How to fix a Worpress virus in under an hour

My WordPress site was hacked and removed from Google

I was not up to date on one of my websites with the latest and greatest version of WordPress.  My site was hacked, it got a virus.  I did not even know this until I saw this site, which is pretty innocent, be removed from the Google index.

At first I thought it was something to do with a reorganization of my site structure, however, after a resubmission request did nothing, I dug deeper and discovered much to my amazement I was hacked.

Steps to correct a WordPress virus

  1. Export all your posts to a xml file
  2. Change your ftp password.
  3. Delete your database and start a new database.
  4. Delete all file except image files etc on your WordPress site directory.
  5. Reinstall WordPress from zero, brand new, and use new passwords.
  6. Import your posts from your xml file – Very important, make sure you look at every line of xml before you import it into WordPress. This includes the comments, as this is where the spammers put many virus or spam links you might not see on your normal blog.
  7. Tweak it, such as make theme adjustments

Time to correct a WordPress site that is hacked

The whole process can be done in about an hour, if you know what you are doing. In my opinion it beats wondering if you found the virus etc.  A clean install is a sure way to get rid of a WordPress virus and it can all be done in under an hour.

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