Common WordPress Challenges and Their Solutions

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Who doesn’t love WordPress? It is a popular content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL, powering 33% of the internet, but sometimes it drives us crazy. If you are a WordPress user and has installed several plugins, extensions, and themes, you might know that encountering an error is an inevitable occurrence. Undoubtedly, it’s annoying when you encounter a technical error and unable to find a solution for it. However, the good thing about choosing WordPress as your CMS is that the problem, which you encounter is most likely been reported and fixed by someone before you; thanks to a huge and active WordPress community! In this informative post, I’ve listed down the common WordPress issues that users encounter on a daily basis along with their solutions. Let’s get started.

Internal Server Error

‘Internal Server Error’ or sometimes known as ‘500 Internal Server Error’, is one of the most common problems that many WordPress users encounter. As a WP beginner, you might get intimidated if you encounter this problem, because, this error does not tell you what you need to do to fix it. This error usually occurs when something goes wrong but your server is unable to find what exactly the problem is and where it is.

Wondering, what to do now?

Solution

The primary reason behind this problem is a corrupted .htaccess file. To resolve the issue, it’s wise to start from scratch. Access your WP files via FTP and rename the .htaccess file to .htaccess_fault. If you are unable to find your files, they might be hidden; make sure you check the option ‘show hidden files’. Once you are able to find the file, rename it and then go to the dashboard of WordPress » Settings » Permalinks and press Save changes. On clicking the save button, a new .htaccess file will be generated that will help you validate the new version of the .htaccess file that works correctly.

You may also encounter this issue as a result of plugin incompatibility. The best way to fix the plugin incompatibility issue is deactivating all the plugins and then reactivate them one by one until you find that faulty plugin causing the problem.

White Screen of Death (WSOD)

Another common problem that WP users encounter is the white screen of death (WSOD). As the name suggests, this error shows a plain white screen with no error message. For beginners, it is quite challenging to fix this problem, since, it gives absolutely no clues as to what could’ve gone wrong.

The prime reasons for the occurrence of this error are:

  • Exhausted memory
  • A plugin
  • A theme

Solution

Increase the PHP memory limit: You are likely to face this problem when you’ve reached the memory limit. The best method to fix the issue is increasing the amount of available memory in the wp-config file.

Disable the faulty plugin: If a plugin is causing the WSOD problem, it’s important that you disable all the plugins, which you’ve installed and restore them one by one to find the faulty one.

Uninstall the faulty theme and use a default theme: A faulty theme could also be the reason behind the WSOD. To overcome this issue, it’s wise to uninstall the existing theme and use a default theme in that place.

Locked Out of WordPress Admin Panel

Many WP users encounter this problem when they forget the login credentials or when their website has been hacked. To recover the login credentials, you can use your recovery email. Sometimes, recovery emails take a good amount of time to reach your mailbox. In that case, you can create a new password through phpMyAdmin using the control panel.

Solution

To retrieve access to your WP account, you need to open phpMyAdmin from the cPanel. Now, click on the database and look for the wp_users table. After that, you need to find your username in the user_login section. Once you find it, right click on your username and click on the edit button. On clicking, you can set a new password of your choice. You will also find a dropdown menu beside the user_pass field, from where you’ve to select MD5 as the encryption technique and click on the save changes button. Now, you’re ready to access your admin panel using the new password.

Final Words

If you are a WordPress user, you’re likely to encounter the problems discussed above. Whenever you come across any of these challenges, you can refer to this article as your troubleshooting guide.

About the Author

Nathan Smith is a professional WordPress developer who provides all-inclusive WP services including WordPress migration, open-source CMS development, custom plugin development, WordPress theme design services, support & maintenance, and more.

We are influencers and brand affiliates.  This post contains affiliate links, most which go to Amazon and are Geo-Affiliate links to nearest Amazon store.