How to Fix the “There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website” in WordPress

Have you encountered the “There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website” message in WordPress? That indicates a fatal error that prevents the site from loading. Seeing a “Critical Error” message on your WordPress site can be frustrating It usually comes from a plugin, theme, or memory limitations.

In this post, we will discuss the knowledge and steps to diagnose and fix this there has been a critical error on this website WordPress and getting your website back up and running smoothly.

Understanding There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website

The “There Has Been a Critical Error” message is a generic catch-all for various issues that prevent WordPress from functioning properly. Before diving into troubleshooting creating a recent backup of your website is important. This safety net allows you to restore your website to a working state if something goes wrong during the process.

The above image describes the website fails to load with a WordPress critical error, these issues can come from:

1. Newly installed or updated plugins or themes can introduce conflicts with your existing setup.
2. WordPress requires a certain amount of memory to operate. If this limit is exceeded a critical error may occur.
3. In rare cases, corrupted core WordPress files can cause critical errors.
4. Outdated PHP versions can lead to compatibility issues with WordPress.
5. Malicious code can disrupt website functionality and trigger critical errors.

Steps to Fix There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website

Following are the methods taken on how to fix critical error WordPress:

Method 1: Check Email and Error Logs

WordPress may send an email notification with details about the error. This valuable information can point you in the right direction for troubleshooting. WordPress might send an email notification with details about the error. Examine your admin email inbox for clues. Use FTP like FileZilla or cPanel file manager to access your site’s files to check error logs.

Method 2: Enable Debugging

Enabling debugging mode can provide more details about the error.

1. Access Your Site via FTP or File Manager
2. Locate and edit the wp-config.php file which is in your website’s root folder.

3. Find the line define('WP_DEBUG', false) and change false it to true. If it doesn’t exist, add define('WP_DEBUG', true) it at the top of the file.

4. Save the file and upload it back to your server if using FTP.
5. After enabling debugging, refresh your website. You should see a more detailed error message, usually indicating the plugin or theme causing the problem.

Method 3: Identify Conflicting Plugins or Themes

If the error started after installing or updating a plugin or theme it might be the cause of the error. Here’s how to test:

• Deactivate Plugins: Navigate to the Plugins menu in your WordPress dashboard and deactivate all plugins. If the website functions after deactivating all plugins reactivate them one by one while checking for the error after each activation. This will help identify the problematic plugin.

• Switch to a Default Theme: Temporarily switch to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Three. If the error disappears, the issue lies with your current theme. You can then try reinstalling the theme or using a different theme.

If you can access wp-admin and then deactivate plugins with wp-admin. Otherwise, you have to do it manually by renaming the plugin directories in the file manager. For this simply rename the plugin folder to plugin_disabled or any unique identifier to the end of the name. This effectively disables the plugin without deleting it allowing you to easily re-enable it later by renaming it back.

Method 4: Increase PHP Memory Limit

A low PHP memory limit can trigger critical errors. you can check our guide on how to increase the PHP memory limit in the WordPress website.

Method 5: Update PHP Version

Outdated PHP versions can cause compatibility issues with your website’s plugins and themes, but updating PHP offers security improvements and performance benefits. Before updating, check for compatibility issues using a plugin and update or fix any incompatible elements to ensure a smooth transition. The method for updating PHP depends on whether you’re using a hosting provider, a local development environment like XAMPP, or managing your server.

Why it is important

• Website Downtime: The critical error can render your website completely inaccessible to visitors. This translates to lost traffic potential leads and sales.
• Security Risks: Critical errors can sometimes be caused by security vulnerabilities like malware infections. Addressing the error promptly helps mitigate these risks.
• SEO Impact: Search engines penalize websites with downtime and technical issues. Fixing the error ensures your website remains crawlable and indexed effectively.
• User Experience: A website problem with errors creates a frustrating experience for visitors. Fixing the error improves user experience and keeps visitors coming back.

Conclusion

The “There Has Been a Critical Error” message in WordPress might seem like trouble but with a systematic approach and the steps outlined above you can identify the issue and get your website back online. Remember, creating regular backups is important for a smooth WordPress experience.

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