Table of Contents

• The White Screen of Death
• Internal Server Error (500 Error)
• Broken Layout or Missing Styling
• Slow Page Load Times
• Plugin or Theme Conflicts After Updates
• Login Issues and Lockouts
• Contact Forms Not Sending Emails
• When to Call a Professional
• Frequently Asked Questions

Every WordPress website owner encounters problems eventually — a plugin conflict, an unexpected error, a page that suddenly looks broken. Most of these issues are common, well-documented, and fixable, but they can be alarming if you don’t know what’s causing them or how serious they are.

This guide covers the most frequently encountered WordPress problems, what typically causes them, and how they’re resolved — so you know what to expect and what to ask if you bring in help.

The White Screen of Death

What it looks like: Your site loads a completely blank white page, with no error message and no content.

Common cause: Usually a PHP memory limit issue, a plugin conflict, or a fatal error in theme code.

How it’s fixed: A developer typically enables WordPress debug mode to reveal the underlying error, then deactivates plugins one by one to isolate the conflict, or increases the PHP memory limit via the hosting configuration. This is rarely something a non-technical site owner should attempt directly — but it’s usually resolved within an hour by an experienced developer.

Internal Server Error (500 Error)

What it looks like: A generic ‘500 Internal Server Error’ message, often after a plugin or theme update.

Common cause: A corrupted .htaccess file, a plugin conflict, or exceeded PHP memory limits.

How it’s fixed: Regenerating the .htaccess file, deactivating recently updated plugins, or reviewing server error logs typically resolves this.

Broken Layout or Missing Styling

What it looks like: The site loads, but appears unstyled or visually broken — text is misaligned, images are missing formatting, or the layout looks like plain HTML.

Common cause: Usually a CSS or JavaScript file failing to load, often due to a caching issue, an incomplete plugin update, or a file permissions problem.

How it’s fixed: Clearing the site cache (and any CDN cache) is the first step. If that doesn’t resolve it, a developer will check for missing or corrupted files.

Slow Page Load Times

What it looks like: Pages take several seconds to load, hurting both user experience and search rankings.

Common cause: Unoptimised images, excessive plugins, poor hosting, lack of caching, or bloated theme code.

How it’s fixed: A combination of image compression, implementing a caching plugin, removing unnecessary plugins, and potentially upgrading to better-performing hosting.

Plugin or Theme Conflicts After Updates

What it looks like: The site was working fine, then broke immediately after updating a plugin, theme, or WordPress core itself.

Common cause: Incompatibility between the updated component and other elements of the site.

How it’s fixed: Reverting to the previous version (from a backup) and testing the update on a staging site first before applying it to the live site. This is precisely why staging environments and pre-update backups are non-negotiable best practice.

Login Issues and Lockouts

What it looks like: You’re unable to access the WordPress admin dashboard, either due to a forgotten password or a security plugin locking you out after failed login attempts.

Common cause: Password issues, security plugin over-sensitivity, or in rare cases, a compromised account.

How it’s fixed: Password resets via email, or direct database access (via hosting control panel) if email reset isn’t working. If a compromise is suspected, a full security review should follow.

Contact Forms Not Sending Emails

What it looks like: Form submissions appear to work, but the emails never arrive.

Common cause: Server email configuration issues — most hosting environments don’t reliably send email natively, and this is often overlooked in initial builds.

How it’s fixed: Installing and configuring an SMTP plugin to route form emails through a dedicated email delivery service, rather than relying on the server’s default (and often blocked) mail function.

When to Call a Professional

Minor content issues can usually be resolved by a business owner with basic WordPress familiarity. But anything involving error messages, security concerns, database issues, or site-wide breakage should go to a qualified developer — attempting fixes without proper backups in place risks making the problem worse.