The White Screen of Death in WordPress and How to Fix It

Introduction

The White Screen of Death (WSOD) is one of the most common and frustrating issues that WordPress users can encounter. This problem occurs when a user tries to access their website or admin panel and is met with a blank white screen with no error messages. In this article on HMSTEL.COM, we will explore the causes of this issue and how to resolve it step by step.

Causes of the Issue

The White Screen of Death in WordPress usually occurs due to:

  1. Plugin Issues: One of the installed plugins might be causing the problem.
  2. Theme Issues: The theme being used might not be compatible with the current version of WordPress.
  3. Memory Issues: The site might have exhausted its allocated memory.
  4. Code Errors: There might be errors in the site’s code.

Steps to Resolve the Issue

1. Disable Plugins

The first step is to disable all plugins to see if one of them is causing the issue.

Steps:

  1. Access your site files via FTP or through your hosting control panel.
  2. Navigate to the wp-content folder and then to the plugins folder.
  3. Rename the plugins folder to plugins_old.

!Disable Plugins

2. Activate the Default Theme

If the issue persists after disabling the plugins, try activating the default theme.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the wp-content folder and then to the themes folder.
  2. Rename the current theme folder to theme_old.
  3. Ensure that a default theme like twentytwentyone is present. If not, download and install it.

!Activate Default Theme

3. Increase Memory Limit

If the issue is due to memory exhaustion, you can increase the memory limit allocated to WordPress.

Steps:

  1. Open the wp-config.php file located in the root directory of your site.
  2. Add the following line before the line that says /* That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */:
    PHP

    define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
    AI-generated code. Review and use carefully. More info on FAQ.

!Increase Memory Limit

4. Debug Code Errors

If the issue is due to code errors, you can enable debugging mode in WordPress to get more information about the error.

Steps:

  1. Open the wp-config.php file.
  2. Add the following line:
    PHP

    define('WP_DEBUG', true);
    AI-generated code. Review and use carefully. More info on FAQ.

!Enable Debug Mode

 

Conclusion

The White Screen of Death in WordPress is a common issue that can be easily resolved by following the steps outlined above. If you are unable to resolve the issue on your own, you can always seek help from a WordPress expert. For more information and solutions, you can visit HMSTEL.COM.

 

Best regards, Hussein Abu Hussein