WordPress white screen, 'critical error' or very slow: what it means
Your website is showing a blank page, an error message, or it takes so long to load that customers give up. That is stressful when the site brings in your enquiries. Each of these symptoms points to a fairly short list of likely causes. For each one, here is what the message usually means, what you can safely check yourself today, and what is better left alone until someone has looked at it properly.
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The short answer
A white screen or the message 'There has been a critical error on this website' means part of the site's code has crashed, usually a plugin or the theme after an update. A database connection error means the site cannot reach its stored content. A very slow site usually comes from heavy plugins, no caching, oversized images or overloaded hosting. Check the site's admin inbox for a WordPress recovery email, check your host's status page and ask whether a backup exists. WaTo Consulting in Adelaide repairs these faults.
What each symptom usually means
A blank white page
The site's code has crashed before it could draw anything. The usual cause is a plugin (an add-on that gives the site extra features) or the theme clashing after an update. Safe to do: the checks further down this page. Leave the files alone.
'There has been a critical error on this website'
This is the same kind of crash, with WordPress catching it and showing a polite message. WordPress also emails the site's admin address with a special link that lets you log in while the faulty part is paused. Safe to do: find that email.
'Error establishing a database connection'
The database is where WordPress keeps your pages and settings. This message means the site cannot reach it. Often the hosting server is overloaded or having a fault, or a password setting has changed. Safe to do: check your host's status page, then ask them.
The site loads but the layout is scrambled
Text and pictures are there, but stacked in the wrong places with no styling. Usually the theme or page builder has updated, or a saved copy of the styling is out of date. Safe to do: try another device. Do not start editing pages to fix it.
You cannot log in to the dashboard
If the password is refused, the 'Lost your password?' link on the login page is safe to use. If the login page itself is broken or loops back on you, a plugin is the likely cause. An account that has vanished can mean a break-in. See our guide on what to do if your WordPress site is hacked.
The site is painfully slow
The usual causes are heavy plugins and themes, oversized images, cheap overloaded hosting, or no caching. Caching means saving a ready-made copy of each page. Without it, every page is built from the database on every visit. Nothing is broken, so there is no rush to press anything.
Who this guide is for
- Your site is showing a blank page or an error message right now and you want to know how serious it is.
- You have been told to 'just reinstall WordPress' and want to know whether that is safe before you try it.
- The site works, but it is so slow that you suspect customers are leaving before it loads.
- The same fault has come back more than once and you are wondering whether the site is worth repairing again.
Safe checks you can do today
- Look for the WordPress recovery email. When a critical error happens, WordPress emails the site's admin address with a link to something called recovery mode. Open the link, log in, and the faulty plugin or theme is paused for you only. Visitors still see the error until it is fixed. Check the junk folder too. The admin address is often the person who built the site.
- Check your host's status page and recent emails. Your host is the company whose servers the site sits on. Most have a status page that lists current faults. Look back through their emails from the last few weeks as well. A notice about maintenance, a full disk or an overdue invoice can explain the whole thing.
- Try the site on a phone using mobile data. Turn the phone's wifi off first. If the site works on mobile data and fails in the office, the problem is likely your own network and the website is fine. If it fails on both, the fault is with the site or the hosting.
- Ask the host whether a backup exists. A backup is a saved copy of the whole site. Ask what dates they hold and how a restore works. Do not restore yet. Going back in time wipes anything newer, so recent orders and enquiries need saving first.
- Write down what you saw, then get help. Note the exact wording of the message, the time it started and anything that changed just before. A screenshot is ideal. If the site is down now, log a website job and send us those notes.
What not to do, and how WaTo can help
- Do not delete folders through the file manager or reinstall WordPress over the top. Both can remove the evidence of what went wrong, and a deleted folder may hold your uploaded photos. Pressing update again and again makes the cause harder to trace.
- Do not restore a backup until recent orders and enquiries are saved somewhere else. Our website rescue and repair service gets the site working again and tells you what caused it.
- If the site is slow, our speed optimisation work finds what is weighing it down. Sometimes that is the plugins and images. Sometimes the hosting is the limit, and we can move the site to our own Australian servers.
- A site that has just been repaired stays healthier with a website maintenance plan, where updates are tested and backups sit behind them.
- If the same fault keeps coming back on a small site, consider a WordPress rebuild as a code site, which has no plugins or database. A typical site takes about a week. We have been Adelaide owned and operated since 2001.
Related questions
I never received a recovery email. What now?
Check the junk folder first. Then think about who set the site up, because the admin address is often the original developer's or an old staff member's. If nobody can find the email, the site can still be repaired through the hosting account. That part is a job for someone who does it regularly.
Is it safe to use the recovery mode link myself?
Opening the link and logging in is safe. The screen will name the plugin or theme that crashed. Switching that one item off will often bring the site back, though you lose whatever it did, such as a form or a gallery. If the theme is named, or you are unsure, stop there and call us.
Does a critical error mean I have been hacked?
Usually not. Most critical errors come from an update that clashed with another part of the site. Signs of a break-in are different. Look for visitors being sent to other websites, pages you did not write, or admin accounts you do not recognise.
The error went away on its own. Should I still worry?
It is worth finding out why. A fault that comes and goes often points to hosting that is running short of memory or a plugin that fails only under load. Our guide on why WordPress sites keep breaking explains the causes behind these symptoms.
Will a caching plugin fix my slow site?
It often helps a lot, because visitors get the ready-made copy of each page. It will not shrink oversized images or fix overloaded hosting. Caching set up badly can also show customers out-of-date pages, so test the site after switching it on.
Is slow hosting always the host's fault?
No. Low-cost shared hosting puts many sites on one server, and it does that job fairly for the price. A simple site runs well on it. A site with a heavy theme and dozens of plugins can outgrow the plan it started on.
How WaTo can help with this
Site down or crawling right now?
Call us on (08) 7123 0805 or get in touch. Tell us the exact message on the screen, when it started and what changed just before. We repair, maintain and host WordPress sites, and can tell you whether yours needs a repair, speed work or a rebuild.
Mon to Fri, 8:30am to 5pm
