Few things are more stressful than opening your website and seeing an error message instead of your homepage. The good news? Most WordPress errors are common, well-documented, and fixable — if you know what to look for.
Here are seven errors we see all the time, and how to approach fixing each one.
1. The White Screen of Death
Your site loads a completely blank white page with no error message at all. This is usually caused by a plugin or theme conflict, or a PHP memory limit that’s been exceeded.
Quick fix: Rename your plugins folder via FTP or cPanel’s File Manager to deactivate all plugins at once, then reactivate them one by one to find the culprit.
2. “Error Establishing a Database Connection”
This means WordPress can’t talk to its database — often due to incorrect database credentials in your wp-config.php file, or a database server that’s down.
Quick fix: Double-check the database name, username, password, and host in wp-config.php against what’s set up in your hosting control panel.
3. 500 Internal Server Error
A vague but common error, usually triggered by a corrupted .htaccess file, a plugin conflict, or exhausted PHP memory.
Quick fix: Rename your .htaccess file to force WordPress to generate a fresh one, and increase your PHP memory limit if needed.
4. 404 Errors on All Pages Except the Homepage
This typically points to a permalink or .htaccess issue.
Quick fix: Go to Settings → Permalinks in your dashboard and simply click “Save Changes” without altering anything — this regenerates your rewrite rules.
5. “Are You Sure You Want to Do This?” Errors
Known as a security nonce failure, this often happens after a plugin update or when a page has been open too long in your browser.
Quick fix: Clear your browser cache and cookies, then try the action again. If it persists, deactivate caching plugins temporarily.
6. Mixed Content Warnings (Padlock Missing in Browser)
This happens when your site is set up for HTTPS but some resources (images, scripts) are still loading over HTTP.
Quick fix: Use a plugin like “Really Simple SSL,” or manually update hardcoded HTTP links in your database.
7. Site Stuck in Maintenance Mode
If an update fails halfway, WordPress can get stuck showing “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance.”
Quick fix: Connect via FTP or File Manager and delete the .maintenance file from your root directory.
When to Call in Help
Most of these fixes are manageable if you’re comfortable poking around your site’s files. But when errors keep recurring, or you’re worried about breaking something further, it’s often faster and safer to bring in someone who fixes WordPress sites every day.
At Marty Digitals, WordPress error diagnosis and fixes are part of our everyday work. If you’d rather learn to handle these issues yourself, check out our WordPress training programme, where we walk you through exactly how to troubleshoot and maintain your own site. Prefer to hand it off entirely? Explore our website support services instead.
