Nothing can make your day sulk more than having unexpected errors on your site. Although WordPress is a widely CMS, it’s not free from errors. And when they occur, it can be frustrating especially if you have no clue how to solve them.
Although most issues may seem intimidating at first glance, most Wp problems stem from simple issues that you can easily handle.
To help you out, in this guide, we highlight the top 11 most common errors and how to deal with them. Let’s get started.
But, before we start, an important step to take is to ensure that you have all the data on your website backed up to avoid data loss when trying to fix a problem.
Internal Server Errors
Server errors, otherwise known as 500s, results from a conflict between your software and the server. It could result from a disruption in server services or software malfunctions.
Since the server doesn’t indicate what could be wrong, it’s up to you to troubleshoot and develop a solution.
There are no specific methods of fixing this problem. Instead, you can start by checking the server’s working status. If it is clear, you can proceed to try the following solutions:
- Deactivate and reactivate plugins– deactivate all the plugins installed and start activating them one by one. If the problem were due to a plugin, you would notice your website coming live again.
- Increase your PHP memory limit– sometimes, themes and plugins use most of your server resources to function. Thus, space reserved to resolve it is unavailable when they happen. So, you can opt to increase your memory limit by creating blank php.ini text files, pasting a code ‘memory=64MB’ on it, then saving the file. You can then upload the saved file to the wp-admin/folder using an FTP.
- Use a cache cleaner- download a cache cleaner, and run it to clear old data files from your website. Proceed to launch your website and see it is live or not.
Error Establishing A Database Connection
Usually, the “Error establishing a database connection” on WordPress results from incorrect username or password information in the wp-config.php file.
As a result, the website cannot communicate with the database. Alternatively, the host’s database server could be down.
Recommended solutions include checking that your username and password are correct and that you countercheck the hostname to ensure it is correct. If the database server is running and the problem persists, you can:
Check if the database tables exist by going to phpMyAdmin from cPanel. If they do, check on all of them and click repair tables.
You can also restart your MySQL server and check for connection. Alternatively, you can add a simple line of code: define (‘WP_ALLOW_REPAIR’, true); to the w-config.php file. This starts the repair methods and allows you the chance to resolve the problem.
White Screen of Death
Due to the white screen of death errors, you end up with a white screen with no error messages. Therefore, you have no clue what the problem is or where to start when fixing it.
Most of the time, it results from an exhausted PHP memory limit or a configuration on the server. On WordPress 5.2, new features catch this problem and only show that your site is experiencing technical difficulties.
What follows is an email pointing to the culprit, and all you have to do is log into WordPress recovery mode and then deactivate the plugin responsible for the error.
Simple solutions to this include increasing your PHP memory limit, disabling all plugins, and replacing your theme with a default theme. You can also try clearing your WordPress cache.
You can then enable the debug mode to catch errors and their causes by adding this code to your wp-config.php file
define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true); define( ‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true);
Error Accessing Your WordPress Dashboard
Whenever this happens, WordPress displays a message stating that your database needs repair. To resolve it;
Add (‘WP_ALLOW_REPAIR’, true); to your wp_config.php file
Visit http://www.yourwebsite.com/wpadmin/mait/repair.php.
Replace the “yourwebsite.com” with your website’s URL
Go back to the wp_config.php file and remove the additional line of code. Wait to see if the problem persists.
If so, the problem must be in plugins, which you can replace with a new folder and test your website.
Parse Or Syntax Error
The parse error occurs when there’s an issue with the site’s code. Typically, it occurs in the function.php file but this is not certain. However, when it happens, the message will show which line has the problem.
To solve the issue, you need to access the specified file through FTP. Once you access the backend of the site, locate the line that has the issue and fix it. Once done, save the file and check if the website is now normal.
Error Uploading Images to WordPress
When this occurs, you cannot upload images on your website, and if you do, they appear broken or missing.
To resolve this;
- Log into cPanel to access your file manager
- Go to public_html to access the wp-content folder and open the uploads folder
- Right-click to changer permissions, where you replicate the settings and save by selecting ‘change permissions’
Login Page Keeps Redirecting
Due to this error, users have a hard time viewing their dashboards. And whenever you try accessing your website, you end up at the login page, where you encounter a connection timed out error.
To resolve this, you can:
- Try clearing all cookies and cache from your browser
- Deactivate your plugins and try finding the responsible plugin
- If nothing works, try editing your wp_config.php file, then save the changes and load your page again.
Connection Timed-out Error
This happens when your website receives many requests that the server cannot handle. To try and fix this problem, try:
- Increasing your PHP memory limit in the wp-confg.php file as described before
- Deactivate all plugins
- Activate them one by one to trace the offending plugin
- Contacting your host if the problem persists beyond your capabilities
WordPress Stuck on Maintenance
You will see a “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” error message displayed on your screen. What follows is a recommendation to wait, which happens when the website is updating.
To resolve this, you use the FTP client.
- Here, go to the .maintenance file
- Find the culprit file, and delete it
404 Errors
These result from issues with your permalink or changes in the .htaccess file. To resolve this, you can change the permalink settings on your blog
To correct the .htaccess files, you can include the following code in your file:
# BEGIN WordPressRewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}! -f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}! -d RewriteRule. /index.php [L] # END WordPress
This code requests permission to edit the file. Make sure to reset the permission setting to 660 after making changes to your .htaccess file.
Locked Out of WordPress Admin Error
Being locked out of your website is not such a great thing to experience. However, it is a common problem at WordPress and occurs when plugins misbehave or when you forget your password.
To resolve this problem, you can;
Check for a successful connection to your database
Confirm your password from an email sent by WordPress
And if you suspect you are under a cyberattack, contact your host and let them deal with the problem for you.
