.

• Elementor isn't working anymore.

• FTP credentials also don't seem to work.

 

[Anthony Joshua]

It's possible that the redirect caused a mismatch between your old and new domain settings. WordPress can get confused when URLs in the database don't match the new address. I'd suggest checking if both WordPress and hosting settings point to the same domain. Also, some plugins that handle redirection can break the site after domain changes. Disabling those plugins temporarily can sometimes bring the site back online.

 

[Felix😎]

This happens a lot if the redirect isn't set up properly or if the WordPress URL settings weren't updated. Your site might also break if there's a conflict with plugins or themes after the change. Double-check the redirect rules and make sure the WordPress Address and Site Address are correct. Clearing your cache or disabling plugins for testing can help figure out what's wrong. It's frustrating, but it's fixable.