I just restored to a working date and still not working

[mc12345678]

I still get a 500 error without a redirect to anything. So if after refresh of the directory in your ftp program no log files are being generated, then you will need to review the server logs (host may need to help), to identify what is going wrong. It could also be that there was an improper change made to includes/configure.php which I believe I have seen cause this type of issue...

[spawnie69]

I will check the server logs..... I did find a debug file generated in cache folder.

It shows the following:
[15-Mar-2016 14:49:39 America/Denver] PHP Fatal error: Cannot redeclare zen_create_random_value() (previously declared in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/functions_general.php:614) in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/password_funcs.php on line 49

[mc12345678]

I will check the server logs..... I did find a debug file generated in cache folder.

It shows the following:
[15-Mar-2016 14:49:39 America/Denver] PHP Fatal error: Cannot redeclare zen_create_random_value() (previously declared in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/functions_general.php:614) in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/password_funcs.php on line 49

That's highly unusual as in ZC 1.5.4, errors ought to end up in the logs directory not the cache folder. So, back to basics I guess we go. Please post the contents of what should be an includes/configure.phpthat would have been generated by the zc_install process. Obscure your DB_ credentials and if for some odd reason your admin directory. Please press the # symbol inthe message box toolbar, just before pasting the code here so that the code is surrounded by [CODE] and [/CODE] tags.

[spawnie69]

<?php
/**
 * @package Configuration Settings circa 1.5.4
 * @copyright Copyright 2003-2014 Zen Cart Development Team
 * @copyright Portions Copyright 2003 osCommerce
 * @license http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt GNU Public License V2.0
 * File Built by zc_install on 2015-09-16 04:10:37
 */


/*************** NOTE: This file is similar, but DIFFERENT from the "admin" version of configure.php. ***********/
/***************       The 2 files should be kept separate and not used to overwrite each other.      ***********/

// Define the webserver and path parameters
  // HTTP_SERVER is your Main webserver: eg-http://www.your_domain.com
  // HTTPS_SERVER is your Secure webserver: eg-https://www.your_domain.com
  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://gelcandlecompany.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://gelcandlecompany.com');

  // Use secure webserver for checkout procedure?
  define('ENABLE_SSL', 'true');

// NOTE: be sure to leave the trailing '/' at the end of these lines if you make changes!
// * DIR_WS_* = Webserver directories (virtual/URL)
  // these paths are relative to top of your webspace ... (ie: under the public_html or httpdocs folder)
  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');

  define('DIR_WS_IMAGES', 'images/');
  define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', 'includes/');
  define('DIR_WS_FUNCTIONS', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'functions/');
  define('DIR_WS_CLASSES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'classes/');
  define('DIR_WS_MODULES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'modules/');
  define('DIR_WS_LANGUAGES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'languages/');
  define('DIR_WS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'pub/');
  define('DIR_WS_TEMPLATES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'templates/');

  define('DIR_WS_PHPBB', '/');

// * DIR_FS_* = Filesystem directories (local/physical)
  //the following path is a COMPLETE path to your Zen Cart files. eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/
  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/XXXXX/XXXXX/public_html/');

  //the following path is a COMPLETE path to the /logs/ folder  eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/logs ... and no trailing slash
  define('DIR_FS_LOGS', '/XXXXX/XXXXX/public_html/logs');

  define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'download/');
  define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'pub/');
  define('DIR_WS_UPLOADS', DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'uploads/');
  define('DIR_FS_UPLOADS', DIR_FS_CATALOG . DIR_WS_UPLOADS);
  define('DIR_FS_EMAIL_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'email/');

// define our database connection
  define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
  define('DB_PREFIX', '');
  define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');
  define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost');
  define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', 'XXXXX');
  define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', 'XXXXX');
  define('DB_DATABASE', 'XXXXX');

  // The next 2 "defines" are for SQL cache support.
  // For SQL_CACHE_METHOD, you can select from:  none, database, or file
  // If you choose "file", then you need to set the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE to a directory where your apache 
  // or webserver user has write privileges (chmod 666 or 777). We recommend using the "cache" folder inside the Zen Cart folder
  // ie: /path/to/your/webspace/public_html/zen/cache   -- leave no trailing slash  
  define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'none'); 
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/cache');

// EOF

[mc12345678]

Down towards:

define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/cache');

Add either above or below:

define('DIR_FS_LOGS', '/xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/logs');

Substituting the appropriate path for where the xxxxxs have been used.

Okay, so the next thing is to try to identify why the same function code/data is trying to be loaded a second time. What plugin(s) have been installed and when/what was last so installed? I've seen this error before, but can't remember what other file was involved to cause it.

[spawnie69]

My main site was working well receiving orders until March 8th, this is when I noticed emails were not being sent out. I received a php error not connecting when sending and email via admin to a customer and the contact us page no longer worked. I haven't been working on this domain in weeks, I panicked and started restoring, now I have nightmare.

Installed following plugins:
zen_TyPackageTracker-3.1.4a
Ultimate URLs
Ceon Card Manual
Sitemap XML
United States Postal Service
Recover Cart Sales
admin_login_as_customer
cart reminder 1.3
User Tracking v1.5.2
How Did You Hear About Us

Had a hell of a time trying to get 'cart reminder 1.3' to work so I installed Recover Cart Sales last.
Thank you very much.

[spawnie69]

[15-Mar-2016 16:28:19 America/Denver] PHP Fatal error: Cannot redeclare zen_create_random_value() (previously declared in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/functions_general.php:614) in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/password_funcs.php on line 49

This showed in my cache folder.

[spawnie69]

files keep coming into my cache folder.

[spawnie69]

Does this look ok?
define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'none');
define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/cache');
define('DIR_FS_LOGS', '/xxxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/logs');

// EOF

[DrByte]

[15-Mar-2016 16:28:19 America/Denver] PHP Fatal error: Cannot redeclare zen_create_random_value() (previously declared in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/functions_general.php:614) in /xxxxx/xxxxx/public_html/includes/functions/password_funcs.php on line 49

This showed in my cache folder.

That suggests you've got mixed versions of those files. The zen_create_random_value() function was moved out of one and into the other. So if you're getting that error then one of those files is old and one is new. Maybe you installed files from a plugin that's for a different version, and it "put back" stuff that doesn't belong, or vice versa.