In a perfect world, your WordPress site would run flawlessly forever. In the real world, even well-built sites throw errors—plugins conflict, themes break after updates, servers hiccup, and code deprecates. Those WordPress errors are normal and solvable when you know where to look and how to diagnose them quickly.

The good news: most issues don’t need to derail your day. With the right mix of built-in tools, smart plugins, and safe workflows, you can find the root cause fast and fix it with minimal risk.

We’ve operated multiple WordPress sites for years and have battled everything from minor notices to site-stopping fatals. Use this guide to understand what different errors mean, how to surface useful diagnostics, and which steps to take to resolve problems without making things worse.

What are WordPress Errors?

Any WordPress install can encounter errors over time. Broadly, they fall into three buckets: notices, warnings, and fatal errors.

Notices flag potential issues or deprecated usage but don’t stop your site. Warnings are more serious and can affect functionality. Fatal errors stop PHP execution entirely and can bring down a page—or your whole site—until fixed. When a fatal occurs, modern WordPress versions trigger Recovery Mode and send an admin email with a special link so you can log in safely and disable the offending theme or plugin without taking the whole site offline.

Common triggers include themes, plugins, custom code, PHP or WordPress core updates, server configuration changes, caching layers, and database or file-permission problems.

The Basics of WordPress Errors

WordPress debugging can feel technical, but a few core concepts make it manageable. Start by enabling safe diagnostics, capturing logs you can review later, and testing changes in a staging environment before touching production. You can also leverage WordPress’s Site Health checks (found under Tools > Site Health) to spot configuration issues early.

WP_DEBUG

WordPress ships with a built-in debug mode called WP_DEBUG. You enable it by editing your wp-config.php file near the bottom and setting define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );. Pair it with define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); to write logs to a file and define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); to hide errors from visitors. By default, the log is saved to wp-content/debug.log, and you can also set WP_DEBUG_LOG to a custom path if you prefer.

Be careful: a single misplaced character in wp-config.php can take your site down. If you’re unfamiliar with code editing or SFTP, have a developer handle this for you.

Not every notice is urgent—many simply indicate deprecated functions or validation quirks. Still, treating them early prevents larger failures after future updates. Many third-party debugging plugins read from WP_DEBUG, so understanding it pays off.

Optional helpers: define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', true ); forces WordPress to use non-minified core CSS/JS for easier front-end debugging. You can also set an environment flag with WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE (e.g., production, staging, development, local) to make environment-specific behavior (like verbose logging on staging only) safer.

Debug Logs

With WP_DEBUG_LOG enabled, WordPress writes errors to /wp-content/debug.log. This central log is invaluable for tracking issues that only occur intermittently or under load, and you can change the log location by setting WP_DEBUG_LOG to a full path.

The debug log records time-stamped entries tied to requests, plugins, themes, and PHP stack traces—perfect for spotting patterns. For server-level issues, combine this with your host’s PHP and web-server logs.

Staging Websites

Quality WordPress hosts provide a staging environment—a safe clone of your live site where you can test updates, new plugins, and fixes without risking production. Use staging to reproduce errors, toggle plugins, switch themes, and run updates; when you validate a fix, push those changes live.

Common WordPress Errors

There are hundreds of possible issues, but these categories cover most cases you’ll encounter:

  • PHP errors (deprecated functions, undefined variables, syntax errors, memory exhausted)
  • WordPress file errors (missing or corrupted core files, bad .htaccess, incorrect file permissions)
  • Database errors (connection failures, corrupted tables, bad prefixes, charset/collation mismatches)
  • Internal server errors (500 responses from misconfigured PHP versions, timeouts, or conflicting rules)
  • Security errors (malware injections, unauthorized file edits, blocked requests from security/firewall rules)
  • White screen of death (usually a fatal PHP error, memory issue, or theme/plugin conflict). Recent WordPress versions will also present a “There has been a critical error on this website” screen with a Recovery Mode link for admins.
  • Technical difficulties (the “There has been a critical error on this website” screen with recovery-mode links).
  • RSS feed errors (invalid XML, stray whitespace, or plugin output before headers)
  • Bad gateway errors (upstream timeouts or PHP workers overwhelmed by heavy requests)
  • SSL errors (mixed content, incorrect certificates, or forced HTTPS misconfigurations)

Whatever message you’re seeing, you can usually isolate it by checking the debug log, using Recovery Mode to temporarily disable the culprit, testing on staging, and then rolling forward with a controlled fix.

3 Tricks For WordPress Errors

These quick, low-risk tactics help prevent problems and speed up troubleshooting—even if you’re new to WordPress.

Trick #1: Use Monitoring and Debugging Plugins

Core tools like WP_DEBUG and logs are powerful, but raw output can be hard to read. A few lightweight plugins make diagnostics more approachable by translating logs and surfacing slow queries, hooks, HTTP calls, and enqueued scripts in plain language. Two proven options are Query Monitor (a developer tools panel) and Health Check & Troubleshooting (lets you disable themes/plugins just for your user session without affecting visitors).

Health Check’s Troubleshooting mode makes conflict testing safe in production by switching to a default theme and deactivating plugins only for you until you exit the mode.

Trick #2: Get Web Hosting For WordPress

Choosing a WordPress-focused host makes debugging easier. You’ll get knowledgeable support that understands common plugin conflicts, PHP worker limits, and caching layers—ideal if you’d rather not troubleshoot alone.

The best web hosting for WordPress providers typically offer one-click staging, on-demand backups, automatic updates, malware scanning, and clear access to error logs. Many will even help identify a broken plugin or configuration and suggest a fix over chat, phone, or ticket.

These extras—fast rollbacks, managed updates, and proper server tuning—dramatically reduce the time you spend chasing errors and help you ship changes with confidence.

Trick #3: Backup Your WordPress Site

Some errors are benign; others can lock you out or corrupt data. If you tweak code while diagnosing an issue, you can make matters worse without meaning to.

Keep recent full backups (files and database) and test that you can restore them quickly. Maintain a schedule (e.g., daily for active sites) and make an extra backup before theme, plugin, or core updates. Store at least one copy off-site so you’re covered if your server fails.

If your host doesn’t include reliable backups, install a reputable backup plugin like UpdraftPlus and configure automatic backups with retention. Knowing you can restore within minutes turns a scary error into a minor detour.

Pro tip for 2025: many hosts now default to newer PHP versions (8.2/8.3+). If enabling a new PHP version triggers deprecation warnings or fatals from old plugins, use Health Check’s Troubleshooting mode to pinpoint the culprit and either update or replace it—don’t roll back PHP long-term. PHP 8.3 is supported by current WordPress releases, but always test on staging first.