Website repair for errors, glitches and slow loading

A white screen or "There has been a critical error on this website" almost always means a PHP error has stopped your site from loading, very often straight after a plugin, theme or PHP update. We read the server's error log to see exactly which file failed, then fix or roll back that one piece rather than restoring the whole site and losing recent changes.

# The kind of line we look for in the error log
PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function in
  /home/acme/public_html/wp-content/plugins/example-plugin/main.php:42
# Fix: update, patch or disable example-plugin, then retest
Site loads normally, admin area accessible

WordPress often emails the site administrator a "recovery mode" link when this happens. It is worth checking that inbox, including spam, before anything else. An "Error establishing a database connection" message is different: it usually means the database is down, overloaded or the login details in wp-config.php no longer match.

Websites break after updates because plugins, themes, WordPress itself and PHP are all made by different people, and an update to one can stop it working with another. Layouts fall apart, buttons stop responding or the site crashes entirely. The fix is to find which two parts are clashing, which is quicker and safer on a copy of the site.

1. Note what changed. Which updates ran, and when did the problem start?
2. Reproduce it safely. We test on a staging copy where we can, not on your live site.
3. Isolate the conflict. Plugins and the theme are checked one at a time until the clash shows itself.
4. Fix and retest. Update, patch, replace or roll back the culprit, then check every key page and form.

Contact forms usually stop working because the emails they send are being blocked or sent to spam, not because the form itself is broken. Many hosts now reject emails sent directly from a website, so a form needs proper email settings. Checkout problems are more often caused by payment plugin updates, expired payment keys or a conflict with another plugin.

Email settings often live in your DNS, so see domains and DNS for SPF, DKIM and DMARC. For online shops, see our e-commerce security page.

Most slow small business websites are held back by a handful of fixable things: oversized images, too many plugins, no caching, an out-of-date PHP version or underpowered hosting. Google measures page experience with its Core Web Vitals, which look at how quickly the main content appears, how fast the page responds to taps and clicks, and whether the layout jumps around while loading.

• Compress and resize images so phones are not downloading huge files
• Remove plugins you no longer use, and replace heavy ones
• Turn on sensible page and browser caching
• Run a supported, faster PHP version
• Move to better hosting if the server itself is the bottleneck (see hosting help)

We measure before and after, so you can see what changed rather than taking our word for it.

If your site works on a computer but looks broken on a phone, the cause is usually a theme or page builder setting, a plugin that adds content without mobile styles, or a caching tool serving the wrong version. We test on real screen sizes, fix the layout at its source and check the menu, forms and buttons are easy to use on a small screen.

Every repair is different, so we look at the problem first and then quote. We confirm a fixed price before any work starts, so there are no surprise bills. If what looks like a glitch turns out to be malware, cleaning it is included on any of our plans, which include unlimited malware removal.

For ongoing peace of mind, the Single Site plan from £99 a month plus a one-off £129.99 audit and setup includes 24/7 monitoring, uptime alerts and help with your hosting company. Call 01932 593642 or get in touch.