Topics

  • The White Screen of Death
  • Internal Server Error
  • Fault Establishing Database Connectedness
    • Incorrect wp-config.php Information
    • Problems with Your Web Host
    • Compromised Website
  • Failed Auto-Upgrade
  • Connection Timed Out
  • Maintenance Mode Post-obit Upgrade
  • You Brand Changes and Nothing Happens
  • Pretty Permalinks 404 and Images not Working
  • Custom Post Type 404 Errors
  • Specific Fault Messages
    • PHP Errors
      • Fatal Errors and Warnings
      • Parse errors
      • Apply of an undefined constant
    • Database Errors
      • Error thirteen – Cannot Create/Write to File
      • CREATE Command Denied to User
      • Error 28
      • Error 145
      • Unknown Column
    • Resources

If you are encountering a WordPress error message or white screen, don't panic. Someone has likely encountered the same message before and information technology tin easily exist solved.

This page lists the most common WordPress errors experienced by WordPress users, and provides a starting indicate for fixing them. At WordPress Support, you volition too find links to more than detailed pages or forums where a volunteer will be there to help.

The White Screen of Decease

Both PHP errors and database errors tin can manifest as a white screen, a blank screen with no data, ordinarily known in the WordPress community as the WordPress White Screen of Death (WSOD).

Before resorting to desperate measures, there are a number of reasons for the WordPress white screen of death:

  • A Plugin is causing compatibility issues. If y'all can access the Administration Screens endeavour deactivating all of your Plugins and then reactivating them ane by one. If you are unable to admission your Screens, log in to your website via FTP. Locate the folder wp-content/plugins and rename the Plugin folder plugins_old. This will conciliate all of your Plugins. Y'all tin can read more well-nigh manually deactivating your plugins in the Troubleshooting FAQ.
  • Your Theme may be causing the problem. This is especially likely if you are experiencing the white screen of expiry after you have simply activated a new Theme, or created a New Site in a WordPress Network. Log in to the WordPress Assistants Screens and actuate a default WordPress Theme (eastward.g. Xx Twenty-I). If you lot are using WordPress five.8 and below, please switch to 20 Twenty-One theme since the Twenty Twenty-Two theme requires 5.9 and in a higher place. If you tin't access your Administration Screens, access your website via FTP and navigate to the /wp-content/themes/ folder. Rename the folder for the active Theme.

The WP_DEBUG feature often provides additional information.

Superlative ↑

Internal Server Mistake

Internal Server Error message

In that location tin can be a number of reasons for an Internal Server Error. Here are some thing you can do to solve information technology:

  • The nigh likely issue is a corrupted .htaccess file. Log in to your site root using FTP and rename your .htaccess file to .htaccess_old. Try loading your site to see if this has solved your problem. If it works, make sure to visit Settings > Permalinks and reset your permalinks. This will generate a new .htaccess file for yous.
  • Try deactivating all of your Plugins to see if it is a Plugin issue. If you are unable to admission your WordPress Administration Screens, conciliate your Plugins via FTP by following these instructions.
  • Switch the Theme to a WordPress default Theme (e.g. Twenty Twenty-1) to eliminate any Theme-related problems. If yous are using WordPress 5.8 and below, please switch to 20 Twenty-One theme since the Twenty 20-2 theme requires 5.9 and to a higher place.
  • Increase the PHP Memory limit
  • Endeavour re-uploading the wp-admin and wp-includes folders from a fresh install of WordPress.

Top ↑

Error Establishing Database Connexion

If yous go a page featuring the message "Error Establishing Database Connection," this ways that there is a problem with the connexion to your database and there could exist a number of reasons for this. The following are possible reasons and solutions.

Top ↑

Incorrect wp-config.php Data

"Error establishing a database connexion" is normally caused by an error in your wp-config.php file. Admission your site in your FTP customer. Open wp-config.php and ensure that the following are correct:

  • Database proper name
  • Database username
  • Database countersign
  • Database host

Learn more than well-nigh editing wp-config.php.

If you are sure your configuration is correct y'all could endeavour resetting your MySQL countersign manually.

Summit ↑

Problems with Your Web Host

The next step is to contact your web host. The following hosting problems may be causing the trouble:

  • Your database has met its quota and has been close downward.
  • The server is down.

Contact your hosting provider to come across if either of these issues is causing your problem.

Top ↑

Compromised Website

If you have checked wp-config.php for errors, and confirmed with your host for hosting issues, it is possible that your site has been hacked.

Scan your site with Sucuri SiteCheck to ensure that it hasn't been compromised. If information technology has you should check out My Site was Hacked.

Superlative ↑

Failed Motorcar-Upgrade

There will be situations when the WordPress machine-update feature fails. Symptoms include:

  • A bare white screen and no information.
  • A warning that the update failed.
  • A PHP error message.

The WordPress automated upgrade feature may fail due to a glitch in the connection with the main WordPress files, a problem with your Internet connectedness during upgrade, or incorrect File Permissions

To update your WordPress site manually, run into the Manual Update article.

Top ↑

Connectedness Timed Out

The connection timed out mistake appears when your website is trying to practice more than your server tin can manage. It is particularly common on shared hosting where your memory limit is restricted. Here are some things you tin try:

  • Deactivate all Plugins. If deactivating all the WordPress Plugins on your site resolves the consequence, reactivate them i-by-one to come across which plugin is causing the problem. If you are unable to access your Assistants Screens, read about how to manually conciliate your plugins.
  • Switch to a default WordPress Theme. If you are using WordPress 5.eight and beneath, please switch to Twenty 20-One theme since the Twenty Twenty-Ii theme requires 5.9 and higher up. This should dominion out any Theme-related problems.
  • Increment your memory limit in wp-config.php. If you are on shared hosting you may have to inquire your hosting provider to increment your memory limit for you.
  • Increase the maximum execution time in your php.ini file. This is not a WordPress core file so if you are not certain how to edit it, contact your hosting provider to inquire them to increment your maximum execution time. See below instructions for increasing maximum execution time.

Top ↑

Maintenance Mode Following Upgrade

When WordPress updates, it automatically installs a .maintenance file. Following upgrade, you may receive a bulletin that says "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Please check back in a minute." The maintenance file may not have been removed properly.

To remove this message do the following:

  1. Log in to your website using your FTP program
  2. Delete the .maintenance file, which volition be found in your site root.

Read more nigh the maintenance mode issue.

Top ↑

You Make Changes and Zip Happens

If you are making changes to your website and yous do not see the changes in your browser, you may need to articulate your browser cache. Your browser stores data about the websites that yous visit. This makes information technology faster to load websites when you visit them because the browser just has to reload data already stored on your reckoner, rather than downloading information technology once again.

If you lot make a change to a website and the browser does not think it is meaning, it will simply load the information from your enshroud, and you won't see your changes. To fix the problem, merely empty your browser cache or close the tab and reopen the link.

Top ↑

If y'all are experiencing 404 errors with pretty permalinks and a white screen when you upload images, mod_rewrite may not be enabled in Apache by default. Mod_rewrite is an extension module of the Apache web server software which allows for "rewriting" of URLs on-the-fly. Information technology'southward what y'all need to make pretty permalinks work.

WordPress Multisite networks usually feel this but it tin also occur on shared hosting providers or after a site migration or server motion.

Reset your permalinks through Settings > Permalinks. If this does not work, yous may have to edit the .htaccess file manually.

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^alphabetize\.php$ - [50]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

If y'all are not familiar with editing your .htaccess file, contact your hosting provider to ask them to plough on mod_rewrite rules. In that location is more information on pretty permalinks in the WordPress Codex.

Elevation ↑

Custom Post Blazon 404 Errors

You may experience problems with 404 errors and custom post types. Try the following steps:

  1. Make sure that none of your Custom Mail Types and single pages have the aforementioned name. If they practise, rename the single page, including the slug.
  2. Log in to your WordPress Administration Screens, navigate to Settings > Permalinks. Select the default permalinks. Save. And then reselect your preferred permalinks. This will affluent the rewrite rules and should solve your trouble.

Top ↑

Specific Fault Messages

There are a number of unlike errors that will appear in your error logs. To admission your fault logs y'all will demand to turn on debugging and then locate your mistake log via FTP. The following data will help you to decipher some of the common error messages.

Top ↑

PHP Errors

Below are some common PHP mistake messages.

Meridian ↑

Fatal Errors and Warnings

If you receive a warning that WordPress cannot modify header information and headers are already sent, it ordinarily ways that you have spaces or characters before the opening tags or after the closing tags. Read how to fix the headers already sent error.

If yous are experiencing this problem when you have just installed WordPress you may have introduced a syntax error into wp-config.php. These instructions volition help y'all to fix the mistake.

Call to undefined function

An error reading call to undefined function could hateful that a WordPress Plugin is trying to find a file or information which isn't present or accessible in the code. Reasons for this include:

  • An error when trying to motorcar-install or auto-upgrade a Plugin. Endeavour installing or upgrading the Plugin manually.
  • An error when trying to auto-install or car-upgrade a Theme. Endeavor installing or upgrading the Theme manually.
  • You may be using an incompatible WordPress Plugin or incompatible Theme. This could happen with older versions of WordPress and a new WordPress Plugin, or if you are trying to use a WordPress Multisite Plugin on a single site installation. Upgrade WordPress to resolve this outcome.
  • You may be trying to telephone call a function that doesn't be. Bank check functions.php for misspellings.

Try deactivating the WordPress Plugin or changing the WordPress Theme that caused the error to appear. If y'all are unable to do this from inside the Administration Screens, you may have to do this manually via FTP.

Allowed retentivity size wearied

An Allowed Retention Size Exhausted mistake ways that your WordPress installation doesn't have enough retentiveness to achieve what you want. You tin try out the following steps:

  • Increase your memory limit in wp-config.php
  • Increment your retentivity limit by editing php.ini. This is not a file that comes with WordPress then if yous are unfamiliar with it you should contact your spider web host well-nigh increasing your memory limit.
Maximum execution time exceeded

Yous may receive a message such equally "Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded" or "Maximum execution time of 60 seconds exceeded". This means that it is taking to longer for a process to complete and it is timing out. There are a number of ways to fix this error.

Editing .htaccess

Make certain you support .htaccess before you edit it.

Add the following line to .htaccess:

php_value max_execution_time 60

Editing php.ini

Add the following to php.ini

max_execution_time = 60

If you are unsure of how to make these changes, or if you lot are on shared hosting that prevents you from making them yourself, you should contact your hosting provider and ask them to increase your maximum execution fourth dimension.

Top ↑

Parse errors

Syntax Mistake

A syntax error means that you take made a mistake while creating your PHP structure. Y'all could, for instance, exist;

  • Missing a ; at the end of an individual line.
  • Using curly quotation marks.
  • Missing a curly bracket.

When this error appears it will tell you lot which file the error appears in (functions.php for example) and approximately which line (it may non always be the exact line and so be sure to check just before and merely after) in the code.

Unexpected

If y'all are receiving an error which says 'parse fault: unexpected' this unremarkably ways that you have forgotten to include a character. The most common are:

  • Unexpected '=' : you have forgotten to include the $ when referencing a variable
  • Unexpected ')' : you lot have forgotten to include the opening bracket (
  • Unexpected '(' : you have forgotten to include the closing bracket )
  • Unexpected T_STRING: you have forgotten a quotation marking or a semi-colon at the end of the previous line
  • Unexpected T_ELSE: you have an else statement with no opening if statement

Superlative ↑

Use of an undefined constant

Equally with parse errors, "use of an undefined constant" means that you are missing a graphic symbol. It could be 1 of the following:

  • Missing a $ when referencing a viariable
  • Missing quotation marks around array keys

Acme ↑

Database Errors

The following errors may appear in relation to your WordPress database.

Top ↑

Error 13 – Cannot Create/Write to File

In that location are a number of reasons why you may be experiencing this error.

MySQL cannot create a temporary file.

The MySQL variable tmpdir is set up to a directory that cannot be written to when using PHP to admission MySQL. To verify this, enter MySQL at the command line and type prove variables. Y'all'll get a long list and one of them volition read: tmpdir = /somedir/ (whatsoever your setting is.)

To solve this, alter the tmpdir variable to point to a writable directory.

  1. Find the my.cnf file. On *cipher systems this is usually in /etc/. On Windows system, Notice the my.ini.
  2. In one case found, open this in a simple text editor and observe the [mysqld] section.
  3. Under this department, find the tmpdir line. If this line is commented (has a # at the outset), delete the # and edit the line so that it reads: tmpdir = /writable/dir where /writable/dir is a directory to which you tin can write. Some utilise /tmp, or you lot might also try /var/tmp or /usr/tmp. On Windows, use C:/Windows/tmp.
  4. Salve the file.
  5. Shutdown MySQL by typing mysqlshutdown -u -p shutdown.
  6. Start MySQL by going to the MySQL directory and typing ./bin/safe_mysqld &. Usually the MySQL directory is in /usr/local or sometimes in /usr/ on Linux systems.

The file permissions are incorrect

Correct the File Permissions.

If none of this brand sense and you take someone to administrate your organization for you, testify the above to them and they should be able to figure information technology out.

Peak ↑

CREATE Command Denied to User

This error occurs when the user assigned to the database does not accept adequate permissions to perform the activity to create columns and tables in the database. You will demand to log in to CPanel or Plesk to give your database user adequate permissions.

Alternatively you tin can create a new user to assign to your database. If you do create a new user yous will need to ensure that it is updated in wp-config.php.

Top ↑

Error 28

It could exist considering:

  • you are out of space on /tmp (wherever tmpdir is), or,
  • you have also many files in /tmp (even if there is lots of free space), or,
  • Your cache on your server is full

This is a MySQL fault and has nothing to do with WordPress direct; you should contact your host about information technology. Some users have reported that running a "repair table" command in phpMyAdmin stock-still the problem.

Top ↑

Error 145

This indicates that a table in your database is damaged or corrupted. If you are comfy using phpMyAdmin you can utilise these instructions on repairing your MySQL database tables.

Always backup your database before performing whatever actions on it.

If you take not used phpMyAdmin earlier, or are uncomfortable doing then, contact your web host and ask them to run CHECK/REPAIR on your database.

Top ↑

Unknown Column

An unknown column error tin exist caused by a missing column in the database. If you have simply upgraded WordPress then try manually upgrading again. To update your WordPress site manually, see the Update article.

If you are running a database query when y'all encounter the error then you lot may past using incorrect quotation marks for the identifier quote character. This question on Stack Overflow provides more details. Too see the MySQL documentation.

Superlative ↑

Resources

  • MySQL Error Codes and Messages