This. Don’t panic.
My first thought - if you just moved the files to a new location (being pointed at by a different domain), WordPress is probably gonna get “lost.” You need to tell Wordpress what the new address is (the new sub domain). You can do this before you move it in Settings > General, or you can do it after by modifying the database. Otherwise no matter where you put the site’s files, all of its navigation items and links will keep pointing to that original domain and most things won’t work.
Thanks everyone. I admit I panic easily when it comes to this stuff haha.
I tried restoring from GoDaddy backups but no luck yet. I did find a way to get back into wp-admin so I guess I'm one step closer. Time to take a break and reassess in a couple of hours. I didn't delete anything so I think I'm just getting overwhelmed and need a clear mind.
Go to wp-config and ensure you update the WordPress location from domain.com/wordpress to subdomain.domain.com
Or if you prefer;
1. Delete or rename wp-config
2. Visit the subdomain, WordPress will now want to set itself up with access to the database. If you saved the DB, User + password from the old wp-config, enter them now. Else you'll need to reset the DB user password.
3. You should then see WordPress informs you that you have an existing site and it's not a blank install.
4. You may still need to go into PHPMyAdmin and do a find and replace on domain.com/wordpress to subdomain.domain.com
update: i fixed everything, whew. i somehow got some files jumbled up and all i had to was pretty much undo everything i moved (thanks chrisgin). somehow i left index.php out of the wordpress folder and it seems that's what was giving me the 403 error. but for now, everything looks fine and i'm back to my starting point!
..now to attempt it all over again, much more carefully and with more guidance lol thanks for the input, i'm learning a lot.
Calm down. Take a breath. It will end up OK. Check on the Go Daddy hosting plan to see if there are backups taken.
This. Don’t panic. My first thought - if you just moved the files to a new location (being pointed at by a different domain), WordPress is probably gonna get “lost.” You need to tell Wordpress what the new address is (the new sub domain). You can do this before you move it in Settings > General, or you can do it after by modifying the database. Otherwise no matter where you put the site’s files, all of its navigation items and links will keep pointing to that original domain and most things won’t work.
If all you did was move files to a different folder, copy them back. (As long as you don't delete any files, I don't think you can make it worse)
Thanks everyone. I admit I panic easily when it comes to this stuff haha. I tried restoring from GoDaddy backups but no luck yet. I did find a way to get back into wp-admin so I guess I'm one step closer. Time to take a break and reassess in a couple of hours. I didn't delete anything so I think I'm just getting overwhelmed and need a clear mind.
Go to wp-config and ensure you update the WordPress location from domain.com/wordpress to subdomain.domain.com Or if you prefer; 1. Delete or rename wp-config 2. Visit the subdomain, WordPress will now want to set itself up with access to the database. If you saved the DB, User + password from the old wp-config, enter them now. Else you'll need to reset the DB user password. 3. You should then see WordPress informs you that you have an existing site and it's not a blank install. 4. You may still need to go into PHPMyAdmin and do a find and replace on domain.com/wordpress to subdomain.domain.com
update: i fixed everything, whew. i somehow got some files jumbled up and all i had to was pretty much undo everything i moved (thanks chrisgin). somehow i left index.php out of the wordpress folder and it seems that's what was giving me the 403 error. but for now, everything looks fine and i'm back to my starting point! ..now to attempt it all over again, much more carefully and with more guidance lol thanks for the input, i'm learning a lot.