Messages for this Error

• There has been a critical error on this website.
• There has been a critical error on this website. WordPress.
• WordPress there has been a critical error on this website.
• There has been a critical error on this website. Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.
• WordPress there has been a critical error on this website.
• WordPress critical error on this website.
• WordPress critical error.

Possible Causes of the Error

There has been a critical error on this website. WordPress error, that can be triggered by a wide range of issues. This error means that the server encountered a problem (Error 500) during execution and could not process your request or load the page.

Errors in plugins, issues with themes, or problems with server or PHP configurations are the most common causes of this problem.

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Where to Find Error Logs

Apache/nginx Error Logs

This log’s advantage is that it operates at the server level, which means it can reveal errors even if WordPress fails to start

These error logs are often accessible through your hosting provider’s admin panel or by requesting them from their support team. They are a good starting point for identifying issues.

WordPress Debug Log

Another log is the WordPress debug log. If there has been a critical error on this website, WordPress helps with this native feature, which can provide detailed information. However, it is not enabled by default. It collects data at the WordPress level, allowing you to detect problems in themes or plugins.

Open the wp-config.php file.

To access the wp-config.php file, log in via FTP or use the file manager provided by your hosting provider.

Open the FTP client, log in with your hosting credentials, and locate the wp-config.php file in the root directory.

Edit the wp-config.php file

Open the wp-config.php file and make the following changes:

Change the line

define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );

to

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );

This activates the debug system in WordPress.

Add Additional Settings.

Below the define line above, add two more lines.

define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true )

These lines disable the display of the debug log on the website; instead, all logs will be saved to a file called debug.log, located in the /wp-content folder.

Reproduce the Error

Reload the page where there has been a critical error on this website. WordPress triggers the creation of the debug.log file.

Locate the Log File

After reloading the error page, navigate to the /wp-content folder using FTP or your file manager, and open the debug.log file.

Open the Log File

Open the file to see the error logs from your WordPress instance. For example:

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Debugging and Fixing the “There has been a critical error on this website” Issue

Now that you can access the logs, you can troubleshoot the issue. Problems are most commonly caused by WordPress plugins or theme code. Server configuration errors, missing PHP extensions, or incorrect file permissions are frequent culprits.

Review the Logs

The first step is to review the logs in detail to find when the error occurred. This is crucial as it can provide valuable insights into the root cause of the error. WordPress often reflects in error logs, which can point you toward the root cause.

For example, the error log entry might indicate a problem in the theme or plugin code, which can be fixed accordingly. Let§ use the example from the log file above:

[24-May-2024 08:32:56 UTC] PHP Warning:  Undefined variable $user_reg in /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/your-theme/functions/erfc.php on line 3480

The error is in the file erfc.php, part of the “your-theme” theme. You can identify it as part of the theme because it is in the /wp-content/themes directory. It would be in the /wp-content/plugins directory if it were a plugin.

Utilize WordPress Troubleshooting Mode

Suppose the error affects only a part of the website or specific pages. In that case, you can use WordPress’s ‘Health Check & Troubleshooting’ plugin. This plugin allows you to enable troubleshooting mode, which disables all plugins and switches to a default theme. This will allow you to diagnose and resolve the issue progressively. This tool is handy for isolating errors without disrupting the rest of the website.

Install the plugin

To get the Troubleshooting mode enabled, we need to install a free plugin developed by the WordPress team. Installation happens in Plugin section of the site administration, so we need to go Plugins and click on “Add new Plugin”.

After accesing the plugin list, we need to Find the corect plugin and install it to the site. Use the searchbar and type “Health Check & Troubleshooting”. Then Click “Install” and “Activate” on the correct plugin card.

Activating Troubleshooting mode

After sucessfull activation, we get automatically redirected back to the plugin list. There we can now see the “Health Check & Troubleshooting” and its button “Troubleshoot”, so we use that button to activate the troubleshooting mode.

After the troubleshooting mode gets activated. It will create a session where all plugins are deactivated and the theme is switched to a default one. This is only fo your logged account and does not disable the site for visitors.

We can use this mode to enable plugins/themes one-by-one to find out where the issue is. You can also browser the page to see if the issue is only on one specific page or step on your site.

When we know what the issue is, we can disable the problematic theme/plugin and try to resolve the issue. You can contact customer support responsible for the faulty product, or find a replacement for it.

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Disabling plugins manually

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More errors that you can solve