Topic
Fixes for the errors that take a WordPress site down.
Troubleshooting
Before touching WordPress, find out whether DNS resolves, the server answers and PHP runs. Each layer fails differently, and the browser message tells you which one to look at.
Troubleshooting
When pretty URLs return 404 but the homepage loads, the server is not routing requests into WordPress. Fix the rewrite layer instead of changing the permalink structure.
Troubleshooting
A missing menu is usually an unassigned location, a cached page, or CSS hiding it at a certain width. Check assignment first, then markup, then styling.
Troubleshooting
Blurry images almost always mean WordPress is serving a small generated size scaled up, or compressing the file twice. Match the upload size to the display size and control the compression quality.
Troubleshooting
Broken images have four possible causes: the file is gone, the URL is wrong, the server refuses to serve it, or a plugin rewrote the path. Test the image URL directly to find out which.
Troubleshooting
Separate a form that never submits from a form that submits and loses the notification, then fix the layer that is actually failing in Contact Form 7, Elementor, WPForms or Ninja Forms.
Troubleshooting
WordPress sends mail through PHP by default, and most hosts and inboxes reject it. Find out whether the message left the server, then move the site to authenticated SMTP.
WooCommerce
Fix checkout spinning, reloading or rejecting orders by identifying whether validation, JavaScript, payment webhooks, sessions, caching or a plugin conflict failed.
Elementor
Diagnose an Elementor editor stuck on a gray screen or spinner by checking console and PHP errors, Safe Mode, plugin conflicts, memory, URLs and proxy settings.
Troubleshooting
First confirm WordPress saved the revision, then identify whether the stale version comes from browser, plugin, host, CDN, generated CSS or the wrong environment.
Troubleshooting
Log WordPress PHP errors without showing them to visitors, reproduce the problem once, read the relevant entries and disable or secure logging afterward.
Troubleshooting
Disable one broken plugin by renaming its folder, deactivate all plugins through WP-CLI, or reset the plugins directory safely without deleting settings.