My WordPress died after copying staging to live. The debug log had a surprise (pls help)

Solvedphppluginswordpress8 replies · 422 views · started
Accepted solution by Vik Ekström — been there man turn on logging to see the actual error. In wp config.php, above teh line that says to stop editing, add define('WP DEBUG',…
  1. Small business site, and its completely down. All I see is this:

    There has been a critical error on this website.

    There has been a critical error on this website.
    Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.
    

    WordPress sent an email about a technical issue mentioning a plugin, but the recovery mode link just loops back to teh error ;) This started right after copynig staging to live. Im not a developer, but I can follow instructions. Please tell me I dont have to rebuild everything. Any help is very welocme, customers are already asking what happened.

    0
  2. ok so with SSH and WP-CLI its quicker: wp plugin deactivate --all --skip-plugins --skip-themes to recover, then wp plugin activate name one at a time. wp plugin list shows versions sooo u can spot what updated recently. lmk how it goes

    2 6 helpful
  3. oh ive been there lol to disable all plugins without the dashboard, rename wp-content/plugins to plugins-off over FTP or the hosts file manager... wordPress deactivates everything it cant find :D if the site comes back, rename the folder back and then rename individual plugin folders one by one to find the culrpit. hope that helps :)

    5 4 helpful
  4. uhh is php even worth bothering with or should i just leave it ?

    1 0 helpful
  5. Accepted solution

    been there man turn on logging to see the actual error. In wp-config.php, above teh line that says to stop editing, add define('WP_DEBUG', true);, define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true); and define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);. Reload teh site, then read wp-content/debug.log. the fatal error line names the file, which tells you which plugin or theme is responsible. fingers crossed 🤞

    this vid explains it way better than me lol

    ▶ FIXED There has been a critical error on this website - Critical error on your website quick fix

    0 5 helpful
  6. Id restore the last backup first and investigate on a staging copy :) For a business site, getting back online fast matters more than finding the cause live. idk maybe im wrong lol

    0 1 helpful
  7. try turning off the update first, fixed it for me. @tensor_den what did u end up doing in teh end

    2 1 helpful
  8. my second monitor setup is officially haunted

    4 0 helpful
  9. @vike21 yesss switched PHP back, updated teh old plugin, then upgraded PHP again... everything runs fine. laerned a lot about debug.log today. seriously made my day 😭🙏

    2 2 helpful

Reply to this topic

Sign in or create an account to reply.