Troubleshooting common WordPress issues.

1. Battling the WSOD
A Tech Support Tale

2. Keith Hyde
Kayleigh Thorpe
WordPress &
Systems Specialist
@Keithage
WordPress Support
Specialist
@Kayleighthorpe

3. Coming up
• White Screen of Death
• Plugin issues
• Theme issues
• Useful tools
• Hacked Sites & Restoration
• Additional common support queries
• Handy wp-cli commands
WP-CLI
http://wp-cli.org

4. Have you ever visited your website to see this?
We call this the ‘White Screen of Death’.

5. Plugin Issues

6. • The first step when faced with the WSOD is to check
your error logs. These usually provide helpful insights
to where the issue is coming from.
• They are usually accessible via FTP - in most cases
you can find error logs stored in a folder just below your
site’s root directory.
• Example log entry:
Searching Error Logs

7. Finding logs via FTP

8. How do I fix a plugin issue?
• Check for updates - updates may have been made to
fix some plugin issues you may be having.
• Disable the plugin - disabling plugins with coding errors
in them usually fixes the problem, from there it may be
worth re-installing the plugin.
• In case of WSOD where there is no access to the
WordPress admin panel - you want to know how to
safely remove the plugin.

9. Safely removing plugins
>
Disable a plugin by renaming it via FTP / File Manager:
Disable a plugin via WP-CLI:
wp plugin deactivate plugin-name --skip-plugins

10. After disabling the offending plugin:

11. Theme Issues

15. Theme Issues
Changing your theme FTP / File Manager:
>
If you rename your theme via FTP this will disable the theme - but it will
cause your site to display a white screen on all pages except the wp-
admin section. You can go directly to the wp-admin section and enable a
safe theme after doing this.

16. Theme Issues
Changing your theme via WP-CLI:
wp theme activate theme-name --skip-themes

17. Memory Issues
Memory issues are commonly caused because a theme
needs more memory than WordPress has allocated to it.
To fix this you need to allocate more memory to
WordPress. You can add this line to your wp-config.php:
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '64M');
Depending on your hosting set up this value may need to
be stored elsewhere - ask your host if you are unsure!

18. The Nastier Problems:
Hacked Sites

19. ClamAV
an open source (GPL) anti-virus engine which includes
command line scanning to check files and folders for
issues.
clamav.net
WP-CLI
WP-CLI allows us to scan the WordPress core feels for changes - the vast majority of
WordPress sites should not need any changes making to their core files. This is a good
indication of an issue.
wp core verify-checksums
Some quick checks if you suspect an issue:

20. Creating a clean WordPress Install
1. Use the WordPress Export tool to create a copy of
your custom content - your posts, pages, comments,
meta data and media. This will store the content in a
.XML file for later import.
2. Create a brand new WordPress installation - new
database, users and no theme/plugins.
3. Create your users - they are not backed up.
4. Run the import tool from within WordPress - this will
restore your custom content on to the new site.
5. You will then be given the option to assign imported
authors to existing authors on your website.
6. Re-install your plugins and theme
from the WordPress repository.

21. Repairing a hacked site
Many times simply removing hacked files will not protect
your site from future attacks. This is why it is important to
keep regular backups of your site.
Popular backup plugins include:
• BackWPup
• Backup WordPress
• Updraft
• VaultPress
Try to make sure you store your backups somewhere
external to your site’s hosting server.

22. WPScan
wpscan.org
WPScan is a command line tool you can install on your server which scans
WordPress websites for known vulnerabilities, as well as offering advice on
how you can make security improvements to your WordPress install.

23. Other common support queries

24. Changing your user’s passwords
1. Login to the WordPress admin dashboard
2. Select ‘Users’ then ‘All Users’ from the side
menu.
3. Click on the username you wish to edit.
4. Scroll down to ‘Account Management’ to set
a new password, change it, and hit ‘Update
Profile’.

25. Preventing spam comments
WordPress sites are victim to a lot of spam commenters. There
are many ways to prevent and reduce the number of
comments you are getting.
Installing a plugin to tackle the spam comments is
recommended.
There are many spam protection plugins to choose from:
• Akismet
• SI Captcha Spam
• Tick Captcha
• WP Spam IP
• Anti-Spam

26. define('WP_DEBUG',true);
[06-Sep-2016 19:58:10 UTC] PHP Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in
/var/www/vhosts/mr-badger.co.uk/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/akismet/class.akismet.php
on line 173
Enabling WP_Debug
Sometimes you will encounter issues where your error logs
may not be offering any clear insights. A good extra check is to
enable WP_Debug - this will enable extra error logs to display
directly on your WordPress pages.

27. Additional Safety Tips
• Enable automatic updates
• Security plugins such as ‘Securi’, ’Limit Login Attempts’
• xmlrpc.php protection
• Host security - Fail2ban
• Use passphrases and two factor authentication
• Make sure you are setting the correct user roles

28. Additional Support
Queries and Tips

29. Running out of disk space
Only backup wp-content
Try to use a remote storage solution -
Dropbox, Google Drive.
Set a reasonable backup schedule
Common backup plugin
issues & tips

30. Fixing broken permalinks
1. Login to your WordPress
Dashboard
2. Click on ‘Settings’ > ‘Permalinks’
3. Switch permalinks to default
4. Switch permalinks back
Note: Ensure .htaccess is writable by the
server.

31. Transient Issues
Transients are options temporarily
stored in your database. Many of
these can cause your site to
become slow.
• You can remove unused
transients by installing the
‘Transient Cleaner’ plugin.
• Alternatively consider setting up
key storage such as Redis on your
server.

32. File ownership / permission issues
Sometimes WordPress will
behave strangely. Such as
asking for FTP details to install a
plugin:
This is a common result of incorrect
file ownership or permissions. Always
ensure you have your files and
folders set correctly.
Most times files should
have their permissions
set to 644 and directories
to 755. But ask your host
if you are worried about
setting the correct file
permissions.
Do not set permissions to
777

33. Always disable caching on your site
when you are developing or regularly
flush the cache to see your updated
content.
You can flush your cache using WP-
CLI:
wp cache flush
Caching

34. Useful WP-CLI
commands

35. wp core
wp core offers commands related
to the core WordPress file setup.
Favourite useful
commands:
• wp core update
• wp core download
• wp core version
• wp core verify-checksums

36. wp option
wp option is used for managing
options within WordPress
Favourite useful
commands:
• wp option get siteurl
• wp option get home
• wp option update siteurl http://correctsiteurl.com
• wp option update home http://correctsiteurl.com
- Great for newly migrated sites

37. wp plugin
wp plugin commands allow you to edit
and manage your plugins
Favourite useful
commands:
• wp plugin list
• wp plugin deactivate plugin-name
• wp plugin update plugin-name

38. wp theme
wp theme commands allow you to
edit and manage your themes
Favourite useful
commands:
• wp theme activate theme-name
• wp theme update theme-name

39. wp db
wp db allows you to manage
your database using WP-CLI
Favourite useful
commands:
• wp db import mydatabase.sql
• wp db repair
• wp db cli

40. wp user
wp user allows you to
manage your WordPress
site’s users
Favourite useful
commands:
• wp user list
• wp user delete #
Creating a new administrator
account:

41. wp shell
wp shell opens up a
shell interface for
debugging PHP

42. Thank you!
Link Credits
http://wp-cli.org
https://www.clamav.net
https://codex.wordpress.or
g
https://www.34sp.com
@Kayleighthorpe
@Keithage
Any thoughts or questions?