Something not working as expected? Here are some common problems and what you can do to debug things:
Getting a White Screen
That usually means there is actually an error, but it’s not being shown because of your configuration. If we know the error it will be a lot easier to debug, so try one of these options:
- Check with your webhost if there are any errors in the PHP error log
- Enable “WP_DEBUG” in your wp-config.php file. That should show an actual error instead of just the white screen.
Different Results on Different Devices
If something seems to be working on your computer, but not on someone else’s, it could be related to caching. Especially if you happen to be logged in on one device, but not the other.
If you are using any caching plugins, test deactivating them for a second to see if that changes things. If it does, let us know and we’ll look into what could be causing the problem. Still not working? Try the full compatibility problem test next:
Compatibility Problem
In WordPress you install themes and plugins from all sorts of different developers, so unfortunately it does happen that things don’t work together as expected. Therefore it’s very useful to test where the compatibility problem actually is.
Try these steps to figure out the compatibility issue:
- Disable all other plugins for a second and see if it works then.
- If not, try switching to a default theme (like Twenty Seventeen) and check again.
One way to do these tests without interrupting your visitors is with the Health Check plugin:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/health-check/
In this video, we show you how to use that plugin to test for a compatibility problem with affecting your visitors:
Once you find the plugin/theme causing the problem, let us know and we might be able to find a solution!
Debugging JavaScript Problems
If some interaction doesn’t work it’s often because of JavaScript problems. You can find out the actual error in the JavaScript console. The video above also covers how to do that in Google Chrome.
Some usually suspects you could try deactivating for a second:
- JavaScript minification plugins
- JavaScript caching plugins