Troubleshooting WordPress
WordPress is one of the most commonly used website applications. While it's extremely popular, there are some common issues that you can fix in a matter of minutes.
Note: This article contains source material from wordpress.org relating to common errors and their solutions. There are links directly to relevant documentation on that site as a reference for any deeper technical information you may need when available.
Click to jump to any section | ||
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My WordPress site is slow | My blog keeps coming up as a blank page | |
PHP errors | Error establishing a database connection | |
Connection timed out | 404 Page not found error |
Before you start
Built into WordPress is a handy feature for troubleshooting errors called WP_DEBUG
. The WP_DEBUG
feature can provide additional information when standard troubleshooting steps fail to resolve an issue.
You can enable WP_DEBUG
and WP_DEBUG_LOG
in the wp-config.php file. The contents of the debug.log file can help you and your site administrator narrow down the problem to a specific plugin, theme, or configuration option that might be causing a problem.
For assistance, see:
My WordPress site is slow
Every time a visitor goes to your WordPress blog, the server processes PHP scripts and establishes a database connection, which means it's doing a lot of work. The more complex and busy your site is, the slower this process becomes.
My blog keeps coming up as a blank page
Generic 500 ISE(Internal Server Error), common PHP errors, and database connection string issues can manifest as a blank white screen and is commonly known in the WordPress community as the White Screen of Death (WSOD).
PHP errors
There are several PHP errors that have their own individual symptoms. The following are the most common PHP errors in WordPress:
- Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent
- Call to undefined function
- Allowed memory size exhausted
- Maximum execution time exceeded
Here are some things you can try:
Error establishing a database connection
If you manually installed WordPress into your hosting account and are getting an Error establishing a database connection
message when trying to connect to WordPress, you need to modify your wp-config.php file to work with our database servers.
Connection timed out
The connection timed out error appears when your website is trying to do more than your server can manage. It’s particularly common on shared hosting where your memory limit is restricted.
Here are some things you can try:
404 Page not found error
Occasionally after a migration or a domain name change, your WordPress website could experience 404 Not Found
errors for links in your site. This could also be an issue with a Home Page not found
error.