How to Edit wp-config.php File in WordPress
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Did you read a tutorial that asks you to edit your wp-config file, and you have no idea what it is? Well we’ve got you covered. In this article, we will show you how to properly edit the wp-config.php file in WordPress.
What is wp-config.php File?
As the name suggests, it is a configuration file that is part of all self-hosted WordPress sites.
Unlike other files, wp-config.php file does not come built-in with WordPress rather it’s generated specifically for your site during the installation process.
WordPress stores your database information in the wp-config.php file. Without this information your WordPress website will not work, and you will get the ‘error establishing database connection‘ error.
Apart from database information, wp-config.php file also contains several other high-level settings. We will explain them later in this article.
Since this file contains a lot of sensitive information, it is recommended that you don’t mess with this file unless you have absolutely no other choice.
But since you’re reading this article, it means that you have to edit wp-config.php file. Below are the steps to do it without messing things up.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Getting Started
First thing you need to do is to create a complete WordPress backup. The wp-config.php file is so crucial to a WordPress site that a tiny mistake will make your site inaccessible.
You will need an FTP client to connect to your website. Windows users can install WinSCP or SmartFTP and Mac users can try Transmit or CyberDuck. An FTP client allows you to transfer files between a server and your computer.
Connect to your website using the FTP client. You will need FTP login information which you can get from your web host. If you don’t know your FTP login information, then you can ask your web host for support.
The wp-config.php file is usually located in the root folder of your website with other folders like /wp-content/.
Simply right click on the file and then select download from the menu. Your FTP client will now download wp-config.php file to your computer. You can open and edit it using a plain text editor program like Notepad or Text Edit.
Understanding wp-config.php file
Before you start, let’s take a look at the full code of the default wp-config.php file. You can also see a sample of this file here.
* You can change these at any point in time to invalidate all existing cookies. This will force all users to have to log in again. * * @since 2.6.0 */ define('AUTH_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('LOGGED_IN_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('NONCE_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('AUTH_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('SECURE_AUTH_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('LOGGED_IN_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('NONCE_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); /**#@-*/ /** * WordPress Database Table prefix. * * You can have multiple installations in one database if you give each * a unique prefix. Only numbers, letters, and underscores please! */ $table_prefix = 'wp_'; /** * For developers: WordPress debugging mode. * * Change this to true to enable the display of notices during development. * It is strongly recommended that plugin and theme developers use WP_DEBUG * in their development environments. * * For information on other constants that can be used for debugging, * visit the Codex. * * @link https://codex.wordpress.org/Debugging_in_WordPress */ define('WP_DEBUG', false); /* That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */ /** Absolute path to the WordPress directory. */ if ( !defined('ABSPATH') ) define('ABSPATH', dirname(__FILE__) . '/'); /** Sets up WordPress vars and included files. */ require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-settings.php'); Each section of wp-config.php file is well documented in the file itself. Almost all settings here are defined using PHP Constants.
define( 'constant_name' , 'value');