Troubleshooting the WordPress White Screen of Death

Contents:

1. What may be a reason?
2. Plugin related issue
3. Theme related issue
4. Memory limit
5. Unknown cause
6. Where do I get top quality templates?

A white screen of death is one of the most frequently occurring problems for WordPress website developers. It’s the most common, though it’s not the most problematic. Today we will review what the usual reasons are for this error and how you can fix it. Well, how we can fix it as we will not leave you to face this problem alone.

This error may be called an anomaly and it’s usually caused by a variety of symptoms. If you have never seen a WordPress white screen of death of any kind, you are a very lucky man. Maybe you even have a good karma, congratulations!

I had this error occur a few days ago on my own side project. It was a pretty big pain in the ass, but a solution was eventually found, so now I am a lucky man who is able to write this small manual for you!

What may be the reason?

I know that I’ve said that it’s an anomaly, but even anomalies have reasons. In this particular article, I will review the three most frequent ones and how people usually fix them.

On top of that, I will gladly show everyone what to do if the current issue doesn’t fit the usual pattern.

Plugin related issue

Sometimes this problem occurs when you install a fresh new plugin trying to give your website a shiny look along with amazing functionality. Sometimes a WP plugin and theme can have a conflict.

First of all, you need proof that this error occurred right after the activation of a new plugin. If that’s the case, here is what we can do.

Just deactivate the plugin that seems to be causing the problem. But how can we deactivate a plugin without access to our dashboard, right?

• Head to your FTP, visit the ‘plugins’ folder.
• Let’s say that the WP plugin that doesn’t work well with your theme is called ‘WPlug’, find a folder with this name and rename it to ‘WPlug_deactivated’.
• Once you’ve done that, you will be able to access your WordPress dashboard.
• Personally, in cases like this, I recommend you try out the alternative plugins if this particular one doesn’t work correctly with your current theme.
• It’s also possible to disable all plugins at once. This is a good idea in case you are not sure which plugin is causing the trouble, but you know for certain that it’s all because of one of site’s plugins.
• Rename the plugins folder to ‘plugins_old’ or something like that. Yes, simply rename your plugins. It will deactivate all the active ones on your website.
• Or just simply delete the plugin folder on the FTP. That will also work.

Theme related issue

A poorly coded template can also cause this problem. In this case, change your theme or ask someone who is skilled enough to fix this error.

Here is a good solution that will grant access to your dashboard. Then we can decide whether to fix this theme or use another one.

• Go to your FTP server.
• Visit your themes folder, find your theme and rename it. This will automatically deactivate your theme.
• WordPress will set your website’s template to a latest default theme, your admin dashboard along with the website will work again.

There are a few reasons that may affect the correct working of your theme with your WordPress site.

• Poorly coded theme
• Your own changes that you tried to apply to the existing theme

You could have become a victim of a bad product. No problem, it happens to all of us at some point in our life. There is no need to make this mistake again; try out our premium WordPress themes and these poorly coded themes will become a simple nightmare in your past.

Sometimes people try to modify a theme to suit their needs which may screw up everything. WordPress doesn’t like mistakes in their template’s code and that happens to be one of the white screen issue reasons.

Memory limit

This is the problem that caused the error on my own project. The PHP memory limit issue can usually be spotted easily. For example, in my case, I’ve got a Visual Composer plugin that needed much more memory and it notified me. I’ve got a blank white screen on the website, but when I tried to access the dashboard, I saw an error on the screen telling me that Visual Composer needs more memory. Increasing the php memory limit is not hard.

There are two solutions available. It depends on whether your website is hosted on a local machine/server or the hosting provider is involved.

If you have access to your server files, just check the WP files and make the memory limit higher instantly. Here is how:

• Go to the ‘config.php’ file using your FTP.
• Add the following line: define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '128M');

Using a hosting provider’s services makes it a little harder to fix the WordPress white screen of death. It means that it’s impossible to make the permitted memory size higher without contacting their customer service department or changing the pricing plan.

It worked for me, I simply changed to another plan getting more memory with it. But some providers want their clients to contact them so that they can figure it out together.

Unknown cause

Didn’t find a solution? Still cannot access your site? There is no need to worry! TemplateMonster will help you out and give you a hand in this tough situation.

We have a TemplateMonster Service Center and our doors are open for anyone who wants us to help with their template customization or anything else. Make sure to stop by and shoot us an e-mail or contact us in chat, we will be glad to help you fix the issue!

Where do I get top quality templates?

Today we reviewed one of the most common WordPress errors that can happen to a website. However, it doesn’t really matter what kind of a CMS it is. It is easy to face poorly coded themes with any platform, but not with TemplateMonster.

Our best website templates are handcrafted with love and care. We hope you’ll stop by and choose something suitable for your needs!

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