How to Resolve Top 8 Common WordPress Errors?

Resolution for solving 8 common WordPress errors is given in this article do read it.

We cannot deny the fact that WordPress is one of the most loved platforms for people to build websites today. As much as we admire it, there are times when WordPress makes maintaining a website one heck of a job.

Be it a white screen of death that irritates or an unknown database error that causes your website to break down, WordPress becomes no fun when you encounter such errors. Fortunately, for every problem, there is a solution and WordPress is no exception.

If you are not one of those who like to get their hands dirty in coding and messing around with WP files, you can always take help of the professionals.

Outsource WordPress Development service is one sure shot solution to get rid of all WordPress errors once and for all. However, if you are more of a “do-it-yourself” person, we’ve got you covered here.

We are going to share some of the most 8 common WordPress errors webmasters come across and a way to resolve it. Hope you find them handy.

1. Error Establishing a Database Connection

Ever tried installing WordPress? If so, you probably be familiar with this error. Moreover, this is quite a self-explanatory error. The error clearly indicates that you couldn’t connect to your database.

Well, there can be several causes of this error including an error in wp-config.Php, a problem in web hosting or hacking.

Solution:
Fix your wp-config.php
Open your wp-config.php file through FTP or file manager in Cpanel and check whether database information is correct or not including the database name, host, username, and password. If you are just a beginner, you would need to learn few things about wp-config file.

Well, you can find the relevant information written under a comment saying

//** MySQL settings – you can get this information from your web host **//
/** The name of the database for WordPress **//

define(‘DB_Name’, ‘your_database_name’);
and so on…..

Fixes issues with web host
If you find your wp-config.php file absolutely fine, it’s time to check with your web hosting provider. You would get to know whether your database has exceeded its quota or there are some temporary issues with the server.

Scan your site for hacking attacks
Hacking is a common practice with WordPress websites since it is one of the most vulnerable CMS available because of its popularity. In case you find everything fine with your hosting server, you better prepare your site from hacking attacks.

Install a plugin or two such as Sucuri Sitecheck to ensure everything is in place and nothing is going to hurt your site. Additionally, make sure you backup your site every so often in case something goes wrong.

2. Lost Admin password or email is not working

With so many passwords to keep in your mind, it’s quite normal to forget a password or two. In fact, remembering passwords becomes hard at times.

Unfortunately, like other platforms, WordPress makes it quite difficult to recover or change your site’s admin password. You have clicked on “forgot your password” link, filled your relevant email id to get the password change link, but failed to get any link in your email id. Yes, it does happen with WordPress.

Solution:
Use the power of database
Login to your Cpanel and under databases section, open phpMyAdmin. Next click on your database name. You should be able to see many tables in the right tab.

Click on a table called wp-users and then browse. You should see a row with your username details such as username, password, ID and much more.

Now, it’s time to change your password in the user_pass column. Note before saving it, click on MD5 in the menu function.

Edit your functions.php
Set up a connection with your server via FTP and open “functions.php” file. Reset your password by adding following line of code

wp-set-password(‘DesiredNewPassword’, 1); Change the value of desiredNewPassword with your new password and the other parameter is the user_ID from the wp-users table. Hit save to save all the changes made in the file and upload it your FTP.

3. Connection timed out error

This is one of the most common yet important error that usually lives on an overwhelmed shared server.
Causes:

1. Heavy themes or plugins
2. errors in theme functions
3. Exhausted PHP Memory Limit

Solutions:
Since the problem is related to heavy website activities, you can easily get rid of this error by uninstalling any heavy plugin installed lately and switching back to a simple theme such as ‘twentythirteen’ or ‘twentytwelve’ theme to check if the problem persists.

You can also increase your PHP memory limit by adding a line of code in your functions.php
define(‘WP-MEMORY-LIMIT’, ‘256M’)
or you can add this line of code in your .htaccess file at the top.
php_value memory_limit 256M

4. Stylesheet Missing

You probably have bought a beautiful and enticing theme from a trusted source; however, still you find a “theme install failed” error in while installing it. Frustrating. Isn’t it?

Well, there are two things possible either you have been robbed (which we hope isn’t true) or you have missed uploading a root theme folder.

Solution:
Open your theme folder and check if it comes with a sub-directory. Find a folder with the same name as that of your theme name. Now zip it and try uploading it either via FTP or WordPress itself.

5. 404 Page errors

Have you just received a 404 error on your blog page? It is common and usually is a result of bad permalink settings. This is a common problem with themes that offer custom post types.

Solution:
To get things right, you need to make certain changes in your permalinks. Open settings and then permalinks. Choose a relevant option and hit save button. Check again if your post is still returning a 404 error or not.

6. Internal Server Error.

This is one of the most confusing problems of all. It usually showed up as “Internal Server Error” or sometimes as “500 Internal Server Error”. It signifies that there is a problem however it just cannot be identified by the Server. This is where the confusion lies.

Where might the problem happen? And this you have to figure out yourself. Let us see the solutions for such problem.

Solution
In order to find what the problem starts following these steps,

1. Check for the corrupt .htaccess file. Try renaming the file something as .htaccess_pre. Then load your website. If the problem is in your .htaccess file then the problem is solved. Or else you have to do other steps.

2. Try increasing your PHP Memory Limit. If you’re seeing this error only when you’re trying to login to your WordPress account, then create a blank text file and name it as php.ini.

Then paste this code: memory=64MB in there. Save the file and upload it in /wp-admin/ using FTP. IF the problem pursues, then move on to next step.

3. Try re-uploading your core files. Remember, it will not change anything but might solve the issue if your core files are corrupt.

WordPress White Screen of Death

This again is one of the most puzzling error. It gives no clue at all. This is the reason it became more important to remove this error. But how? How do you solve this problem? Well, just follow these solutions.

Solution
Follow these steps to find the source of your problem.

1. Try increasing the PHP memory limit. Most of the time, this is the case and usually get sorted with this step only. Yet, if your problem still persuades, then go to the next step.

2. Disable all your plugins. Now, if the problem solved by disabling the plugins. Then activate them one by one and observe which one is creating the problem. If the problem still persuades, then move to the next step.

3. Replace your theme with the default theme. This step solves the issue most of the time.

Resource Limit Reached Error

When you opt for a hosting service which allows you to have a certain storage limit, transfer limits and user traffic limits. When those exceeds before the month ends, this generates the error message. So, now, what are options you have? Let’s have a look at the solutions below,

Solution

1. In order to solve this issue, have a look at these steps below.
The only solution that can work here for you is upgrading your account.

2. However, you can check the status of your bandwidth by going to the cPanel, then to Logs, then Resource and finally Details. If your cPanel doesn’t provide you Log option then you can check that in the option Bandwidth.
This is the only solution for this error.

Wrapping up:
Sometimes it does get hard to tackle certain errors in your WordPress website. However with little patience and caution, you can get rid of them in no time.

About the Author-
Emily Johns is a WordPress developer cum blogger. She is associated with Wordsuccor Ltd., a leading Wordpress CMS Development Company based in the USA. Emily can be found here working on custom WordPress development and theme customization for small business and corporate clients.