- How Do You Know If a WordPress Site Is Down
- Checks to Carry Out When Your WordPress Website Is Down
- How Can You Prevent WordPress From Going Down
- What Can You Do Now
- Final Word
So, you're trying to access your dashboard, but it doesn't let you in, or your site doesn't operate as usual, or there is no access to some of its components. Maybe, you see an error 404 or 500, or when you refresh the page, it gets blank or there appears some other obstacle that disables your site. We have prepared a checklist to address the issue.
Note that a website is a dynamic virtual body, that undergoes various updates, modifications, and so on; thus, today you may meet an obstacle that was not topical yesterday. For example, you have recently installed a new plugin or refreshed a template, or made some adjustments in the admin panel, or else. Usually, everything should be fine with the WP site as it's the most used CMS, but the additions that you put to your site can be obtained from untrusted resources, and something may go wrong with their compatibility. But we'll discuss this further along with other possible reasons to address your question: Is WordPress down?
How Do You Know If a WordPress Site Is Down
There's probably some issue, but you don't know what exactly. If you're a developer, then certainly you are familiar with those issues and understand what to do in such cases. If you're not, then you'll find the answers to help you address the question: Is WordPress down?
The initial step that we all do when something doesn't work online is checking whether there is a proper Internet connection. The simplest but necessary step is to find out if WordPress is down right now or it's a network issue. You should access your site from another location using any kind of a proxy server. If you'll be able to view it, then there is a problem with the network.
The next point is to clarify if a WordPress is down only for you or it's some larger malfunction. You can check this out using the resource Down for Everyone or Just Me, which will show you whether it is a universal problem or it's just you.
The analogs are Is It Down Right Now and Down.com. This is an elementary step to know whether something has made all WordPress sites down or your page indeed has its individual issues.
You can also employ monitoring services that will alert you every time something goes the irregular way that may bring WordPress outage.
This can be part of your hosting plan or you can use various services, such as UptimeRobot.
Let's consider you've found out that it's your local problem, and you're going to ask: why is my WordPress site down? Before figuring this out, try to clear your cache or open your site in another browser, and renew the page.
Checks to Carry Out When Your WordPress Website Is Down
DNS Issue
If you've recently updated DNS, you can inquire whether this is the case by referring to the service Whatsmydns. You need to make sure that the same IP appears for every location, and if it's not, you may necessitate waiting for 24-48 hours since the moment of DNS update (as a rule new DNS values are applied much faster).
Hosting Issues
It may happen that you forgot to pay for your hosting services or a domain name, and your account may be suspended. Undoubtedly, you should have received the notifications, but you may have missed them.
This may sound unlikely, but such things can happen, and you should check this, and in case this caused trouble, then you should reach your hosting or domain suppliers. To test whether the problem is with the domain, use the resource Icann Lookup to get the data about registration for your site name.
The other thing which may happen with the hosting side that may bring WordPress down is some maintenance procedures in the supplier, which may conduct security checks, updates, or repair processes.
What's more, you may be cooperating with an unreliable provider, which may bring you to realizing the importance of working with the proven resources. Thus, all the actions of your service supplier may affect you and make your WordPress site go down. To find whether this is the case, you should contact your service supplier and clarify the issue. Of course, the answer can come not in minutes, so you might want to employ the resource Host-tracker.com to find out is your WordPress side down because of the supplier's problems.
Themes or Plugins Issues
The next thing that can make your WordPress website down is the problems with the components, namely templates or plugins. A conflict can occur between a theme and a plugin, which sometimes occurs if these elements were acquired from the unknown or unofficial resources.
This can also be very dangerous as buying from such marketers, you put your site and content under risk. Also, these tools may have lost the support of their developers, so your page ingredients don't get updates, thus may discontinue operating or get into the conflict with other components. Notably, you need to update your plugins and themes as you are the one responsible for this.
If you exploit reliable resources and regularly update the components, then the question "why my WordPress site is down" will not trouble you, or you'll be sure that it's assuredly not the case with the site components.
Settings Problems
Meanwhile, there might be a problem with the WP settings. Namely, you should examine the MySQL database is connected to the site checking this though your cPanel. Also, if you know programming languages, check whether the code is written accurately and no sign is missing.
Security Issues
Finally, the reason for WordPress issues today may be that you've been hacked by some malicious bots or there was a DDoS attack. Thus, you may devote more effort to ensuring your site security. We'll discuss the prevention measures further.
How Can You Prevent WordPress From Going Down
Do you want to never meet the question: Is WordPress down? If you do, then it's better to apply the preventive measures. Of course, there's always a chance that something can happen that doesn't depend on you, such as hosting issues that make WordPress servers down.
Prepare Backup
The first major preventive concern for all exploitation issues with your site it preparing a backup of your site on the cloud or your computer. This will save you much time for any sort of manipulations with your page, such as changing a template or editing the code, or in case you get WordPress server down.
Reliable Hosting
The next pivotal point is choosing the right hosting for your project. It must be a reliable product, which is trusted by professionals. Read our blog article discussing the major representatives on the market. Among the most trustworthy ones are Bluehost, HostPapa, A2 Hosting, SiteGround, and some others. They have reliable servers and guarantee the security of your site.
Quality Components
This is also a major thing when you devise your site. Don't try to save too much money as you are risking to get a free site that doesn't work. Thus, you'll just waste your time. Stay with professionals who will not offer you a weak product as they don't want to spoil their reputation. They work with skilled developers and are responsible for the quality of products they give to the consumers.
Consider TemplateMonster as among the trusted suppliers of functional and quality themes for your site. Overall, when picking a theme or plugin, never use unknown or unofficial stores, which may just bring you nothing good but a headache.
What's more, do not overload your site with dozens of plugins, which may also lead to slow loading or other negative issues.
Update
What you have also realized from the aforementioned material is that you are accountable for updating the elements on your site, such as theme, plugins, and core files. This should be done at least once a month, meaning you should check for updates regularly.
Clean Code
If someone helps you to manage the site, he or she should control the code of all components is clean and valid, if you're a developer, then probably you know the meaning of clean code. If you're neither a developer nor using their help, then you should pick the components from the professionals indicating this point.
What Can You Do Now
Summing all this up, we'll review what you can do to address WordPress problems today. Let's take you've already checked your network, cleaned the cache, tried a proxy server, and identified it's your local matter. You should verify whether all is okay with your hosting and domain plans.
You should check DNS, settings, clarify with your hosting provider.
The next steps depend on the error that you've met, and if you couldn't address the problem with the help of the steps offered, then probably, you'll have to ask for professional assistance.
Final Word
Let's find the positive things about this issue. If you've met such a problem, then you'll find out a lot of useful information that will help you improve your site operation, and in future, you'll work only with reliable services and thus contribute to your project enhanced productivity.
Best Plugins For A New WordPress Site [Free Ebook]
By clicking the button you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.
Read Also
How to Сhoose the Best WordPress Website Builder?
100 Best Free & Premium WordPress Blog Themes for 2020
Top 33 Media WordPress Templates
How to Launch WordPress Site | Easy WP Guide