How to fix common WordPress issues?

How to fix common WordPress issues?

WordPress websites are the most popular CMS, powering more than 30% of all websites on the web. With it, people write content and promote their business through WordPress posts and featured images. WordPress offers excellent opportunities for those who want to draw attention to a service or a product, or for those who simply want to express their feelings and creativity online.

One of the worst things that could happen when it comes to this matter would be to have to deal with errors that prevent you from doing your work. The thing is that usually, WordPress is a pretty stable system. But sometimes errors might occur, and you can solve them on your own. However, some other times, issues get too technical for some people and they must seek professional WordPress help and get issues solved by someone more experienced. In this article, we will discuss some frequent and annoying WordPress errors, and describe the simplest way of fixing the errors:

fix common WordPress issues

The Infamous White Death or (WSoD)

That is just a scary name that people have given to that situation when your WordPress screen is just plain white. What does it mean? Well, your domain loads but doesn’t contain anything, it’s just a blank white screen. The irritating thing about this issue is that there’s no error message to hint you what’s wrong. That’s why you have to try different fixes to find the problem:

Increase the memory limit.

The description of this solution was previously mentioned.

All plugins must be disabled.

The description of this solution was previously mentioned.

Use a default theme.

There’s a strong chance that your theme of choice is the issue, and so the best way to avoid theme issues is to use one of the WordPress default themes, as a usually incompatible plugin or theme are the cause of most problems.

Turn on the debug mode

By changing the subsequent line of code on the wp-config.php. You will turn on WordPress debug mode, which might be the solution to your White Screen of Death problem:
define (‘WP_DEBUG’, false);
Now, all that needs to be done is to switch, false into true. After that, you have to update the file on the server to kickstart the process. You will see either errors or warnings on the site, and that information will help you find out what your issue is.

fix common WordPress issues

Error 500

Maybe the most common WordPress error is the “Internal Server Error” also known as “500 Internal Server Error”. If you encounter it, it means that there is an error, but the server is not able to identify it could be a corrupt htaccess file or even a parse error. There are multiple solutions to this problem:

Check .htaccess

.htaccess file includes some vital instructions, for example, those rules that make pretty permalinks possible. Given the fact that we’re talking about the internal server error, it is most likely to appear when this .htaccess file is corrupted. To find out if this is the cause of the problem, access the server through FTP. You will locate the problematic file in the root directory.

To see it, check “force show hidden files.” You will find the file, and after you do, rename it. If everything worked out all right, you can now access the website and preserve the permalink structure. You can find it in the Settings, under Permalinks tab. Right now, you have a brand new .htaccess file.

Raise PHP memory limitation

Insufficient memory or PHP error might also be an issue. If you’re dealing with this problem, the solution is to improve the amount of memory. You can do it in the wp-config.php. Once done, open it through FTP. Then go on to add this:

define (‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ’64M’).

By doing this, you will raise the total memory size to 64MB. If that is not enough, you can replace the above value with 128MB or even 256MB if you need that much.

Deactivate all plugins

Incompatibility or some plugin problem might be the reasons why this error occurred in the first place. If you want to solve the issue, start by deactivating your plugins. All of them even the browser cache and visual editor ones, trust us its necssary. After that, reactivate one at a time, until you find the problematic one. A thing that can happen at times is not being able to get into the admin panel. When you encounter this problem, you will most probably have to turn off all themes and plugins. To do that, you have to rename the plugin document through wp-content by via FTP.

Re-install WordPress core files

One of the bigger issues is corrupted core files. Fortunately, this is a pretty simple fix, because you only need to download the newest version of WP. After that, you will need to replace all wp-admin & wp-includes folders with the folders you downloaded.

Call your service provider

In the end, if nothing works, all that’s left for you to do is to phone your hosting company. There’s probably an issue on the server, and there’s nothing else for you to do apart from contacting your host.

Error Establishing Database Connection

This kind of error occurs when WordPress is not able to communicate with the site’s database. A database connection in WordPress has multiple solutions:

Inspect the wp-config.php

When the WordPress installation was done, you were asked for login info that is meant to help you access your website. Well, the wp-config.php file is where that info is being held at. Search for it in the root folder and verify the credentials in that file and see if they’re the same with the ones that you had in mind.

Login to wp-admin

Enter your site URL, and add /wp-admin. If you see an error message that suggests you should repair the database, add the subsequent line into wp-config.php, this will turn the feature on:

define (‘WP_ALLOW_REPAIR’, true);

Right after, access example.com/wp-admin/maint/repair.php. That will start the operation. Once it finishes, don’t forget to erase the just added line in wp-config.php.

WordPress Sidebar Below Content

When your website’s sidebar is no longer next to the main content, but below it, is when you have to deal with this error. This error can be very disturbing, as it doesn’t fit with your theme anymore. Here’s how you can solve this problem:

The issue that you have is probably with the HTML file, where you have too many div tags opened or closed. You can always use an HTML validator to find the problematic tags. It will make things easier for you, particularly if you are not that familiar with HTML.

Connection Timed Out or Maximum Execution Time Exceeded

A widespread issue in shared hosting providers with limited resources. This error occurs when your website is requesting more than the server allows. If you find yourself in this annoying situation, here are some ways to fix WordPress that will help you solve the connection timed out and execution time exceeded problem:

  • Deactivate all plugins
  • Go back to the default theme
  • And lastly, go ahead and raise the PHP memory limit

All the descriptions for this solution were previously explained in this article.

fix common WordPress issues

 

WordPress Maintenance Mode Error

If you decided to run an update on your website. Any visitor that might want to access it meanwhile will receive a message that will tell them that you’re coming back soon. It usually reads unavailable for scheduled maintenance.

Unfortunately, sometimes, the maintenance mode does not disappear. Even worse part is that if you get stuck there, you won’t even have access to the admin area all you will see is the scheduled maintenance error. This is what you need to do:

As you’re probably already used to, you have to access the root through FTP and erase maintenance. This is the file that helps display that message to the visitors that try to access your website. While you’re running updates, and it’s only a temporary file.

Easy, right? Well, sometimes the file is hidden, so you will probably have to force show hidden files inside your FTP client. If the update timed out and didn’t finish properly, and your website is disabled, don’t worry.

In that case, WordPress has to be manually updated.

WordPress isn’t the easiest platform to operate, but it’s definitely not a very complicated process to solve some even thought to be fatal errors. Wp Fixes are usually pretty straightforward. Following the instructions by just doing a little online research, might take you a long way with any issue from syntax errors to redirecting issues. However, sometimes, these errors are too technical for some people who have no clue about what they’re doing. And that’s totally understandable.

Luckily, for those who are not able to solve these WordPress issues. And are not familiar with terms like via FTP, file permission, web servers, modify header information and database host. They can seek professional WordPress help. Where experienced people can work everything out and have the website running beautify.

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