How to diagnose and fix problems of sites running WordPress, especially older sites that may not have been well-maintained or updated.

1. WORDPRESS
Diagnosing and fixing sites with problems
Victoria Pickering
designreinvented.com
Presented at WordPress DC, February 21, 2012

2. images missing?
rss feed odd?
problems with the menu?
sidebar content not appearing correctly?
etc.

3. DON'T IMMEDIATELY
CHANGE THE THEME
Theme = presentation layer???
(not always - watch out for lots
of functionality bundled with
some themes)

4. WHEN TO UPDATE
WORDPRESS?

5. BACKUP
• database
• theme files
• plugin files
• media files - and look for media
files in non-traditional places

6. TRY THE QUICK FIXES FIRST

7. Deactivate all plugins, and
reinstall one-by-one
deactivate DON'T delete
(some plugins don't have deactivation link)

8. WEB HOST PROBLEMS
• PHP and MySQL versions (try Health Check plugin)
• .htaccess restrictions, other permission problems
• space and speed

9. MINOR FIXES
ex: css {display:none;}
preferably done by creating a child theme

10. IF QUICK FIXES
DON'T WORK

11. STEP #1: GET ALL THE
PASSWORDS
• WordPress admin
• hosting account, and FTP access
• domain registration
• paid theme or paid plugin accounts
• Google account (Feedburner, analytics)
• third-party services (Paypal, YouTube, etc.)

12. STEP #2: RUN EVERY TEST
• code validation
• rss feed test
• accessibility test
• YSlow
• without images enabled
• without Javascript enabled
• different screen sizes, browsers, mobile devices

13. STEP #3: TAKE SNAPSHOTS
• main pages of site
• admin screens

14. STEP #4: LOOK AT ALL THE
FUNCTIONALITY
• admin screen options
• page template options
• active plugins
• etc

15. STEP #5: TALK TO SITE OWNER
• What site functionality is necessary?
• What admin screen options and layout are necessary?

16. STEP #6: DECIDE ON THE
TESTING ENVIRONMENT
• live on the site (have ftp access!)
• site under Maintenance Mode
• plugins - like Theme Test Drive
• under a non-visible sub-directory of the site
• usea different web host or private server (don't let
the site be visible to search engines)

17. STEP #7: TESTING PHASE

18. BIG DECISION:
STAY WITH THEME?
• Stay with the theme (and add a child theme)
• Use a new theme
• Use a new theme, but borrow some parts that are difficult to
re-create from the existing theme (subject to licensing)

19. STAY WITH THEME?
• quality of theme
• time
• level of knowledge
• site
owner's preference (what do his colleagues and
competitors use?)

20. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
• WordPress.org
• Stack Exchange
• comments in functions.php
• theme or plugin - readme files, theme forums or
help desks

21. Theme-Check plugin
WP_DEBUG (set in wp-config file)
other plugins:
• debug bar
• log deprecated notices (thank Nacin!)
• debogger

22. COMMON PROBLEMS
AND HACKS

23. • deprecated functions
• conflicting functions (without prefixes)
• Jquery loaded multiple times (enqueue!)
• missing wp_head or wp_footer hooks
• blank lines outside of php tags
• no sidebar id's
• posts cut and pasted from Word without stripping out code
• unnecessary hard-coding

24. • corrupt core WordPress files
• database corruption
• large number of database queries
• problem redirects

25. • Menus (custom menus introduced June 2010)
• Sidebars (dynamic sidebars introduced Dec. 2008)
• Comments (threaded comments introduced Dec.
2008)
• Custom post types (introduced June 2010)
• iframes and embeds (auto embed introduced Dec.)
• IE hacks

26. "SHORTCODE MADNESS"
[highlight] some text [/highlight]

27. IMAGES
(featured images introduced Dec. 2009)
• custom fields and custom sizes
• images stored in non-standard places
• TimThumb (and security issues)

28. THEME "LOCKIN"
code embedded in posts, or
unique database fields
• lookfor a plugin (ex. SEO migration, search-
and-replace)
• think
about time it would take to change posts
manually (don't republish with new date)
• might
be possible to leave old posts as is, and
implement changes for new posts

29. Theme or plugin lock-in isn't always bad
(from the customer's viewpoint)

30. FINALIZE DECISION
• Stay with the theme (and add a child theme)
• Use a new theme
• Use a new theme, but borrow some parts that are
difficult to re-create from the existing theme (subject to
licensing)

31. // LEAVE COMMENTS