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My WordPress site is down

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WordPress

Q:

Our WordPress website is down. What should we do?

Issue

The client is having an issue with their WordPress website: the site is down and they cannot log in. They have received an email from Jetpack which states the server may be overloaded, underpowered or misconfigured. The client previously migrated their WordPress site to SiteGround for hosting but they are unable to renew the domain through WordPress since it is no longer hosted there.

My WordPress site is down

This particular issue sounds to be quite compounded and rather unique.

If a site is slow or intermittent, you should make sure that the theme and it’s plugins are all as up to date as possible.

  • Contact SiteGround (or your organization’s host, or your WordPress support team, for help in setting up and renewing the domain name, if necessary.
  • Diagnose any underlying issues that may be causing performance problems on the website or log-in page, such as conflicts with plugins or coding errors.

You may also want to check if there’s any plugins that you do not need installed – a site that has too many plugins can cause slowness and affect performance.

Troubleshooting your WordPress website if it is down

When your site is down, it can be really stressful.

First Step: A Tall Glass of… water.

The first step is: relax. It happens to the best and biggest organizations out there. Don’t feel embarrassed.

Second Step: Check Your Web Server Status

When trying to figure out why your WordPress site isn’t working, the easiest thing to do first is check your website’s host server status. If there’s an outage on your web hosting provider, then that could be the reason behind why you’re experiencing issues with loading your website.

To check the status of your website’s host, reach out to your WordPress support provider, or to the support for your hosting provider. For more information you can use a service such as DownDetector which monitors Internet outages across different providers so that you can see if anyone else in the same region has reported any similar issues.

Third Step: Check your website

If the server is running fine, then it’s time to check the actual website itself.

Start by opening up a web browser on a mobile device not connected to your network and see if you can reach the site from there. If you can’t access it, something may be wrong with DNS or maybe even an issue within WordPress (usually this happens after updating something).

Here are two primary things that might help in figuring out what happened:

  • Download logs from FTP/SSH connection – this will give you more information about what went wrong during any updates or recent changes. You’ll also want to take note of any new plugins installed before everything started going awry as they could cause unexpected issues when running alongside other components of your site.
  • Check the WordPress error log – this can be found in your server’s root directory or within the wp-content folder. This will give you more information about what is going wrong with your website, such as missing files and other issues that could be causing an issue.

Fourth Step: Contact Support

If you are unable to resolve the issue on your own, then it is time to contact support. Most WordPress hosting providers will provide tech support teams that can help troubleshoot and identify what is causing an issue with your website. WordPress support can assist with your outage and help prevent the issue in the future. It helps if you have logs ready as they can use them to quickly pinpoint the source of any problems.

Finally, get in touch with WordPress developers or professionals who may be able to offer assistance in getting back up and running faster than relying solely on technical support from a web host provider.

If your WordPress site is down, these steps should help you get your site running smoothly again.

Trouble logging into a WordPress website?

If you’re having trouble logging into WordPress, please take a look at these instructions for troubleshooting WordPress login issues.

Causes for WordPress site outages

Biggest Causes for WordPress Sites to go down

The most common reason why WordPress sites go down is due to server issues. This can include server overloads, DNS configuration problems, and other similar issues that are beyond your control.

For many organizations, the biggest culprit of WordPress site outages is a lack of maintenance. It’s important to keep your website up-to-date with the latest versions, security patches and updates in order to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Another common cause for WordPress sites being down is from malware or other malicious code being injected into your website. In these cases, it’s important to scan and clean up any infections as soon as possible in order to prevent long term damage or any data loss due to an attack on your site.

Securing your website with a reliable WordPress security plugin and regular backups is also key to preventing any future issues.

When the problem isn’t security related, we recommend checking for any plugin conflicts, outdated or broken theme files, and the overall health of your server. These are all quick fixes that can help you get back up and running in no time.

Most common causes for WordPress site outages:

  • Server issues.
  • Lack of maintenance.
  • Malware or malicious code injection.
  • Plugin conflicts.
  • Outdated or broken theme files.
  • Poor server health.

Often, WordPress site outages can be fixed by simply running an update or reconfiguring the server settings. If this doesn’t do the trick, reach out to your hosting provider for help troubleshooting any deeper issues with your website.

Additional reading

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