Good WordPress Gone Bad – How To Troubleshoot WordPress When Things Go Wrong

About Damon

• Web Developer For 9 Years• WordPress Developer For 2 Years• Love Helping People With WordPress• Create Custom Web-Based Software

For The Powersports Industry

What Do You Do Now?

No

Have A Strategy

• Be Prepared In Advance• Know How To Solve Common

Problems• Know Where To Get Help

Backup Strategy

Why Do I need A Backup Strategy?

• Protect Your Hard Work & Investment• Many Hosting Providers Don’t Offer A

Backup• Upgrades Go Wrong• User Mistakes• You’ve Been Hacked

What Is A Good Backup Strategy?

• Automatic Backup• Frequency• Store Backups Remotely

What Should I Back Up?

• Website Files• Database

Test The Backup

• Make Sure It Really Works• Know How To Restore

Possible Backup Solutions

• Backup Buddy• UpdraftPlus

Revision History

What Is Revision History?

• See Changes That Have Been Made To Posts And Pages

• Go Back To A Previous Version Of A Page

• Limited To Title & Content

Common WordPress Errors

Error Establishing A Database Connection

• WordPress Is Not Able To Use The Database

• Common Solutions– wp-config.php has incorrect:

• Database username• Database password• Database name• Server name

• Must Have Access To Your Hosting Control Panel

Other Causes

• There Is A Problem At Your Hosting Provider

• Database Is Corrupt- Restore

Internal Server Error

• .htaccess Has A Problem– Corrupt– Incorrect Settings

• Delete The .htaccess File

Internal Server Error – Other Causes

• Plugin Issue• Theme Issue

White Screen Of Death

• A Plugin May Be Causing A Problem– Disable All Plugins– Verify The Problem Is Gone– Enable Them One By One Until The

Problem Comes Back

• Your Theme May Be Causing A Problem– Switch To A Different Theme– Twenty Fifteen Or Any Of The “Twenty…”

Themes

If It Was A Plugin

• Upgrade The Plugin To The Newest Version• Upgrade WordPress To The Latest Version• Upgrade Theme To The Latest Version• Upgrade All Other Plugins To The Newest

Version• Check Plugin Creator’s Website For More

Information• Contact The Plugin Creator• Is The Plugin Essential?• Is There An Alternative?

If It Was A Theme

• Upgrade Theme To The Latest Version• Upgrade WordPress To The Latest Version• Upgrade All Plugins To The Newest Version• Check Theme Creator’s Website For More

Information• Contact The Theme Creator• Get Help From A Developer• Select A New Theme

Other Errors

• Things Look Broken• Error Messages Printing Out

General Troubleshooting Steps

• Disable Plugins• Disable Theme• Update WordPress, Plugins, &

Themes• Contact Plugin/Theme Creator

What To Do If It Still Is Broken

• Google It• WordPress Support Forums

https://wordpress.org/support/• Contact A WordPress Expert

Things Will Go Wrong

• Keep It In Perspective• Have A Plan• Learn From The Experience• Move Forward

Thank You

• [email protected]• @DamonSchopen• Slides: portlighttechnology.com