Websites are one of the lifelines of a business. So what happens when a WordPress plugin causes that lifeline to flatline? Yes, it’s normal for the first answer to this question to panic. But after the initial shock, it’s important to know how you can get your website back up as fast as possible.
WordPress plugin conflicts are a headache, but luckily, pretty easy to fix. For a guide on how to fix (and prevent) them, follow the steps below.
WordPress plugins break for many reasons.
Think of it this way: your WordPress site does not have a single developer, but many developers working independently of one another with little or no direct communication.
This includes:
Most of the time, this system works just fine. But when considering that there are so many moving parts that are constantly receiving software updates (or sometimes far worse: not receiving updates), it becomes easy to understand why code conflicts often emerge.
Plugins are designed to solve problems on your WordPress site. But like any technology, they can easily cause you problems, too. In fact, for most WordPress users, a broken plugin is usually the source of pain.
Here are some clues that you may have a broken plugin:
When WordPress websites break, a broken plugin is usually the reason.
Before restoring backups or deactivating plugins, it’s important to gather clues about what’s broken.
Let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be! Sometimes, the answer is staring you in the face.
Sometimes, plugins will spit out clear, specific errors that mention (1) a path to a file with an error and (2) a subtle reference to the line number that encountered an error.
Here is an example of the default-style PHP error message:
Error: cannot redeclare brokenfunction().php: /var/www/html/wp-plugins/mybrokenplugin/mybrokenfile.php:1234This one line is packed with information! It tells you:
Of course, this is just one of many possible examples. Plugin authors can write their own error output too, so it may not look exactly like this.
Also, some errors may involve multiple files, resulting in what’s known as a stacktrace. This can cause the entire page to fill with errors. If you see this, don’t panic: there’s still usually just one very simple, straightforward way to fix the issue.
If you’re staring at a blank or otherwise broken page with no errors, you probably need to enable error reporting inside WordPress.
WordPress makes error reporting easy: open up the file wp-config.php and look for a line like this one.
define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );If it doesn’t exist yet, add it.
Also, make sure that it’s not already there but commented out by being preceded by “//” or “/*”. In such a situation, just remove the commenting.
The website should now display errors directly on the page, as discussed above. If this is a production website and you’d prefer to be more discreet, you can also try storing errors in a log file instead.
To do so, add two additional lines to wp-config.php:
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );The first line will store PHP errors across the whole website in the file /wp-content/debug.log.
The second line will disable presenting such errors on the website for your users.
BONUS: Pressable customers can access their WordPress logs directly in their my.pressable.com panel! Learn more here.
Any managed WordPress hosting provider should be able to provide server-side error logs. These logs capture critical server-level issues—such as memory limit errors, PHP crashes, or permission problems—that WordPress debug mode might miss.
BONUS: Pressable customers can find all of the server-level logs directly in their my.pressable.com panel! Learn more here.
The steps above gave us total visibility into what’s going wrong on the server. But what about in your browser? Problems happen there, too.
Open your browser’s developer tools (usually F12) and check the Console and Network tabs. These can reveal JavaScript errors, missing images, and inaccessible stylesheets—all issues that aren’t visible in your WordPress logs but may point directly to a misbehaving plugin.
If you see red error messages here, be sure to expand them to see the files that are causing issues. Just like we discussed above, plugins tend to live inside a unique folder beneath /wp-content/ on your website and should be easy to identify based on virtually any kind of problem.
It’s tempting to dive right into making changes when your website is broken. Your blood pressure may spike, and rational thinking usually goes out the window.
Before taking the next step, consider taking a fresh backup of your website. You may also want to consider testing any changes on a staging website to first confirm that you are not introducing new problems.
BONUS: All Pressable customers get free backups and can instantly spin up staging websites using their my.pressable.com panel! Learn more here.
Now that you’ve gathered all the error information that you can, it’s time to start troubleshooting. If you’re still not sure that there is one offending plugin to blame, fear not. We’ll account for that, too.
The most frequent cause of plugin troubles on WordPress is simply that the WordPress core, a plugin, or your base theme is outdated.
1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Go to Dashboard > Updates.
3. If an update is available for WordPress core, you’ll see a message with a button labeled “Update Now”.
4. Click the button and wait for the update to complete.
Keeping WordPress core current ensures your site stays compatible with modern plugins and themes—and avoids known bugs or vulnerabilities.
1. In the Dashboard > Updates section, scroll to the Plugins area.
2. Select the plugins you want to update.
3. Click “Update Plugins.”
4. If you suspect one plugin is causing the issue, try updating it individually and test the site afterward.
If a plugin fails to update, you may have indirectly discovered the root of your issue! At that point, it’s probably a good idea to disable the plugin if you can and contact the developer for support.
1. Still in Dashboard > Updates, look for the Themes section.
2. If your active theme has an available update, select it and click “Update Themes.”
An outdated theme can create conflicts with plugins, especially if it uses custom functions or template overrides.
If you still have access to the WordPress admin area, you can disable the badly behaved plugin.
1. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
2. Find the plugin you suspect is causing the issue
3. Click Deactivate
This immediately turns off the plugin without deleting any of its data or settings.
In some situations, this may fail. Or, you may not be able to reach this interface. Fear not! If this describes your situation, you can disable the plugin by renaming the folder.
1. Navigate to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Find the folder for the plugin you want to disable
3. Rename the folder—add -disabled to the end (e.g., seo-plugin → seo-plugin-disabled)
WordPress will automatically deactivate the plugin and recognize it as brand new. Once your site is accessible again, you can choose whether or not you’d like to figure out where the plugin went wrong or dump it altogether.
After your website has been brought back online, the natural next step is to seek support from the plugin vendor. Of course, this can take time, which is why we first focused on fixing your website.
You may find that the plugin vendor has since ceased operating; such is the nature of having a completely open community of developers, projects come and go more frequently.
When contacting your plugin vendor, be sure to provide them with a clear description of what occurred and all of the exact error messages that you were able to retrieve.
If you continue to struggle with a broken website, it’s possible that your problems are more complex.
Pressable customers can take advantage of the Automattic team of experts: the same company that brought you WordPress itself. All of our managed WordPress hosting plans include truly incredible support on a platform where, despite the natural headaches of development, WordPress just works.
Whether you want to give your customers a way to ask questions or you’re getting members to sign up for an event, choosing the right WordPress contact form plugin can make all the difference. The […]
Have you ever wished you could have a custom-built website without having to spend years learning HTML and CSS? Have you scrolled through WordPress’s many themes thinking, “None of these is quite what I need”? […]
You’ve probably heard about the importance of reviews and how they can make or break an online business. Now, imagine if there was a tool that allowed your customers to review you (or your products) […]