10 most popular WordPress errors and how to fix them

For a tool that owns 50 percent of the entire Database Management System (Content Management System - CMS), WordPress has become its own standard. However, just like any other tool, you may encounter problems while using. Some problems are caused by user error and some problems are caused by software, server, web host. Here are 10 of the most popular WordPress issues and how to fix them.

Note : This tutorial is done on hosting shared with cPanel access.

1. Error in WordPress page

This problem is also known as 'White Screen of Death' or 'dead white screen' because when an error occurs, you will see a typical white screen. This is one of the most difficult to resolve WordPress errors.

There are several causes and remedies for this problem, you can refer to the article How to fix White Screen of Death in WordPress.

2. Error Internal Server Error

Internal Server Error is often caused by software conflicts, software problems or interruptions in server services. This problem usually occurs when the server cannot execute the software or cannot connect to a server service like PHP or Apache. Try some solutions below.

Error updating server

If you do not make any changes on your site and suddenly encounter this problem, this may be due to some internal changes in the web server (such as updating the server or PHP version, updating Plugin updates automatically lead to conflicts, etc.). In this case, contact your web host and ask them to review your server.

Permalink error (static path)

If this error appears after you make changes to the permalink structure on the site, follow the steps below to fix the problem.

Step 1 . Open the file manager in cPanel.

Step 2 . Click ' Settings '.

Step 3 . Check the box next to ' Show Hidden Files '.

Find the file ' .htaccess ' and change the name to' .htaccess_old. '

Try reloading your site. If it doesn't work, you must reset the permalink in the WordPress Dashboard. Follow the steps below:

Step 1. Access the WordPress Dashboard, open Settings and navigate to ' Permalinks '.

Step 2 . Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ' Save '. This will create the '.htaccess ' file on your website.

Error of plugin / theme

Sometimes the problem may occur because a plugin confuses the database. To solve this problem, access the WordPress Dashboard and turn off all plugins. (If you can't access the WordPress Dashboard, rename the plugins folder name to plugins.old and create a new empty plugins folder). Then reload your site. If you can see it online again, re-enable the plug-in installed one by one, check your website after activating each plugin until you find the culprit.

In addition, this error may be caused by updating the theme. Switch back to the default WordPress theme and reload the page. If the problem is fixed, it means the theme is the cause.

PHP memory error

If the above does not solve the problem, it may be a PHP memory error. Fix this error by increasing the maximum memory limit of the wp-config.php file , and here's how.

Step 1 . Go to cPanel and click on File Manager.

Step 2 . Open the ' public_html ' folder and scroll until you find a file named 'wp-config.php .'

Step 3 . Right-click and select ' Edit '. Scroll down the page until you find the text, ' That's all, stop editing. Happy blogging ', add this code above it:

 define ('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M'); 

Step 4 . Click " Save changes" and close the file.

3. Error setting up database connection

This problem occurs when WordPress cannot connect to the database. Your database contains all the media and content that you display on your site, so when this happens, your site will be offline.

Restart MySQL server

In cPanel, look for options to restart server services and restart MySQL server. Now check your website connection. If the problem continues, take the next steps.

Check the database server

If after restarting the database server, you still cannot connect to it, probably because the database server is corrupted. To verify this, open phpMyAdmin from cPanel or any other database manager and see if it can connect to the database. If you cannot log in, or there is no database table displayed, chances are that the MySQL server is down (and restarting does not work). Contact your web host immediately.

Check the database table

If the database server works well, then you have to check if your WordPress tables are still available. You may have accidentally deleted database tables or a script infected with a virus or malware that has deleted it.

Step 1 . Open phpMyAdmin from cPanel and search for WordPress database tables.

Step 2 . If you see the database table, check them all and select " Repair Tables ".

Check the database user certificate

Finally, if the above methods do not fix this error, check the wp-config.php file to see if you have correctly entered the database user certificate.

In the wp-config.php file , you need to check the user name, database name, host and password. Also you can check if the table prefix is ​​correct (default is wp_). If it is not correct, correct the errors and your site will return to normal.

4. Cannot access the WordPress Dashboard

This error is relatively common, when it happens, you will see an error message indicating that the database needs to be repaired. The message appears whenever you try to access the dashboard.

Step 1 . In the file ' wp-config.php ', add the following code on the new line:

 define ('WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true); 

Step 2. Visit "http://www.yourwebsite.com/wpadmin/mait/repair.php." (Replace "yourwebsite.com" with the URL of your website.) Fix any errors on the database.

Step 3 . Go back to the ' wp-config.php ' file and delete the code you added in step two because if so, anyone can access your admin page.

Step 4 . Now your site will return to normal.

If the problem persists, then the plugin or theme may fail. In this case, follow these steps:

Step 1 . Navigate to the plugin directory, for example, wp-content.

Step 2 . Rename the ' plugins ' folder to ' plugins_old ' and then create a new folder and name it ' plugins '.

Step 3 . Check your website, if you can now access the dashboard, it means the plugin failed.

Step 4 . To follow this plugin, move other plugin files into the new plugin directory. After each move, try accessing your dashboard.

Step 5 . Errors in the plugins when moved will prevent access to the dashboard, so quickly delete it.

If the problem is not in the plugin, repeat the above procedure for the theme file.

5. Connection timed out

The sign that you are experiencing this error is receiving the ' Connection timed out ' message after downloading the web page. The cause of this error is very simple. Your website is sending many requests to the server that it cannot handle promptly. Here are some solutions to overcome this problem.

Increase memory limit in wp-config.php file

The most common reason for this error is ' PHP memory limit Exceeded '. You can increase the PHP memory limit by adding the following code to the wp-config.php file.

 define ('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M'); 

Turn off all plugins

Turning off WordPress plugins can help you keep track of violating plugin programs. Some plugins have poorly recorded significant server resources.

Step 1 . Go to the Plugins section in WordPress dashboard and turn off all plugins.

Step 2 . Slowly reactivate each plugin and see which plugin is causing the problem.

Contact your host to upgrade

Sometimes this error is possible because your hosting package is not enough to support page loading. This means you need to upgrade your hosting package (more RAM / memory is needed for storage needs).

Contact your host for a larger package for the website. This will help increase the processing capability of the website and accept more requests from the plugin.

6. The WordPress admin area is locked

This can happen when you forget your password and cannot access the recovery email or maybe your site is hacked. To be able to access your account again, follow these steps:

Step 1 . Open phpMyAdmin from cPanel.

Step 2 . Click on " Database " and select your WordPress website database. Select the " wp_users " table (or the " Users " table if you are using a custom WP prefix).

Step 3 . Find your WordPress username in this column and select " Edit ".

In the next page, you will see the column ' user_password '. This is the column to edit, edit the strange characters with your new password.

On the drop-down menu next to it, select ' MD5 ' as the encryption technique. This is to make sure your password is hidden.

Click " Go " and try to log in with your new login information.

7. Redirect login page

In this case, you cannot access your website because it redirects. In most cases after redirection, it will return to the login page but the connection timed out. You cannot view the website dashboard because of this error. Here are some ways to fix this problem.

1. Delete cookies, cache and browser history and try again.

2. If the above method does not work, follow the solution outlined in problem # 2 above. This action will create a new " .htacess " file. Then login again.

3. Turn off all your plugins as explained in the above number five solution.

Edit the wp-config.php file

If no way works, try doing the following:

Step 1 . Add the following code to the wp-config.php file:

 define ('WP_HOME', 'https: //yourwebsite.com'); define ('WP_SITEURL', 'https: //yourwebsite.com'); 

Save the changes and try logging in again.

8. WordPress is stuck in maintenance mode

Usually, you need to install new updates for WordPress. These updates may be for plugins or themes. Sometimes they are WordPress updates for themselves. WordPress handles all of this automatically, but sometimes it can happen.

In this case, WordPress is stuck during maintenance. It cannot complete this action and cannot access the site's dashboard. Your website will display continuous maintenance messages for users.

Step 1 . Log in to CPanel and open File Manager.

Step 2 . Search for the ' .maintenance ' file in the root directory and delete it.

This will solve your problem. A temporary ' .maintenance ' file is responsible for displaying this notice instead of your website. Deleting it will delete this message.

9. Cannot upload images to WordPress

When the problem occurs, you cannot upload the image to WordPress. Sometimes the upload process is complete, but the image may be corrupted or lost. The problem is because the permissions are attached to the upload folder in WordPress.

Step 1 . Log in to Cpanel, go to File Manager.

Step 2 . Go to the ' public_html ' directory. Next, click on the ' wp-content ' folder. Find the ' uploads ' folder.

Step 3 . Right-click on the ' uploads ' folder and click ' change permissions .' Follow the settings on the image below and select ' Change permissions ' to save.

10. Fix 404 error

If you delete a post / page, 404 error will appear and you can safely ignore it. If you see a 404 error appearing on the supposedly available page, the problem is with the permalink.

Step 1 . Go to the WordPress Dashboard, click Settings and then click on Permalinks .

Step 2 . Click the " Save Changes " button.

The problem will disappear. If this doesn't work, contact your host provider, ask them to turn on mod_rewrite rules.

The above are some of the most annoying issues you may encounter with WordPress. Therefore, when encountering these problems, do not panic, see the proposed solutions above.

I wish you all success!

See more:

1. The guide to turning Blogger into WordPress does not worry about losing Google rankings
2. Instructions for installing WordPress on the Vitual Server with Cloud9
3. 11 security tips for WordPress blogs