One of the best things about WordPress is that it’s very easy to use. You don’t need to know any code to create and manage a website using this platform. That’s one of the main reasons why it powers 30% of the Internet. However, even this amazing platform isn’t perfect and an occasional error does happen. This list of most common WordPress errors and solutions will help you deal with these issues fast, regardless of your coding skill level.
4 Most Common WordPress Errors and Solutions to Them
1. White Screen of Death
The white screen can appear as a result of several problems. The most common are:
- Plugin incompatibility (might appear after a plugin update).
The simplest solution is to disable all your plugins via Administration Screens. Then turn them on one by one to find the piece of software causing the problem and replace it. - Theme issues (including missing or renamed theme directory).
The theme is most likely the cause if the white screen pops up right after you changed it. To fix this error, set the default WordPress theme using Administrator Screens. If the white screen prevents you from using it, access the website using FTP (/wp-content/theme/folder) and rename the active theme folder to WordPress Twenty Sixteen Theme. The directory issues often appear after you’ve just cloned your database and it’s the original that had the necessary directory missing. You’ll be able to see WordPress error ‘The theme directory (name) does not exist’ if you log in as an admin. Renaming the directory or switching themes should solve the issue.
The white screen of death can be terrifying, especially for a beginner, but this problem is actually very easy to fix. Doing this is so fast, you won’t have any delays when starting a blog. WordPress allows you to get one up and running within 15 minutes.
2. Internal Server Error
Like the majority of the common WordPress Errors, the internal server error can occur for different reasons. Theme and plugin issues might cause it, and you can resolve them in the same way as described above.
However, this particular problem is more often a result of .htaccess file issues. To fix it you should access the website using FTP and rename the file to .htaccess_old. Reset the permalinks when the website starts working again so the program can generate a new .htaccess file.
Note that sometimes you might experience this error because of limited PHP Memory. Increase the limit manually to see if it helps.
3. Connection Timed Out
The connection timed out error occurs if your hosting can’t handle the load coming from your website. The website itself might be the problem if you have many plugins and ‘heavy’ content. But if you use poor-quality shared hosting, the issue might appear because you’ve been cheated out of the promised server space.
If disabling plugins and switching to default and minimal graphic settings doesn’t help, contact the host. Be sure to check and if necessary increase your memory limit (wp-config.php) and execution time (php.ini).
4. Nothing Happens after Changes
This is one of the most common WordPress errors and it’s not really an error. The issue appears when you make some changes to your website (usually small edits) but can’t see them in the browser.
You only need to clean out your cache and try again. Sometimes something as simple as closing the website and reopening it again can solve the issue.
