Do you want an easy way to quickly troubleshoot issues on your WordPress site? The Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin has got you covered. This plugin performs the same steps our Support team follows when first approaching a broken WordPress site.
Troubleshooting Mode
Standard operating procedure for WordPress troubleshooting involves taking a look at the plugins and themes. Most issues will result from a conflict in the code at one of thse locations: plugin files or theme files. The WordPress ecosystem relies on a lot of moving parts to make everything work right. Themes interact with these various parts to work correctly while plugins introduce outside functionality into the environment. This is why they can often be a source of trouble. Troubleshooting mode turns off plugins and switches to the default theme only for you, meaning your users will be unaffected while you troubleshoot.
Site Stats
You can gain powerful access to your server information using the “Site Status” section of the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin. This page gives you a quick but detailed rundown of the software you’re using including:
- WordPress core, theme, and plugin information
- Helpful for troubleshooting purpose, also lets you know at a glance if plugins or themes are in need of an update.
- PHP & MySQL versions
- A lot of problems can be caused by the PHP version, it’s important to keep an eye out for this.
- Communication with WordPress
- Many features in WordPress are supported by direct communication with WordPress servers, for example, the Jetpack plugin which uses a WordPress-hosted CDN for image optimization.
- Background updates
- The plugin can even tell you what kind of update and file transfer systems (if any, including version control) are in use on your site.
Debug Information
All software gets the occasional bug once in a while. Your WordPress site is no different. Using the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin helps you get a better idea of what’s going in your WordPress installation, so you can more easily help yourself or get help from others.
The plugin also lets you copy and paste your debug information. This can be incredibly helpful if you are seeking help in WordPress.org support forums.
- WordPress
- Everything you ever wanted or needed to know about your WordPress installation.
- Installation Size
- How big is your site? How much room is it taking up? All that information can be found here.
- Active Theme
- All the important data about your current, active theme can be found here.
- Other Themes
- Other themes that have been installed on your site.
- Server
- Detailed information about your server.
- Database
- Important details about your database setup are kept here.
Using This Information Wisely
All of this information can be available to you, but it doesn’t do much good unless you learn how to use it wisely. This information is important for troubleshooting.
- You noticed you have a problem
- Something isn’t working as it’s supposed to
- Use the information available in this plugin to help yourself (or someone else) eliminate possible causes
- Find a solution
The above troubleshooting scenario is the typical one, your case may be different. But with all the information at your disposal, you will be able to make a more educated guess about you’ll need to do in order to fix a problem.
