The infamous “white screen of death” can strike without warning and wreak havoc on your WordPress website. If you ever find yourself in this situation, don’t panic! There a few steps to take that’ll help bring your site back from the brink – and if all else fails, there’s always screaming into a pillow for stress relief (I tried it)!
1. Check for plugin conflicts
One common cause of the WSOD is a plugin conflict. If you have recently installed or updated a plugin, try deactivating it to see if that resolves the issue. You can do this by going to the “Plugins” section in your WordPress dashboard and clicking the “Deactivate” link next to the plugin. Deactivate one plugin at a time, checking your website status between each deactivation. If deactivating a specific plugin fixes the problem, you may need to contact the plugin developer for further assistance or try finding an alternative plugin.
2. Check for theme conflicts
If deactivating plugins doesn’t fix the WSOD, the issue may be with your theme. Try switching to the default WordPress theme (e.g. Twenty Twenty) to see if that resolves the problem. If it does, there may be a problem with your current theme. You can try contacting the theme developer for support or try using a different theme.
3. Check for a corrupted .htaccess file
The .htaccess file is a configuration file that controls how your website functions. If it becomes corrupted, it can cause the WSOD. To fix this, you can try regenerating the .htaccess file by going to the “Settings” section in your WordPress dashboard and clicking on the “Permalinks” link. Then, click the “Save Changes” button, which will regenerate the .htaccess file.
4. Increase the PHP memory limit
If you’re getting the WSOD when trying to access the WordPress dashboard, it may be because your PHP memory limit is too low. You can increase the memory limit by adding the following line to your wp-config.php file:
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
5. Check for a faulty WordPress core file
If none of the above steps have fixed the WSOD, there may be a problem with one of the core WordPress files. You can try replacing the faulty file by downloading a fresh copy of WordPress and uploading it to your server via FTP. Be sure to back up your website before doing this, as it will overwrite any modified core files.
Give these steps a try to see if you can bring your website back from the brink. If they don’t do the trick, well then it’s probably time to call in reinforcements—i.e., expert help from an experienced developer!
