WordPress Mistakes: Avoid Common Beginner Mistakes

Managing a WordPress website can sometimes present unexpected challenges, like the dreaded “White Screen of Death” (WSoD). At our agency we understand the urgency of such problems and the importance of a stable and reliable website. For anyone who is just starting out with WordPress and would like to be better prepared for such situations, we recommend our article WordPress website: tutorial for beginners, there are a few tips for WordPress beginners. We stand ready to help you diagnose and resolve such incidents, as well as develop preventive measures that can prevent such problems in the future.

Error message: White Screen of Death

Imagine visiting your website and only being met with a blank white screen – that is the WordPress White Screen of Death (WSoD) error. This phenomenon occurs when a website or application stops functioning properly and does not display any information or error messages. The WSoD can be due to a variety of causes. The White Screen of Death is comparable to the Blue Screen of Death (BSoD), which many Windows users are familiar with. Since there is no error message that offers information on how to solve the problem, you are required to look for the cause yourself. If a current backup exists, it is advisable to restore it first; pay attention to whether any important changes have been made since the last backup.

Dealing with plugins

First, it is important to determine whether the WSoD is occurring in the backend or frontend of your website. Log in to your WordPress dashboard via “yourdomain.de/wp-admin” to check this. If the backend works properly, a faulty WordPress plugin could be the cause.

• Disable all plugins via the bulk edit feature.
• Then check whether the white screen is still there, if not, it is due to a plugin.
• Now activate each plugin and check after each one to see if the problem reappears. This is how you can find out the faulty plugin.

If you do not have access to the backend, you can also deactivate plugins via FTP.

• Connect to your server via FTP.
• Navigate to the wp-content folder.
• Rename the plugins folder (e.g. “plugins_deactivated”).
• Try logging in again.
• Rename the folder to Plugins
• Here again, activate each plugin and check after each one whether the problem occurs.

Next, check if an Update for the faulty plugin is available.

Dealing with themes

If no plugins are responsible for the WSoD, the currently active theme could be the culprit.

• Log in to the backend.
• In the dashboard, under Design, select the Themes menu.
• Activate a default theme and check whether the white screen is still there.

If you don’t have backend access, connect via FTP.

• Open the “wp-content/themes” folder.
• Rename the active theme to deactivate it.
• WordPress automatically activates the last default theme.

These steps will help you determine whether the issue is caused by the theme and take appropriate action.

Visibility for search engines

In the area of ​​search engine optimization, there are numerous points that determine the visibility and success of a website. One of these settings is located in the Reading menu under Website Settings. Here you can find the option “Visibility for search engines”, which plays a role that should not be underestimated. This function is particularly important in the development phase of a website. Activating it signals to search engines like Google that the page should not be indexed at the moment. This prevents unfinished content from appearing in search results and potentially portraying an unprofessional image of the brand.

Common mistake

This useful setting is often activated during the hot phase of website development in order to hide unfinished content from the public eye. However, the problem often arises after the development work has been completed. It is not uncommon for people to forget to undo this setting. The result: The website remains invisible to search engines. Such a mistake, which should be avoided at all costs, can have a serious impact on your online presence and discoverability by potential customers. Without presence on search engines, the website lacks the necessary visibility that is crucial to business success online.

Review and adjust settings

It is therefore essential to review all relevant settings before the official launch of the website. Make sure search engine visibility is turned off to show your content to the world. It is advisable to create a launch checklist in which this point is noted as a critical step.

Make regular updates

WordPress is one of the most used content management systems worldwide and is therefore a prime target for hacker attacks. The popularity and widespread use makes it essential that website operators pay special attention to the maintenance of their sites. Continuous maintenance by installing updates for plugins, themes and the WordPress core system is fundamental.

Risks of Ignoring

Many people underestimate the risk that arises from neglecting regular updates. These updates often contain important security updates that close vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. Therefore, the question is not if, but when an unmaintained page will be attacked.

Insert strategies

We recommend that you adopt a firm strategy for updates. A regular schedule should be created to ensure no updates are missed. We would be happy to support you so that your website always stays up to date. Regularly updating WordPress, its plugins and themes is not an option but a necessity for the security of any website. Ignoring this important maintenance task exposes your online presence to unnecessary risks. However, implementing a solid update strategy can ensure that the website is protected against most attack attempts. Acting responsibly in this area not only protects your digital presence, but also the data of your customers and users.

Customization of WordPress themes

Customizing a WordPress theme to implement specific design requests or functionality is a common practice. But direct changes to the main theme can lead to significant problems. With every update of the theme, there is a risk that individually made changes will be overwritten and therefore lost. Not only can this lead to a return to the standard design, but it can also eliminate important functional customizations.

Meaning of a child theme

To avoid such unwanted surprises, we recommend using a so-called child theme. Such a theme inherits the functionality of the main theme, that of the parent theme, but allows safe changes and adjustments without being affected by parent theme updates. Using a child theme ensures that your personalized customizations are retained even if the main theme is updated. The downside is that your website loading time may be slightly affected since two themes need to be loaded.

Benefits of installing a child theme

By using a child theme, you can customize your website while enjoying the benefits of regular security and functionality updates to the main theme. It provides a safe environment to perform customizations beyond simple design changes, such as modifying PHP files or adding custom functions. You can create it manually or – as with many other things in WordPress – use a child theme plugin.

Unused themes

When installing WordPress, several themes are often installed by default. However, many users switch to an individual theme that better suits their needs and leave the pre-installed themes in the system untouched. However, this can create dead weight for your website. Any theme installed, even if not active, may contain potential security vulnerabilities that, if not updated regularly, may pose a risk to the entire website. Likewise, redundant themes can unnecessarily increase the size of website backups, which can lead to longer loading times and additional costs.

Deactivate unused themes

It is advisable to remove all themes that you are not actively using, except for one. This remaining theme serves as a reserve or so-called “fallback” theme. It is used if there are technical problems with the currently active theme. This ensures that your website remains functional even in an emergency.

• Open your WordPress dashboard, select the “Themes” section and then “Themes.”
• Now decide on a reliable theme that should remain your backup. E.g. “Twenty Twenty-One” (The number at the end describes the current year and thus the current theme, so 2024 is “Twenty Twenty-Four”).
• Remove any themes that you no longer use. To do this, click on the theme and select “Delete Theme”.

Changes to permalinks after publication

Once published, websites and posts are indexed by search engines and can also be linked from other websites. Changing the associated URL after publication can cause significant problems, especially the appearance of 404 error messages that signal that the page cannot be found. This can both impact the user experience and have a negative impact on your site’s search engine rankings. To minimize the problems caused by changing a permalink, a redirect can be set up. A redirect is a server-side instruction that tells the browser that the content can be found at a new address. This automatically redirects users from the old to the new URL and helps reduce SEO impact.

• Determining the Necessity of a Redirect: Before setting up a redirect, you should make sure that the URL change is unavoidable.
• Selecting the type of redirect: The most common types are 301 (permanent) and 302 (temporary). For permanent changes, a 301 redirect is recommended, as this signals to search engines that the page has been permanently moved.

SEO and performance aspects

From an SEO perspective, it is advisable to avoid post-publish URL changes as much as possible. Frequent changes and resulting redirects can dilute a site’s authority, as link equity (the strength a URL gains from backlinks) can be partially lost through redirects. In addition, numerous redirects can negatively affect the loading speed of your website, which in turn has a negative impact on the user experience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, using WordPress, although extremely powerful, can also have its pitfalls, such as the white screen of death, problems with plugins and themes or managing website updates. These challenges can be overwhelming, especially when they impact your website visibility and potentially cause lost business. Our agency not only offers you support in solving acute problems, but also strategic advice and maintenance services to keep your website secure and up to date. Contact us to ensure that your website offers the best possible online presence and that you can concentrate fully on your core business.