An unsettling notice that reads “There has been a critical problem on your website” is shown to website owners who use WordPress. It prevents people from accessing the website, and in certain instances, it also contains access to the administrative control panel.
Thankfully, implementing a solution to this problem won’t require much effort. This article will explain what it means when your website displays the warning “There has been a serious mistake on your website,” as well as provide five potential solutions.
What is the Critical Error in WordPress?
A critical error in WordPress refers to a severe issue that disrupts the normal functioning of a WordPress website or renders it inaccessible. It is an unexpected and significant problem that can occur due to various factors, such as conflicts between themes or plugins, server misconfigurations, or database-related issues.
Critical errors often result in error messages, blank screens, or the inability to access the website’s content or admin dashboard. Resolving a critical error requires troubleshooting the underlying cause, which may involve deactivating problematic plugins, rectifying server configurations, or fixing database connections. Timely resolution of critical errors is crucial to ensure a WordPress site’s proper functioning and availability.
What Causes the “There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website” Error?
Several factors can contribute to this error message, including:
- ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT: This error occurs when the web server takes too long to respond, usually due to a slow or overloaded server.
- ERR_CACHE_MISS: This error is typically related to caching issues. It can be caused by misconfigured cache settings or conflicts with plugins or PHP tools that handle caching.
- 500 Internal Server Error: This generic error indicates a server-side issue. File corruption, misconfigurations, or problems with server software can cause it.
- Establishing a Database Connection: This error occurs when a problem connects to the website’s database. Database corruption, incorrect database credentials, or server issues can cause it.
- HTTP 503 Service Unavailable: This error indicates that the server is temporarily unable to handle requests. It can be caused by server maintenance, high traffic, or server overload.
- HTTP 502 Bad Gateway: This error is often caused by a misconfigured or overloaded proxy server. It occurs when the server acting as a gateway or intermediary receives an invalid response from an upstream server.
- Plugin or Theme Compatibility: Incompatibility between plugins or themes and your WordPress version can lead to critical errors. Outdated or poorly coded plugins or themes may conflict with other elements of your website, triggering the error.
- Insufficient Memory: If your website’s server has limited memory allocation, it can result in critical errors. When your website exceeds the available memory, essential processes may fail, causing the error message to appear.
- Corrupted Files: A corrupted or missing file within your WordPress installation can also trigger a critical error. This can occur due to incomplete updates, file permissions issues, or malware infections.
- PHP Errors: Problems with PHP scripts, which power WordPress and its plugins, can lead to critical errors. Syntax errors, deprecated functions, or incompatible PHP versions can cause the error message to occur.
Learn: Troubleshooting A Hacked WordPress Website
How to Fix the “There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website” Error?
The first step in correcting a significant WordPress mistake is determining what initially caused the issue. Do not be concerned if you did not get the notification email from WordPress since it contains further information about the specific file and line of code that caused the problem.
You may use different approaches to identify and fix the major mistake that has occurred on your WordPress website.
1. Check Error Logs
The first way involves examining the error log file, which is responsible for storing details on PHP errors. You should contact your hosting provider for assistance if you cannot find the error log file. It is essential to keep in mind that the error log file won’t be accessible until you activate error reporting for PHP. You may achieve this by adjusting the settings for PHP inside your cPanel. If you are still unable to access the error log file, you should attempt the following approach while in debug mode.
Related: Troubleshooting Common WordPress Errors
2. Debug WordPress
The core software, themes, and plugins all come with WordPress pre-installed with a debugging mechanism that can find flaws in the code that runs them.
Once you have the debug mode enabled, you should reload your website. The information should be shown to the right of the error notice.
Activating WordPress debug will display the notice “There has been a serious problem on this website.”
If you resolve the problem by the guidelines, your website should begin functioning regularly again. Once you’ve determined the cause of the issue, you should deactivate the debug mode by setting the settings to “false.”
Read: How to Install And Configure New Plugins In WordPress?
3. Resolve any conflicts caused by the theme or plugins.
The approach that is detailed here will assist you in finding conflicts within your theme and plugins.
Examine your motif as your first step. If you have access to the administrative section of WordPress, you may easily change the theme that is currently active to a default theme such as Twenty Twenty.
If, on the other hand, you cannot enter the administration panel, you should use the File Manager or an FTP program such as FileZilla and go to public HTML > wp-content > themes. Find the folder that contains your active theme, then rename it so that it reads youractivetheme-disabled.
4. Roll Back Your Site
Restoring a website backup can often fix WordPress errors. Follow the instructions provided by your backup plugin or web hosting dashboard to restore the backup. It’s recommended to test the restored backup on a staging site before applying it to your live site.
Read: Fix “An Error Occurred In The Upload…” In WordPress
5. Clear Your Site Cache
Corrupted cache can cause errors. Clearing the cache can help resolve the issue and restore your site’s functionality. Refer to your hosting dashboard or caching plugin documentation for instructions on removing the cache.
6. Upgrade Your PHP Version
Outdated PHP versions can lead to compatibility problems and errors. Ensure your site runs on the latest supported PHP version (currently PHP 7.3 to 8.0). Make sure to have a backup before upgrading PHP. Hosting providers like Kinsta offers an easy way to upgrade PHP versions through their hosting dashboard.
7. Check for Malware
If you suspect malware as the cause of the errors, especially if you notice suspicious PHP scripts or unauthorized changes, it’s crucial to address the malware issue. Contact your web hosting provider for assistance scanning and removing malware from your website.
While the troubleshooting solutions suggested above can be effective, but if you are uncertain or hesitant, do not hesitate to seek professional assistance such as WordPress Support.
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