Bits of .NET

📝 Rename Folder = Site Back Online

You install a plugin, update a theme, or edit functions.php, and your site turns into a completely blank white page — no error message, nothing. This is WordPress’s White Screen of Death, and it’s fixable even without a backup, in most cases.

🐞 The Problem

Visiting your site (or even /wp-admin) shows a blank white page.
No error text visible. The browser tab may just say the site name
with nothing rendered at all.

🔍 Why This Happens (Cause & Effect)

WordPress by default hides PHP errors from visitors for security --
a fatal PHP error (usually from a plugin, theme, or a bad edit to
functions.php) crashes the page rendering entirely, but WP_DEBUG
being off means you see nothing instead of the actual error message.
The site isn't "gone" -- PHP just stopped executing partway through.

🔍 Step 1 — Turn On Error Display to See the Real Cause

Connect via FTP or your host's File Manager, open wp-config.php,
find this line:
define('WP_DEBUG', false);
Change to:
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
Reload the site -- check /wp-content/debug.log for the exact fatal
error and which file/line caused it (turn this back off once fixed!).

🔍 Step 2 — Most Common Cause: Disable Plugins via FTP (No Admin Access Needed)

Connect via FTP/File Manager -> navigate to /wp-content/
Rename the "plugins" folder to "plugins-disabled"
Reload the site -- if it comes back, the crash was a plugin.
Rename it back to "plugins", then rename plugins ONE AT A TIME
inside that folder (e.g. "elementor" -> "elementor-off") until
you find the specific plugin causing the fatal error.

🔍 Step 3 — If a Theme Edit Caused It, Revert via FTP

/wp-content/themes/your-theme/functions.php
Comment out or remove your last edit (the code you just added),
save, re-upload. If you don't have the original, switch the active
theme by renaming the current theme's folder -- WordPress
automatically falls back to a default theme (Twenty Twenty-Four)
when the active theme folder is missing or broken.

🔢 Step 4 — Increase PHP Memory Limit (If the Log Shows “Allowed Memory Size Exhausted”)

In wp-config.php, add near the top:
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
Some hosts also require raising it in php.ini or .htaccess:
php_value memory_limit 256M

🛡️ Prevent This Going Forward

1. Never edit functions.php directly on a live site -- use a staging
   site or a child theme, test locally first
2. Install a lightweight plugin like WP Health or keep automatic
   backups (UpdraftPlus) so you always have a one-click rollback
3. Update plugins/themes one at a time, not all at once, so you
   know immediately which update caused a problem if the site breaks