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Troubleshooting problems with your WordPress website

Is your WordPress website no longer working correctly or showing unexpected errors? This article provides a step-by-step approach to systematically investigate and resolve the issue. Work through the steps in order — if one step solves the problem, you don't need to continue with the rest.


With our WordPress Hosting plans, help with website issues is included as standard. Using a different plan? Through our support services you can engage a specialist to investigate and resolve your website issues.


Always create a backup before making any changes. See Creating your own backup for instructions. An incorrect change in for example wp-config.php or .htaccess can take your entire website offline.



Step 1 — Scan your website


Start with a quick scan via our website check. The tool immediately flags issues with availability, SSL, DNS and server status — and indicates for each finding whether it's something you can resolve yourself or whether something is happening on our side.


  1. Go to xynta.com/en/support/website-check.
  2. Enter your domain name and start the Quick scan.
  3. Check findings under Availability, Speed and Security for any points of attention.


No remaining issues in the scan? Move on to step 2 for deeper analysis.


Step 2 — Check your log files


Error messages in your log files often point directly to what's going wrong. Pay particular attention to lines marked with [ERROR] and [WARNING].


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Step 3 — Enable WP_DEBUG


If log files don't give you an answer, you can have WordPress show more information via the built-in debug mode.


  1. Open the wp-config.php file in the root directory of your website — via File Manager or FTP.
  2. Find the line define("WP_DEBUG", false); and change it, or add the lines if they don't exist yet:


define("WP_DEBUG", true);
define("WP_DEBUG_LOG", true);
define("WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY", false);


  1. Any errors will now be written to the file wp-content/debug.log — not on the front end of your website.


Always set WP_DEBUG back to false on a production website once you're done debugging. Errors on the front end can expose sensitive information and are undesirable for visitors.


Step 4 — Check the PHP version


Many problems arise because WordPress, a theme or a plug-in isn't compatible with the current PHP version. WordPress and most plug-ins work best on PHP 8.1 or higher.


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Older websites or outdated plug-ins sometimes don't work right away on a newer PHP version. Always test thoroughly after a change and revert the version if the problem gets worse.


Step 5 — Clear the cache


Sometimes an old version of your website remains visible due to caching. Clear the cache before continuing your investigation:


  • Caching plug-in — clear the cache through the settings of your caching plug-in, such as LiteSpeed Cache or W3 Total Cache.
  • Browser cache — refresh your page with Ctrl + F5 (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (macOS) to bypass your browser cache.


Temporary slowdowns are normal until the cache is rebuilt.


Step 6 — Reset your .htaccess


A broken .htaccess file can take your website offline completely, cause redirect loops or break permalinks.


  1. First create a backup of your current .htaccess — rename it to .htaccess-backup or download a copy.
  2. Open the file via File Manager or FTP.
  3. Replace the entire contents with the default WordPress configuration:


# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress


  1. Save the file and check whether your website works again.


Step 7 — Disable plug-ins


A plug-in is often the cause of issues — especially after an update. By temporarily disabling all plug-ins and activating them one by one, you can identify the culprit.


Via the WordPress dashboard (if you can still log in):


  1. Go to Plug-ins in the WordPress dashboard.
  2. Select all plug-ins and choose Deactivate from the bulk menu.
  3. Refresh your website. Is the problem gone?
  4. Activate plug-ins one by one and refresh your website each time. As soon as the problem returns, you've found the culprit.


Via FTP or File Manager (if you can't log in):


  1. Open File Manager or connect via FTP.
  2. Navigate to the folder where WordPress is installed — usually domains/yourdomain.com/public_html/wp-content/.
  3. Rename the plugins folder to for example plugins-off. All plug-ins are now deactivated.
  4. Refresh your website. Working again? Rename the folder back to plugins and activate plug-ins one by one via the WordPress dashboard.


Step 8 — Check PHP settings


Memory-intensive websites — for example with many plug-ins or a WooCommerce store — can run into PHP limits. The following settings often help:


  • memory_limit — increase to 512M.
  • max_input_vars — increase to 5000.


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With our WordPress Hosting plans, these PHP settings are optimised by default — you don't need to change anything yourself.


Can't figure it out?


The steps in this article resolve the majority of WordPress issues, but every problem is different. Can't figure it out?


  • With WordPress Hosting — help is included as standard. Get in touch and we'll take a look with you.
  • With other plans — through our support services you can engage a specialist to investigate and optimise your website.

Updated on: 19/04/2026

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