Website is down or showing an error
1. Check the status page
Section titled “1. Check the status page”Open status.sheernox.com. If web hosting is listed with a known problem, there is nothing to change on your side: the page is updated until it is fixed.
2. Did something change?
Section titled “2. Did something change?”Most errors start right after a change. Think about what happened just before the site broke: a plugin or theme update, a new PHP version, edited files, a DNS change or a new user with access. The Logs page in the control panel lists changes made in your account and who made them. See Activity log.
If you know which change caused it, undo that change first.
3. Match the error
Section titled “3. Match the error”| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 403 Forbidden | File or folder permissions are wrong, or there is no index file in the folder | Set files to 644 and folders to 755. See Fix file and folder permissions. Check that public_html has an index.php or index.html. |
| 500 Internal Server Error or a blank white page | A PHP error, often from a plugin, theme or a PHP version the software does not support | Read the website’s php-error.log in Developer tools (see PHP extensions). The last lines name the file that failed. |
| Error establishing a database connection (WordPress) | Wrong database details in the site’s configuration | Check the database name, username, password and host in wp-config.php. The host is localhost. See Connect your application. |
| “Allowed memory size exhausted” or a page that stops part way | A PHP limit is too low for the site | Raise memory_limit or max_execution_time. See Change php.ini settings. |
| Too many redirects | Two redirects send visitors back and forth, often HTTP to HTTPS twice | Check the website’s redirects and the WordPress Site Address. Turn off any HTTPS redirect plugin if Force HTTPS is already on. |
| Your old site, or a “site can’t be reached” page | The domain does not point to Sheernox yet | See Wrong site or an SSL warning. |
| “Not secure” or a certificate warning | No certificate for that name yet | See Wrong site or an SSL warning. |
WordPress: a plugin or theme broke the site
Section titled “WordPress: a plugin or theme broke the site”If the error started after installing or updating a plugin or theme:
- Open the WordPress Toolkit for the website.
- Under Plugins, select Deactivate for the plugin you changed last. If you are not sure which one, deactivate them one at a time and reload the site after each.
- If the site comes back, keep that plugin off and look for an update or an alternative.
For a theme, activate a default WordPress theme the same way under Themes.
Go back to a working copy
Section titled “Go back to a working copy”If you cannot find the cause, restore the website from a backup taken before the problem started. Anything that changed after that backup is lost for the parts you restore, so restore only the files or database you need where you can. See Back up and restore a website.
If the site may have been hacked, such as unknown files, redirects to other sites or a warning from your browser, follow Clean up a hacked website instead.
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”Open a ticket with the website’s address, the exact error message and when it started. Say what changed just before, and what you have already tried.