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How to Fix “The site is experiencing technical difficulties.” Error in WordPress

Today almost every business has a website whether it is small or large and many users start personal blogging and websites too. More than forty five percent of sites are using wordpress as a content management system. WordPress is the leading platform for getting your website from your mind onto the web, with the least fuss. As It has a huge market share and  open-source infrastructure users might face any kind of errors. 

No one wants to run into problems with their WordPress site. It can be even more frustrating when you’re not sure what the issue is or why it’s occurring. This is typically the case with the “the site is experiencing technical difficulties” error. 

“The site is experiencing technical difficulties” is one of the most common error messages encountered on WordPress websites. It indicates that something has gone wrong with the site’s functionalities. 

If you are also facing this error message, don’t worry. In this tutorial we are going to dispose of some handoff methods for troubleshooting this error.

What is “The site Is Experiencing technical difficulties” error in WordPress?

WordPress website uses PHP programming language in themes, plugins and in core. So these might be the source of the error. Any problem with that code can break your website functionalities. For instance, you may have recently copied and pasted code snippets to your website, or there may be a plugin conflict with another plugin, a theme, or some custom code. And When you try to log in to your site, then you see a slightly different message.

This message is a default error message that WordPress shows in some different ways on backend and frontend. when a fatal error occurs. It doesn’t provide specific details about what caused the error. Moreover the error typically means that the website is temporarily inaccessible to use its functionalities or not working as expected.

How “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” Appears?

Before seeking any troubleshooting method first you have to diagnose the problem. Then you can easily look for solutions. Let’s see how ‘The site is experiencing technical difficulties’  basically appears on frontend and backend. It can appear as follows:

How “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” Appears-1
How “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” Appears-2
How “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” Appears-3

Key Reasons for facing “The site is experiencing difficulties”?

There are a few causes why you are facing a fatal error or the message ‘The site is experiencing technical difficulties” in WordPress:

1. Conflict with Plug-in

    It’s not compulsory that some plugins always work well with other plugins. Because there are thousands of free and paid plugins on WordPress plugin repository and across the internet. There are thousands of wordpress Plugin developers all over the world. 

    Most of the plugin developers follow WordPress Coding Standards while building wordpress plugins, and test against most of the top most used plugins. But they don’t test against every single plugin, so if you’re using a plugin that is newer and may not be used by a lot of people, you could run into conflicts that result in a fatal error.

    2. Conflict with Themes

      Similarly to Plugin conflict, here themes might be the reason for this error. Most free and paid themes in the WordPress theme directory have requirements to meet, in order to successfully be added.  But there are also paid ones outside of WordPress. Not all of them go through the WordPress Coding Standards or could ever be submitted to the theme directory.

      So the theme itself may be the cause of the problem. In some cases, the theme may not play well with some of the plugins and you may either run into a fatal error.

      3. WordPress, Plugins, or Theme Failed to Update Correctly

        Sometimes when you are updating WordPress, even if you’re letting it do an automatic upgrade, things sometimes may go wrong. This can also happen when updating your plugins or themes. Technology isn’t always perfect, and these failed updates can result in a fatal error on your website.

          WordPress is powered by the PHP programming language. If there’s any kind of PHP errors such as syntax errors, deprecated functions, or memory limit exceeded issues. in your code, it can also cause your site to break and display this error message. 

          If your website exceeds the allocated PHP memory limit, it can lead to this error. Increasing the PHP memory limit in your “wp-config.php” file may help resolve the issue.

          WordPress has minimum PHP version requirements. If your server is running an outdated PHP version, it may be incompatible with the latest WordPress version and plugins, leading to issues.

          5. File Permissions

            Incorrect file permission related configurations on your server can prevent WordPress from functioning correctly and encountering this error. Ensure that directories have permissions set to 755 and files to 644. If permissions are set incorrectly, it can lead to this error.

            How To Fix “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” 

            When resolving the “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” error in wordpress is crucial to identify the specific cause by following systematic troubleshooting approaches. Resolving the error typically includes enabling debugging, deactivating plugins and themes, reviewing error logs, and making necessary adjustments or fixes based on the root cause.

            1. Enable WordPress debug mode

              If you want to learn more about the error and what’s causing it, you can try enabling WordPress debugging  mode.

              This built-in troubleshooting method can help you to diagnose the problem  by revealing any underlying PHP errors. To turn it on, you need to edit your wp-config.php file. You can do this through your File Manager in cPanel, or by using an FTP client. 

              • Navigate to public_html, then locate and open the wp-config.php file.
              • Add the following lines of code anywhere before the line “/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */”:
              define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true);

              define(‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true);

              define( ‘WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY’, false );
              • When it’s done, save changes.
              • Now navigate back to your WordPress site to refresh it.

              Now you might see a message that looks something like: “stdClass::$plugin in /www/WordPress/public_html/wp-contents/plugins/listen/class-wp.php on line 109”. 

              In this situation, you will be able to narrow down the issue to a specific plugin and line of code. Alternatively, you can view your debug.log by browsing to the wp-content folder of your site’s root directory.

              2. Deactivate All Plugins

                Since plugins might be the common cause of this error, deactivating and reactivating all plugins can help identify if a plugin is faulty:

                • Connect to the FTP client or the File Manager.
                • Now navigate to the wp-content directory.
                • Find the plugins folder and rename it.
                • This will deactivate all plugins.
                • Then check your site again. If it starts working, then one of your plugins is the cause of error.
                • To find which plugin is faulty, again rename the plugin folder name to plugins and then deactivate each plugin one by one through the WordPress dashboard.

                3. Troubleshooting for Theme Conflicts

                  If you’re still seeing the “this site is experiencing technical difficulties” message in WordPress, don’t worry. We have some more techniques to try to fix the error. This will require a bit more time and work, but they can help you get to the root of the issue. 

                  If your theme is faulty you can’t access your WordPress admin area and you won’t be able to switch themes through your dashboard.

                  • Access your site files via FTP or File Manager.
                     
                  • Once you’ve connected to your site, go to public_html.
                  • Navigate to the wp-content and click on themes.
                  • Now locate the folder of your current theme.

                  4. Update PHP Version

                    As we have discussed, the Old or outdated Version of PHP is one of the key reasons for this error message if you’re running an outdated version of PHP.  Therefore, if you’re dealing with an error in a log file, it might be due to an outdated, deprecated PHP function.

                    • To check which PHP version you are currently using, log into your cPanel hosting dashboard.
                    • Navigate to the Select PHP Version tool.
                    • Select PHP Version option in cpanel.
                    • Now you can see your current PHP version. You can choose the latest one from the drop-down menu.

                    5. Increase your PHP memory limit

                      It is one of the most common reasons for error “the site is experiencing difficulties”. It’s worth noting that, while not a common cause of this specific error, it’s possible that the issue is with your PHP memory limit. This limit is assigned by default when you install WordPress for the first time.

                      If you have a load of a lot of large files on your website, like images and videos, you might increase your PHP memory limit. To do so do the following-

                      • Navigate to your wp-config.php file via FTP or File Manager. 
                      • Click to open the file and search for the following line of code:
                      define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ’32M’);
                      • Here you can change the “32” to something higher, like:
                      define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘128M’);
                      • When you’re done, save your file and try refreshing your site.

                      6. Check File and Folder Permissions

                        Incorrect file and folder permissions can also cause this error so ensure that folders have permissions set to 755 and files to 644. You can check and change permissions using an FTP client. Right-click on the folder or file and select “File permissions” to view and edit them correctly.

                        7. Contact Supportfly for WordPress support

                          If you have tried all of the above significant methods but still you are encountering this error, you don’t need to worry about it. Our WordPress management services are for you. That  involves ongoing management, optimization, and security measures to ensure smooth performance and exceptional user experiences. 

                          With our premier WordPress Management Services you get a comprehensive solution 24×7 to handle all aspects including all types of errors of your WordPress site, allowing you to focus on your core business. We take care of the technical intricacies.

                          Conclusion

                          In this tutorial, we’ve covered a range of methods for handling the “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” error in WordPress. From basic diagnose and troubleshooting with plugins and themes to engaging deeper diagnostics like PHP updates and enabling Debugging Mode, we’ve explored the main reasons for the error and how to identify and resolve common issues. 

                          When these steps don’t resolve the problem, the next move is to contact our support team for WordPress expert assistance.