How to Fix your WordPress Site When It’s Experiencing a Critical Error

Introduction

Experiencing a critical error on your WordPress website can be a daunting issue, especially for non-technical users. This comprehensive guide aims to help you navigate through the common causes of critical errors and provide advice on How to Fix your WordPress Site When It’s Experiencing a Critical Error. Whether you are facing PHP errors, issues with WordPress themes, or plugin conflicts, we will guide you through the process of getting your website running smoothly again. Additionally, we will introduce SmartHost’s “Fix my WordPress” service, a dedicated solution for users who need expert assistance with their WordPress problems.

Understanding Critical Errors in WordPress

A WordPress error message, such as a critical error message, typically indicates that something has gone wrong with your website and it can no longer function as expected. The error might prevent you from accessing your WordPress dashboard and could display a message like “There has been a critical error on your website.” These errors often result from problematic plugins, incompatible PHP versions, or issues with your theme or core WordPress files.

Common Causes of WordPress Critical Errors

• Plugin Conflicts: Newly installed or updated WordPress plugins that conflict with existing ones can cause your site to break. Troubleshooting plugin conflicts involves deactivating plugins, restoring from backups, and addressing malfunctioning or conflicting plugins to fix critical errors.
• Theme Issues: Errors can arise from an incompatible or poorly coded WordPress theme. Switching to a default WordPress theme can help verify if the problem is theme-related and resolve the critical error. Troubleshooting steps include deactivating all WordPress plugins and increasing the PHP memory limit to address issues caused by themes.
• PHP Version Issues: An outdated or unsupported PHP version can lead to incompatibility with WordPress core files or plugins.
• Database Problems: Corrupt or overloaded databases can also trigger critical errors.

Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Critical Errors

Step 1: Enter Recovery Mode

When a critical error occurs, WordPress attempts to send an email to the site admin email inbox with a link to enter recovery mode. Check your site admin email inbox and spam folder for this email. Recovery mode lets you safely manage and troubleshoot plugins and themes.

Step 2: Disable Plugins and Themes

Often, disabling the recently modified plugin or theme can fix the error:

• Via Recovery Mode: Directly disable the suspected problematic plugin or theme.
• Using an FTP Client or File Manager: Access your web server through an FTP client or your hosting control panel’s file manager. Navigate to the wp-content/plugins directory and rename the plugin folder to deactivate it. For themes, navigate to wp-content/themes and do the same for the current theme folder. If theme issues are suspected, one troubleshooting step is to revert to a ‘default theme’ like Twenty Twenty to check if the problem persists.

Step 3: Increase PHP Memory Limit

Insufficient memory can cause PHP to terminate processes prematurely, leading to critical errors. You can increase the PHP memory limit by editing the wp-config.php file:

• Add the line define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’); to increase the memory limit.

Step 4: Update PHP Version

Ensure your hosting account is using a compatible PHP version for your WordPress website. You can update the PHP version through your web hosting control panel. SmartHost provides easy options to manage and update PHP versions directly from the hosting dashboard.

Step 5: Enable Debug Mode

To pinpoint the cause of the error, enable debug mode in WordPress by editing the ‘wp-config.php’ file. This process involves modifying the wp-config.php file to activate WordPress debug mode, which logs PHP errors, warnings, and notices without displaying them to your site’s visitors:

• Access the wp-config.php file and insert the following lines:
• define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true); define(‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true); define(‘WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY’, false);

This configuration specifically uses the wp-config file to enable WP_DEBUG, generating a wp_debug_log error log file, thus logging errors to a file discreetly.

Step 6: Check Error Logs

Review the error logs in your web host’s control panel or the newly created debug.log file in the wp-content directory, specifically within the wp-content folder. These logs can provide specific insights into what is causing the critical error.

Step 7: Restore a Previous Backup

If the error persists, consider restoring your website from a backup. Ensure you use a recent backup that was created before the error occurred. SmartHost offers integrated backup solutions that make restoration simple and fast.

Step 8: Consult with Professionals

If you’re unable to resolve the critical error yourself, it may be time to seek professional help. SmartHost’s “Fix my WordPress” service provides expert assistance to diagnose and fix critical errors, ensuring minimal downtime for your business.

Conclusion

Dealing with critical errors on your WordPress site can be stressful, but with the right approach and resources, they can be resolved. By following the steps outlined above, you can identify the issue and implement a solution to get your site back online. Remember, SmartHost is here to assist you with top-tier support and services designed to handle the complexities of WordPress websites.

For more detailed support and professional assistance, consider SmartHost’s “Fix my WordPress” service. We are dedicated to providing you with the expertise and care needed to maintain and restore your WordPress website efficiently.

FAQs about Fixing Critical Errors in WordPress