White Screen of Death. As the name suggests, the White Screen of Death (WSoD) occurs when a blank white screen replaces your website. In some cases, you may see an HTTP 500 error with a warning, “This page isn’t working and is unable to handle the request. The “White Screen of Death” (WSOD) is a term used to describe a situation in WordPress where the entirety of a website’s content, including the admin dashboard, displays as a blank white page instead of the expected content.
It’s a frustrating issue because there’s no error message or any other indication of what went wrong, hence the name “White Screen of Death.” Both PHP errors and database errors can manifest as a white screen, a blank screen with no information. In most cases, the white screen of death is due to an unresponsive script that times out or gets interrupted by your WordPress hosting server.
One plugin could be incompatible with another plugin. Or a recently installed theme could be faulty and poorly configured for your site. However, there could be a lot of reasons for why this error appears, some of the most common reasons are as follows;
- PHP Errors: Syntax errors, fatal errors, or memory limit exhaustion in PHP code can cause the White Screen of Death. When PHP encounters a critical error, it may fail to render the webpage, resulting in a blank white screen.
- Plugin or Theme Issues: Incompatible plugins or themes, or conflicts between them, can lead to the White Screen of Death. If a plugin or theme has a bug or is poorly coded, it may disrupt the rendering of the website.
- Memory Limit Exhaustion: WordPress requires a certain amount of memory to function properly. If the PHP memory limit is exceeded during the execution of a script, it can result in the White Screen of Death.
- Corrupted Core Files: Damage or corruption to WordPress core files can cause the website to fail to load properly, resulting in a blank white screen.
- Server Configuration Problems: Issues with server configuration, such as incorrect file permissions or misconfigured server settings, can lead to the White Screen of Death.
- Database Errors: Problems with the WordPress database, such as a corrupted database table or a failed database connection, can cause the website to display a blank white screen
To troubleshoot and resolve the White Screen of Death in WordPress, you can take the following steps;
- Enable WP_DEBUG: Turn on WordPress debugging to display error messages that may be causing the issue
- Check PHP Error Logs: Review the PHP error logs on your server to identify any PHP errors or warnings that may be occurring.
- Deactivate Plugins and Themes: Temporarily deactivate all plugins and switch to a default WordPress theme (such as Twenty Twenty-One) to see if the issue is resolved. If the White Screen of Death disappears, reactivate plugins and themes one by one to identify the culprit.
- Increase PHP Memory Limit: If memory limit exhaustion is the cause of the issue, increase the PHP memory limit by adding ( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’ , ‘265M ); ro the wp-config.php file.
- Reinstall WordPress Core Files: Replace the WordPress core files with fresh copies downloaded from WordPress.org to ensure that the core files are not corrupted.
- Check Server Configuration: Verify server settings and file permissions to ensure that they are configured correctly for WordPress.
- Repair Database: Use the built-in WordPress database repair tool to check and repair any issues with the WordPress database.
By following these troubleshooting steps, you can usually identify and resolve the White Screen of Death issue in WordPress, restoring your website to its normal functioning state.
