The 7 most common problems on WordPress

Using the WordPress CMS is not always straightforward, and you have likely encountered a fair number of problems that are difficult to resolve quickly and easily. But before fixing them, it is important to understand the cause. Discover the 7 best-known WordPress errors and our top tips for solving them.

1. The White Screen of Death (WSOD)

The White Screen of Death is one of the most common and most serious errors you can encounter as a WordPress user. When it appears, you are unable to perform a single action on your site, leaving you stuck with no access to the admin panel.

• Where does this problem come from? It can often be triggered by a plugin, your theme, or one or more errors in your database.
• How to fix it? The best course of action is to check each of these elements and rename the plugins directory, which you can find in /wp-content/, then migrate them one by one back through your dashboard.

2. Missing plugins or plugin-related issues

Plugins are very useful and beneficial most of the time, but they can quickly become the source of problems on your site. If one plugin conflicts with another, you will run into difficulties when using your CMS.

• Where does this problem come from? The issue automatically originates from one of your plugins.
• How to fix it? To resolve this, you need to delete all your plugins and reinstall them one by one to identify which one is preventing your site from functioning correctly. Once the faulty plugin has been identified, it must be replaced with a similar alternative, or with the previous version.

3. Your site loads slowly

The slower your WordPress site is, the more time and energy you lose. Worse still, it can jeopardise the browsing experience for your visitors.

• Where does this problem come from? The reason is simple: the more operations your computer is performing simultaneously, the longer it takes to load.
• How to fix it? Try to carry out operations one at a time to spare your computer from having to handle an excessively heavy load.

5. Errors 500, 502 and 404

Error 500 (Internal Server Error)

You may encounter the alarming message "500 Internal Server Error" on your screen, rendering your site inaccessible. There are various possible causes, which can be difficult to identify.

• Where does this problem come from? The most frequent cause on WordPress is a corrupted file — specifically the ".htaccess" file in the root directory.
• How to fix it? To resolve this, simply delete the file and create a new one. Connect to the root directory via FTP and rename the .htaccess file. Then log in to your WordPress dashboard, select your preferred permalink option and save the changes.

Error 502 (HTTP 502 Bad Gateway)

This error appears in your browser and renders your site unusable — a genuine problem for both you and your visitors.

• Where does this problem come from? This does not generally mean that the upstream server is down, but rather that an upstream server or gateway/proxy is unable to communicate data. In most cases, this problem is not on your end, but on the server's.
• How to fix it? This depends on the situation. If every site you visit displays this error, it is likely a maintenance and hardware overload issue, or a problem with your ISP. Also consider checking or correctly configuring your firewall.

Error 404

This is the most common error you may find on certain pages of your WordPress site. It means that the requested web page cannot be found.

• Where does this problem come from? This error is returned by an HTTP server that does not exist, or no longer exists. It typically stems from a change to your site's permalink structure. If you have modified the permalink structure, you may end up with links pointing to pages that no longer correspond to the correct address.
• How to fix it? Ideally, you should install one of several effective WordPress plugins, such as 404 Notifier or Redirection, to monitor or flag this type of error and resolve it efficiently.

6. WordPress admin panel display failure

It may happen that your WordPress administration page does not display correctly — or at all. The CSS stylesheet has disappeared, or images and buttons are missing and displaying in HTML-only mode.

• Where does this problem come from? This can be caused by connecting through a proxy or firewall, which may interfere with the downloading of CSS files.
• How to fix it? Simply clear the cache and cookies from your proxy or firewall by pressing Ctrl + F5.
  If the problem persists, your WordPress plugins need to be checked and updated. If that is the case, deactivate any recently installed plugins.

7. Maintenance-related issues

Typically, the message "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance" stops you in your tracks during an action on WordPress, such as an update. Your site remains locked and your visitors can no longer access it.

• Where does this problem come from? This is not directly caused by your update itself, but by the maintenance message. When you perform this action, WordPress switches to "maintenance" mode. During this process, your site creates a file called ".maintenance" at the root level. The presence of this file causes your site to display as unavailable. This situation does not necessarily mean your update has failed.
• How to fix it? To remove this message, simply delete the ".maintenance" file. You will need to connect to your FTP server to do so. Also make sure your FTP client is set to display hidden files.

Source: Premium.wpudev.org

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