How to Complete a WP Debugging Test (WP Critical Error)

The WordPress error "There has been a critical error on this website" confirms that an error occurred, but gives no details about the cause.

To diagnose errors, run a debugging test and share the error message with the ApproveMe.com team for support. 👏

Follow these steps to complete a debugging test:

  1. Take a backup of your site (important before troubleshooting)
  2. Install and activate the WP Debugging plugin on your site
  3. Replicate the error you're experiencing
  4. Hover over Debug Quick Look on your top WP menu and select View File

  1. Copy all errors on this page and paste them into your reply (or attach them in a Word document)
  2. Visit your Plugins tab and disable WP Debugging

If you'd rather enable debug mode manually, follow these steps:

  1. Add the following small code snippet to your wp-config.php file. This code will prevent error messages from appearing on-screen and instead log them to the /wp-content/debug.log.
/* Switch this value between true and false to enable and disable debugging */
define('WP_DEBUG', true);

/* This will log all errors notices and warnings to a file called debug.log in wp-content only when WP_DEBUG is true */
if (WP_DEBUG) {
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
}

For more information about this code, please see the WordPress Codex entry on this topic for more information.

  1. Replicate the error you're experiencing
  2. Check your debug log for the error message and paste it into your reply (or attach it in a Word document)
  3. Remove or disable the debugging code when the test is completed