Why your WordPress website is down? Know the possible reasons & simple ways to fix the website down issue. Let’s find out & resolve it!

1. WordPress Website Down? 3
Tried And Tested Ways To Fix It
WordPress Website Down? 3
Tried And Tested Ways To Fix It
• WORDPRESS • 0
Hey there! If you are reading this blog, that means you are dealing with the
most common issue that other WordPress site owners already did – The
WordPress outage. Truth be told, this is an inevitable situation
experienced by almost every WordPress site owner at least once.
Regardless of who you are and what you do, this problem can knock on
your door without any warning and disrupt customer interaction and sales,
as it might be doing to you right now. You need not worry! Because this
blog is here to answer your question – What should I do if my WordPress
site is down?
Without further ado, let’s jump right into understanding and solving the
problem.
Why Is Your WordPress Website Down?

2. There can be several reasons why your WordPress site is down. It
can be due to –
1. Low-quality plugin
2. Poor coding
3. Inconsistent hosting services
4. Server crash
5. Expired domain
6. Exhausted memory
7. Site updates
➢ Why A WordPress Site’s Backup Is Crucial?
Before we get to the point regarding the issue occured on your website?
Firstly take a BACKUP!
Never forget to take a backup of your website. It is advised to take regular
site backups or whenever you alter any minor to a major aspect of your
site.
Site backups are like insurance that benefits in the foreseeable future. If
you have the latest backup of your site, you can upload it and avoid errors,
loading issues, or malware attacks as if nothing happened. This backup
works like a blessing in emergencies such as the one you are battling with
right now.
Also Read: Ways To Backup A WordPress Website Without A Plugin.
➢ Confirm Whether Or Not Your Site Is Down
The question has been raised, but how do you actually confirm whether
your site is down or not? Simple!
There are 2 websites which we are suggesting! Let’s have a look below
Visit: Is It Down Right Now
OR
Visit: Down.com

3. Often, the loading issue might be due to a slow internet connection or any
other rendering problems that are far away from thinking that the problem
is from your end.
Add your website’s address to either of the two sites and get a report on
whether your website is down.
Now that you are aware of the reasons why is your WordPress site down
today? Let us show how you can validate whether your WordPress is
down.
Also Read: How To Install WordPress On VPS Hosting
Things To Check For Authenticating
The Unavailability Of Your WordPress
Site
➢ Domain Validity
Now, what is domain validity? Just like every product has an expiry date,
the domain, too, has one. If you missed out on the renewal notice and
forgot to extend the validity beyond the expiration date, you must assume
that your domain is expired, which is why you can’t access your site at the
moment.

4. Since you know domain validity, the next step calls for how you must
check the same. Visit Whats My DNS or Host IT Smart WHOIS to confirm
the domain validity. These tools are quick, easy to use, and reliable. Apart
from that don’t forget to check your mail address. Hosting providers
always send a reminder of domain renewal mail. So, following that is
advisable.
They offer a 30-day extension policy if you want to stretch the renewal
period. A long-term hosting package is advised. You can pay all fees at
once and stay stress-free about your site’s unavailability. The domain
period lasts 10 years.
Also Read: Why Should You Renew Your Domain Before It Expires?
➢ Downtime In Hosting Server
One of the most troublesome issues you might face during website
unavailability is the downtime of the web hosting server.
The common reasons for such possibilities are the hosting server is down
for supervision & care, repair, or because there is malware or cyber attack.
Supervision and care are conducted to improve the server’s performance,
security, or other tweaks in software.
Repairs are for solving potential server damage that can disturb the
performance of hosted sites on the platform. Besides this, the server
hardware needs to be swapped with the latest hardware parts to keep the
server new and effective.

5. Malware or cyber attack can disrupt the functioning of the hosting platform
and even risk the sites hosting on the platform. To save your site from
such grave danger, hosting service providers take down the platform
briefly to tackle the situation.
Under such circumstances, you can contact your hosting provider to
confirm the situation.
Also Read: What Does Your Web Host Have To Do With Your SEO?
➢ Limited Web Hosting Package
Limited equates to less space, inflexibility, and restricted bandwidth, which
no one wants. Unlimited is the exact opposite of it. More storage,
increased bandwidth, and more control over resources. But what if you
don’t have an unlimited package? Then you know what will happen.
Actually, you already know about it as you are currently confronting it – A
WordPress site outage.
Getting an unlimited package means increased excess to the pool of
resources, such as bandwidth that allows you to transfer data to a bulk of
users simultaneously. Another advantage is storage capacity, where you
can store countless images, videos, files, data, and more without any
restriction.
Sounds like the aspects you want, right?

6. Want an unlimited hosting package for your WordPress website? Before
moving forward to that one, let’s explain how you can check if or not your
hosting package limit is over.
Usually, you get an email regarding the depleted hosting package. To
solve the issue, you can get a renewal of the package and enjoy the
benefits of unlimited services.
Also Read: 5 Things Small Business Should Know About Web Hosting
➢ WordPress Is Out Of Date
Like your phones, laptops, and other devices, WordPress sites also need
timely updates for seamless performance. Forgotten or incomplete
updates can break down even the most powerfully built WordPress site.
To avoid facing such situations, always keep your site updated. If you
don’t, your site might get caught in maintenance mode.
When you don’t update your site for too long, WordPress creates a file on
the server as .maintainace to alert that this site is under maintenance
mode. The file will instantly disappear from your server after your site’s
update.
Although, if the update remains incomplete, the server will cause
responsive errors and storage capacity problems. Go to cPanel or an FTP
client like Core FTP, CoffeeCup Free FTP, and FileZilla to dodge this
situation.

7. Connecting and solving the error with the wp-activate.php file can also be
done. The PHP file can be detected in the core of the WordPress directory,
or updating manually always remains an option.
Also Read: 11 Benefits Of WordPress Development For Your Website
➢ Theme Inconsistency
Today, WordPress has around 31,010 themes available for download and
purchase. However, it’s not necessarily true that all of them can enhance
the layout of your website. An incompatible theme can distort the layout
and, in the worst case, show a white screen to visitors on your website.
Even after choosing an adaptive theme, many might notice that the
WordPress site lag faces errors or has an outage. That is because of
plugin conflict. Choosing a plugin coherently with the theme and site
requirements is advised for seamless site performance.
Also Read: Difference Between Parent Theme & Child Theme In
WordPress
➢ Plugin Incompatibility

8. It is the most common issue faced by every other WordPress site owner.
Installing an incompatible plugin messes up the script and other
functionalities, leading to disturbed site performance and, worst case,
loading issues.
Fixing and preventing plugin conflicts can be done by opting for the right
plugins. Steer clear of outdated plugins and the ones that need to be
updated. Further, adjusting cache plugin settings to ensure swift response
and performance. You can even contact the theme creators (authors) to
cross-check the plugin’s compatibility with your site.
Also Read: 22 Best Plugins For WordPress
➢ Website At Risk
Security is the top priority of almost every WordPress site owner as they
carry business and customer data on the server, which can’t be
compromised no matter what. If your website is not secure enough, you
are putting yourself and your customers at risk of data leakage and the
website going down.

9. We recommend you add an extra layer of protection by installing a
security plugin to secure your website’s environment. Also, change your
passwords at regular intervals, and give access to your site to reliable and
trustworthy people. Always use an encrypted connection and abstain from
unsecured WiFi in restaurants, cafes, hotels, and other public places to
prevent unwanted attacks.
Backups are a must! We have already mentioned why site backups are
vital. Take regular or weekly backups in case you lose your valuable data.
Getting a reputed and reliable hosting provider is also advised to minimize
the risk.
Considering that you clearly understand why your WordPress website is
down. We shall now roll out quick ways to fix the issue.
Also Read: Best Practices To Secure Your Website
3 Quick Fixes You Must Try When
Your WordPress Site Is Down
➢ White Screen Of Death
The phrase WSOD refers to a specific error generally caused in OS where
the screen turns white out of nowhere. This error can get on a website,
some pages, or the admin panel.

10. Before jumping to the solution, you must find the root cause of the problem
– searching the pages that appear white. Generally, this issue occurs due
to –
➔ Exceeding the memory limit
➔ Consumption of maximum execution time
➔ Incompatible themes
➔ Unsuitable themes
➔ Corrupted files
A quick fix for this would be to retrace the steps. You should look for
frequently made changes that you recently made to your website before the
error occurred.
Check the admin email address in case you got an email regarding the error.
Clearing the cache of your browser is also advised. Go to the inspect element
of your site to find a clue regarding the error.
You can also rename all of the files and folders by –
➔ Logging into cPanel
➔ Go to the “File Manager” under the “Files” Section

11. ➔ Search for the “Public.html”
➔ Go to the “Wp-content” folder

12. Once the Wp-content folder is opened, rename all the files, especially the
plugins and themes. After renaming each file, check the status of WSOD
on your site to determine whether or not it disappeared. Head to your
WordPress, refresh it to see if the status stays the same, move on to
another folder, and keep repeating the process until the issue is resolved.
The process may be time-consuming. Although, it is very effective as
substituting makes WordPress assume the error causing-file is
disappeared.
For WordPress, who wants a quicker and hassle-free solution, you can
turn on the debugging mode on your site.
Start by –
➔ Log into the cPanel

13. ➔ Search for the “Public.html”
➔ Right Click on the “Wp-config.php”.

14. ➔ Click on the “Edit”
After opening the code, you will find multiple lines of code. Search
for define( ’WP_DEBUG’, false ); using the CTRL + F option on the
keyword.

15. When you find the code string define( ’WP_DEBUG’, false); edit it by
writing define( ’WP_DEBUG’, true );.
This is how you switch on the debug mode. Once the mode is on, you will
receive an error message showcasing the files that have errors. Search for
the file containing the WSOD error, debug, and head to reload the site to
make your site appear like nothing ever happened.
*Note: Don’t forget to change the code define( ’WP_DEBUG’,
false ); after the error is gone.
Also Read: How To Migrate WordPress Site From One Host To Another?
➢ Memory Consumption
Generally, WordPress free legacy site includes 3 GB storage space. For
premium WordPress users, 13 GB space is offered. Although, this space

16. is not enough for business owners, and often they face memory
exhaustion, leading to a site not loading.
When your WordPress site is depleted of memory, you receive an error –
“Fatal error: Allowed memory size of x bytes exhausted.” This error
signifies you have consumed too much server space.
Now to solve this problem, you can increase the PHP memory limit. For
this, you can –
➔ Log into the cPanel
➔ Go to the “File Manager”

17. ➔ Search for the “Public.html”
➔ Right Click on the “Wp-config.php”.

18. ➔ Click on the “Edit”
➔ Open the Wp-config.php file in “editing” mode.

19. ➔ Add the following code ‘define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘500M’).’
➔ This 500M number doesn’t have to be the same in your code string. It can
be 256, 400, or any other space. To increase the space, change the existing
code ‘define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘500M’) to
‘define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘800M’)
➔ Finally, go to your website and try refreshing it, and you will see the error
message is all poofed in the air.
If this doesn’t work, Increase the PHP Memory Limit by editing
the php.ini file.
➔ Go to the “Software” section and Click on “MultiplePHP INI Editor”

20. ➔ There, You will see two modes “Basic” & “Editor” Mode. Stay
on “Basic Mode”
➔ Below, select the domain for which you want to increase the PHP.
➔ Below, There is a table, Search for “memory_limit”
Increase the memory Limit in the given box below & click on
the “Apply” Button.

21. Although you must understand that if this code does not get your website
back to the same, assume you have extended the space, and it’s time to
upgrade your package.
Also Read: Ways To Optimize Your WordPress Website For Speed
➢ Database Error
This error causes an interruption in accessing your database. It can be
due to adding incorrect credentials, the hostname not responding, or the
database server being unavailable at the moment.
Since you already know the root cause of the problem, the next step calls
for a solution that fixes your database.
➔ Log into the cPanel

22. ➔ Click on “File Manager”
➔ Search for the “Public.html”

23. ➔ Right Click on the “Wp-config.php”.
➔ Click on the “Edit”

24. ➔ Open the Wp-config.php file in “editing” mode.
Open the Wp-config.php file in editing mode and search for the hostname,
username, password, and database name. Check whether or not these
details are accurate by matching them with the mentioned data in
phpMyAdmin.

25. If the particulars are invalid, rectify them immediately and proceed to your
website. Refresh the error consisting page to confirm the removal of the
database error.
In case, If it does not solve your concern,
insert define( ‘WP_ALLOW_REPAIR’, true ); in the string of codes in the
Wp-config.php file to switch to the WordPress automatic database repair
support.
Next, launch the database repair script by
visiting https://yoursiteurl.com/wp-admin/maint/repair.php, where you will
find two alternatives to fix the error –
★ Repair Database
★ Repair And Optimize the Database
Both alternatives give effective results for repairing the error. So, choosing
any one of them is recommended. Remember to remove the inserted code
‘WP_ALLOW_REPAIR’, true after the improvisation.
Wrapping Up
Being a business owner, you always hope to provide a seamless
experience for your visitors. Although, sometimes errors and malfunctions
can impact user experience, sales, conversions, and ranking. It can
jeopardize your reputation.
However, every problem has a loophole, and so do these technical errors.
If you are fighting head-to-head with the errors mentioned earlier, we
advise you to try out the tested and proven techniques to solve the
shortcomings.