WordPress powers 43% of the internet and is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) used for blogging and other purposes. This popularity of WordPress is backed by an extensive plugin and theme repository where thousands of free plugins and themes are available for practically every purpose.
Expectedly, WordPress websites are prone to different errors due to different reasons. In this article, I will list the 7 most common WordPress issues that you could encounter on your website and how to troubleshoot them.
1. WordPress Permalink Errors
The permalink is the URL of a web page. Often, when you try to reach a webpage, you might encounter the 404 page not found error. It could be that there is no such page that you’re trying to access.
But it could also be that there is a problem with the permalink or the URL. The first thing to do when you encounter 404 errors on your WordPress website is navigate to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard.
On this page, ensure that your preferred permalink structure is selected. Then click the Save button to save and update your permalink settings.
Many permalink errors can be resolved with this simple trick.
2. Database Connection Errors
Sometimes, your WordPress website may fail to connect to the WordPress database. When this happens, you will notice a ‘’error establishing database connection’’ message on the screen.
Before you panic, you should open the wp-config.php file in your WordPress installation. You can use the file manager provided by your hosting to open the file or you can use a free FTP program like Filezilla.
Next, you should verify that your WordPress database details like database name and user are correct. The wrong details will result in a connection error as WordPress will be unable to connect to the database with the supplied credentials.
If the problem is still unresolved, you should try disabling and re-enabling all the plugins one by one since plugin conflict can also cause the database connection error.
3. Errors Resulting from Outdated Software
A major WordPress version is usually released every 4 months and in-between, there are minor releases focusing on security and WordPress bug fixes. If you’re running an old WordPress version, it will result in different errors and also pose a threat to your website security as older versions contain security flaws that could be exploited by hackers.
For this reason, I strongly recommend that you turn on auto-updates so that new releases of WordPress are automatically installed on your website.
The same is true for plugins and themes. Many of the plugins and themes available for free download have not been updated in years and can be exploited by hackers to gain backdoor entry into your site.
4. Theme and Plugin Conflicts
The upside of having access to thousands of free plugins and themes is obvious. But there’s a downside of installing too many plugins on your website: plugin conflict. It’s simply not possible for plugin developers to test their plugins for compatibility with thousands of other plugins.
Therefore, it’s not uncommon to experience situations where a particular plugin conflicts with some other resulting in an error on your website. Hence, if you’re troubleshooting your website, you should rule out plugin conflict right away.
You can disable all your plugins and enable them one by one to check for plugin-related WordPress errors. There’s a plugin called Health Check and Troubleshooting that allows users to disable the plugins and theme on the backend in troubleshooting mode while the front end remains unchanged for your website visitors.
5. Out of Memory Error
WordPress requires a minimum of 64 MB to function correctly. However, this limit may be too less if you’re trying to upload large sized images or running a server intensive process.
If this happens, WordPress will display a ‘’out of memory’’ error on your site. Fortunately, you can increase the memory size by navigating to wp-config.php. Add the line define('WPMEMORYLIMIT', '256M'); after the opening <?php line. This will increase the memory limit to 256 MB.
If this didn’t work out, you should contact your web host and ask them to increase your WordPress memory limit to 256 MB.
6. Parse Errors
Parse or syntax errors occur when there is an error with the PHP code on your website. Although this code error can occur in any PHP file, it usually occurs in the functions.php file. Instead of loading the webpage, a parse error will be displayed on the screen.
To investigate the error, you will need to edit the file containing the error (this can be identified from the message displayed on the screen). If you’re not comfortable with editing PHP files, then you should seek professional help as tinkering with PHP code may cause more harm than good.
7. Connection Timeout Error
If you experience a ‘’connection timeout error’’, it means that the server is taking too long to respond to the page request. This could happen for a variety of reasons but the most common ones include low request handling capability of your server.
To rectify this WordPress issue, consider upgrading your hosting plan or switching to a faster web host. If you can afford it, managed WordPress hosting is the way to go since the servers are specially tuned for WordPress and resources are allocated intelligently.
Summary of the Common WordPress Issues
You have seen the 7 most common WordPress issues that could impact your website along with the solution to each error. If you’re still stuck and unable to resolve the error on your own, you always seek the help of professional WordPress error fixing services to troubleshoot any error on your website quickly and efficiently.