Common WordPress Website Building Issues and How to Deal with Them

Learn about some issues frequently reported by WordPress web developers and users and how to resolve them.

In this post, we discuss some common problems that occur in the process of WordPress website development and when using the system. There can be a number of possible issues, starting from wrong admin credentials and ending with corrupted data. You will also learn about some methods to resolve these problems. We hope this information will be useful both for a WordPress site developer and an ordinary user.

Ask a small business owner what content management system (CMS) comes to their mind first. We’re sure that nine times out of ten the answer is “WordPress.” There are lots of reasons for this popularity. We’ve talked about these on numerous occasions.

Installing the system and building a simple site based on this CMS don’t require a professional WordPress website developer. However, as the site grows more complex and an increasing number of third-party add-ons are tacked onto it, it may begin manifesting all sorts of quirks.

In many cases, a layman doesn’t have enough expertise to find out what causes these issues exactly. That’s when the services of an expert WordPress developer or WordPress development agency are indispensable.

The GetDevDone WordPress website development experts have fixed problems with WordPress on thousands of websites. In this post, we would like to touch upon some common issues we’ve come across in our work and suggest the best remedies to help you put things right.

Data-Related WordPress Website Building Issues 

Headache #1: No Connection to the Database 

Consider a typical situation that probably every WordPress website developer or user has experienced. You want to add a new post to your blog. All of a sudden, the system throws an error saying that it has failed to connect to the database. There can be several WordPress issues that cause this type of failure. You can either fix them yourself or seek help.

Wrong Data for Connection 

First, make sure that you’ve specified the right username, password, hostname, and DB name in the wp-config.php file. Perhaps, someone has changed these without telling you about it. Find the file and verify the data. Wrong? Edit. Right? Keep searching for the cause.

Hosting Provider or Server 

Another possible culprit is your hosting provider. You may have saved more data to your DB that the provider allows you to. Get in touch with them and find it out. In addition, the server itself can be out of order at the moment. Then, it’s time that heals.

Headache #2: Too Much Extraneous Data

When it comes to WordPress development, one of the most common headaches that developers and users alike face is the issue of excess or extraneous data. In the pristine state of a fresh WordPress installation, your database is clean, efficient, and well-structured. However, this ideal state doesn’t last long.

As soon as you start adding content – posts, comments, media, and more – WordPress begins creating additional tables in your database. Each new piece of content, whether it’s a blog post or a comment, results in the creation of a metadata table alongside the basic table. This means for every comment you approve, there’s a whole new table created just to store related metadata.

Over time, as more and more data accumulates in your database, its structure can start to become messy and unmanageable. This is due to the increasing number of these additional tables, which can make querying the data with SQL extremely challenging. These numerous interrelations between tables can overcomplicate the otherwise straightforward table structure.

The built-in methods provided by WordPress can help streamline the table structure to some extent. However, these methods often fall short when dealing with large amounts of data. As the volume of extraneous data grows, it can significantly slow down your site’s performance, causing it to crawl along at a frustratingly slow pace.

Regrettably, the system’s way of handling data is not something you can change or adjust according to your needs. Hiring WordPress development experts is often the best approach to tackle this issue.

These professionals will conduct a comprehensive review of your database organization, identify the problematic areas, and suggest the most effective strategies to keep your database clean and efficient. This could involve regular cleaning routines, optimizing database queries, or even reorganizing the database structure. With their help, you can ensure that your WordPress site remains speedy and efficient, regardless of the amount of content you add.

Plugin-Related WordPress Issues You Can Experience When Using or Developing a Website on this CMS 

Headache #1: The Home Page or Another Page on Your Site is Blank 

The WordPress core gets better with every new release. Developing sites with WordPress, though, still assumes the use of plugins to enhance a site’s functionality. In this respect, WordPress website developers and users are lucky. Since this CMS is one of the oldest in the market, its community is the largest. Thanks to that, you will find tons of WordPress plugins on the Internet.

This is good, isn’t it? It is, until you suddenly open up your WordPress website with a sizable array of plugins inside and, to your horror, see a completely blank page. There’s nothing to tell you what has happened: no notifications, no warnings — nothing.

You close the browser. Then, open it again. The page is still blank. What can you do when you don’t even know where to look?

Any WordPress website development professional will immediately see what’s wrong. Most likely, this one of the most common WordPress issues is caused by a plugin. It might have been produced by amateurs or poorly tested, for example. It may also be outdated.

In a situation like that, WordPress development experts recommend getting rid of all your plugins temporarily in order to see if one of them is to blame for the error. Here is what you should do:

• FTP to your site
• Search for the plugins directory
• Give it a different name

Now, open up the site again. Has the content returned? You’ve hit the nail on the head! The problem lies in one of the add-ons. The next steps:

• Give the plugins directory its initial name
• Cut out all the folders from the plugins directory and paste them into a separate folder
• Cut and paste each of the folders into the original plugins directory in turn and keep your eyes on the page
• Once you’ve identified the offending plugin, remove it or replace it with a different one.

Note that any page of your website may have this issue. In addition, since programmers use PHP for WordPress development, this problem can be caused by a lack of PHP memory.

Whether the cause of the issue is a faulty plugin or shortage of memory, you can also set the WB_DEBUG constant in the wp-config.php to true. This will enable the debug mode so that you can identify the error immediately.

Headache #2: The Pages Start Taking Painfully Long to Load 

In many cases, there’s nothing wrong with the plugins you or a WordPress web developer has installed. The problem can be in their number. We understand you. It’s very tempting to use as many plugins as possible to meet all your business needs.

However, an excess of add-ons can cause some very unpleasant WordPress issues. One of these is abnormally long page loading times. If you’ve noticed that your site is running at a speed that was fast ten years ago but these days is unacceptable, review the list of plugins on your site.

Make sure you have no redundant plugins. Try leaving one plugin for each function such as search engine optimization or data analytics. You can read about other methods to speed up a WordPress website on our blog.

Of course, custom WordPress development is the best way to ensure smooth and fast operation of your website. If speed is your concern, as it should be, but you just can’t increase it on your own, сonsider hiring our expert WordPress and WooCommerce developers. They are well-versed in the essential web technologies and can add required features to your site. This way, you won’t have to put yourself entirely at the mercy of third-party WordPress plugin developers.

Some Other Issues That Can Arise in the WordPress Website Building Process

Headache #1: WordPress Produces the Parse Error 

This is one of the WordPress problems that’s relatively easy to fix. Sometimes, it’s wiser to take someone else’s coding solution and apply it to our own website than try to reinvent the wheel. Even top WordPress developers do that and… make mistakes.

There can be a slash or bracket missing in the external code, for example. Paste it into one of the files through your admin dashboard and the next thing you see is the parse syntax error message printed across the page.

The good news is that this message is very detailed. It indicates the precise location within the file where the problem occurred. To resolve the issue, follow these steps:

• FTP to your site
• Find the file specified in the error message
• Find the line or lines within the file
• Correct the mistake and save the file
• Press the browser reload button.

Sometimes, you may also have to clear the cache both in the WP admin panel and on the server side.

When you choose expert white label WordPress development services, you can be sure that you’ll get clean code without mistakes as professionals will test the project before delivering it to you.

Headache #2: A Link Points to Nowhere 

Have you ever clicked a link on a website just to land on a page with number 404 prominently displayed along with the notification that the page doesn’t exist? Very annoying, isn’t it? You don’t have to be a WordPress web developer to let you visitors see the real page instead of an error page, no matter how stylish it looks.

Just go to the WordPress admin area and find the permalinks menu item. Make sure the URL of the page to which the link points is correct. If it’s not, edit it, and save the changes. There are several reasons why a permalink takes visitors to nowhereland. For example, a post may have been deleted.

One thing is that, in certain cases, you should save the permalinks changes even if the URL is correct. Just click Save changes.

Another explanation is that there can be something wrong with the .htaccess file. The recommended way to fix this one of the common issues with WordPress is to consult a WordPress site developer. This file is too important to modify it without proper expertise.

Headache #3: Images Are Not Displaying Correctly

Another common issue WordPress users often encounter is with images not displaying correctly on their site. This can be due to a variety of reasons ranging from incorrect file paths, file permissions, or an issue with the media library. 

A frequent error is the ‘HTTP image upload error’, which can be particularly frustrating as it prevents users from uploading images to their site. To resolve this issue, you may need to adjust your media settings, check your file permissions, or increase your WordPress memory limit.

However, if you’re not comfortable with these more technical aspects, it’s advisable to seek help from a WordPress site developer. They have the necessary expertise to diagnose and fix the issue, ensuring your site’s visual content is displayed as intended.

Final Words

There’s probably no content management system as flexible and simple in operation as WordPress. The core of the platform gets better and more robust every time a new version is out. This is not to say that WordPress is completely devoid of shortcomings. Every WordPress web developer or user can confirm this.

In this post, we have only scratched the surface by describing some frequently reported WordPress issues that arise during website development using this CMS. Some other pitfalls may await WordPress website developers and users as well.

Non-tech-savvy administrators can fix some of those WordPress problems without help from outside. The time comes, though, when an ordinary user doesn’t know how to deal with a problem they’ve bumped into. This is when advice from expert WordPress developers can bring real value.

GetDevDone employs a group of top WordPress developers with years of experience behind them and unrivaled expertise in WordPress frontend and backend development.

If you want your WordPress website to run smoothly and efficiently, you’ve come to the right place. If you need to outsource WordPress development to professionals and strengthen your team, you’ve come to the right place. If you need to have a custom theme to stand out from the competition, you’ve come to the right place. And if you’re looking to explore the cutting-edge realm of headless WordPress development services for unparalleled customization, you’ve come to the right place. In short, we’re capable of handling every WordPress task you have for us.

Let’s get in touch!