The advice I found in the WP Support Forums were mostly related to WP Database Prefixes.  I had changed the prefixes, so I thought this was the problem.

But, after numerous exports, imports, and hair pulling, I started reviewing everything I had done during the database transfer. And, I remembered a very tiny detail.  The  UTF-8 tag in the wp-config.php file.

Before moving the database over, I modified the wp-config file and removed the UTF-8 tag. BIG MISTAKE. You only need to remove the UTF-8 code to get Hebrew to work on an English installation of WordPress.  Since this time it was  a Hebrew installation, I didn’t need to remove the UTF-8 tag.  And, like magic, once I put the tag back in, I had sufficient permission to enter the site and be on my jolly way. Thank Goodness!

I’d like to take this opportunity to say that the Hebrew version of WordPress exists mostly, of not completely,  thanks to Ran Hartstein. Ran always makes sure the Hebrew speaking audience gets their Hebrew version of WordPress as quickly as possible. Of course, the extended Israeli WordPress community adds a lot of value to the usage of WordPress, with many right-to-left themes, plugins, and the vibrant and helpful wpheb google group.

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The Hebrew no longer works on this blog, even with the trick I described below. Ido Fishman left a comment with a link to this section of the Codex that describes a gut-wrenching, hair-whitening way to get different languages to work on one WordPress blog. Since I don’t need Hebrew here, I’m going to pass on that and leave things as they are. In the meantime, if anyone finds a less stressful way to get multiple languages to work on a WordPress blog, please let me know.

The Hebrew version of this post is directly below the English, so scroll down my Hebrew-speaking friends…

????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????, ?? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?????…

In an earlier post I described a problem I was having with Hebrew on WordPress 2.2. I found that every time I clicked on Save or Publish on a Hebrew post or Page, all of the Hebrew letters turned into question marks. After trying a million different ways to fix it, I gave up and downgraded the blogs that needed Hebrew to version 2.1.3, and then everything worked fine.

Well, I found the solution! Liew Cheon Fong at LiewCF has nonchalantly posted a simple solution that works, as if it’s not the most brilliant thing ever! (Ok, I exaggerate, but still…)

Here are his directions:

1. Open and edit “wp-config.php”
2. Find: define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');
3. Remove “utf8?, so it becomes: define('DB_CHARSET', '');
4. Save and upload “wp-config.php”
5. Done. Your WordPress blog should display characters correctly.

Liew has saved me a lot of hair-pulling! Thanks Liew!

Now the Hebrew:

???? ????! ??? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ???, ????????? ?? “????” ?? ???? ?? ????, ?? ??????? ?????? ?????? ????. ???? ?????, ?? ?? ???? ???? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ???????? 2.2. ?? ??? ???? ????? ??????!

?? ??? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ????? ?? ?????, ???? ???????:

1. ???? ?? ????? wp-config.php.
2. ???? ?? ????? ??? ????: define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8') – ?? ???? ????? 8.
3. ???? ?? ?????? “utf-8″ ??? ??? ???? define('DB_CHARSET', '');
4. ????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ??? FTP.
5. ???!