How to Fix 500 Internal Server Error on WordPress

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White screen with 500 Internal Server Error. Welcome to the elite community of project owners facing this nasty bug. 500 Internal Server Error - the most common problem that many people face. Moreover, troubleshooting a server problem is quite a difficult task. The reason for this is the difficulty in finding damage, which can have an extensive list of factors.
The obvious causes of this problem may be careless actions of the owner. Therefore, an important aspect of quickly solving the problem will be to reproduce actions. Which you did before the formation of the problem. Thanks to this, you will quickly understand the reason critical problem.

The content of the article:

• Cause of 500 Internal Server Error
• How to fix and restore the website
• CMS update failed and resulted in an unexpected situation
• Possible conflict between plugins in the admin panel itself
• Situation in WordPress related to installed theme template
• Illiterate changes to server rules
• Unexpected or incorrect changes to functions.php or wp-config.php
• Lack of server resources - for example, memory
• Wrong version of php contributes to this situation

Cause of 500 Internal Server Error

There can be a huge number of factors that properly cause this unforeseen situation. It is worth noting that in most cases 70% out of 100%, the administrator or webmaster himself becomes the culprit. By making configuration changes or directories, etc. Literally missing a semicolon, especially when editing rules for the back end. This problem will immediately fall on your head. Let's look at some more factors:

1. Unsuccessful update of the WordPress engine.
2. Conflict between plugins and the newly installed plugin.
3. Bad theme template or failed update of an installed theme.
4. Wrong rule specified in .htaccess or missing semicolon.
5. Illiterate adjustments in WP or in the theme template itself. Missed a semicolon, made a breaking change, or removed an important line of code.
6. Lack of server resources necessary for stable operation.
7. Invalid php version specified on the server or hosting.

I have listed the main and most common factors that can contribute to this trouble.

How to fix and restore the website

Correcting this problem is more possible if you have a good memory. Your task is to remember the actions after which you received a critical notification. Next, you should go back and fix the corresponding code. Most of the time this method works, I've run into this problem quite often while editing WP and .htaccess config files. Let's look at all the options.

WordPress CMS update failed and resulted in an unexpected 500 error

Usually, when updating a content management system, there are no such troubles. At the same time, it is worth considering the recommendations of CMS developers, who notify each owner before updating. About what you need to back up for a successful update. If you are careful and make backup copies of the project, then you will not have problems with restoring WP.
Several solutions:

- This is probably a crutch, but an effective one, download the engine distribution kit. Then replace all files in the project folder with new ones.

- You can simply move or rename plugin names. The reason may lie precisely in them. If the site is working, connect all installed plugins in sequence, this way you will determine the vulnerability and fix the problem.

These are the basic techniques that should help in this particular situation.

Internal Server Error in WordPress Cause Plugin Conflict

It is important to understand that when you get a fatal error, the availability of the site goes to zero. This also applies to the WP admin. Therefore, you will have to resolve conflicts between plugins in WP or an unsuccessful update of the ill-fated plugin on the server or hosting side. In this case, it will be correct to connect to the server or hosting through a file manager or using an ftp client to connect.
A few examples:

• Connect to the site using ftp , go to the “plugins” directory on the site. Identify the conflicting plugin and change its name. Then refresh the project page, the error should be gone.
• If the example above did not give certain results, then remove the plugin completely.
• It happens that many novice owners like to install a lot at once. In order not to waste your precious time, such a method will kill your time in the end. The actions are almost identical to the top ones, only in this case you will have to rename everything that you have installed. You can also create another directory with a different name and migrate.

After completing all the steps from the examples, you should go to the project through another browser and refresh the page. Then activate all the necessary plugins in sequence. These are the most simple and common fixes for this situation.

Fatal error in WordPress related to installed theme template

In this case, you can also not count on the availability of the WP admin. You should be aware that in the event of a fatal error related to a WordPress theme template. Further use of this marriage will be an inappropriate and even stupid decision. Which will lead to more serious conflicts. This is tantamount to getting on the same rake several times.
How to solve this problem:

1. Connect to the site using an ftp client or file manager, then you should go to the “themes” folder and delete the faulty template. As a result, access to the WordPress admin panel will be restored.
2. The next step is to download and activate a workable theme.

These are the simplest manipulations that fix this problem and do not take much time.

Error 500 in .htaccess illiterate changes to the file

In this case, all the necessary manipulations are performed only with .htaccess. The quickest solution to the problem is to replay your last actions. Accordingly, deleting a rule that did not take root on the server.
Several fixes:

- The simplest and most painless is the removal of the .htaccess itself.

- The most time-consuming is copying .htaccess to another created folder. Then we delete the old one and create a new empty .htaccess. After that, you should carefully examine the copy of the old corrupted file for errors. Let's say you didn't find anything strange. Then the rules should be transferred sequentially. It is important to check the health of the project when making each correction, through the browser in incognito mode.

I am sure these recommendations will be useful and helpful to you. Let's move on!

Internal Server Error in functions.php or wp-config.php

These two configuration files are the most important. All changes to them must be carried out carefully and competently. The slightest illiterate change can lead to very disastrous consequences. You can identify the problem only by reproducing the last manipulations performed.
Helpful hints:

1. You may have missed a semicolon at the end of a line of code. We open and check the integrity.
2. The code is inserted outside the function, we go in and move it.
3. The line of code is specified in an invalid place, we look and transfer or delete.
4. In case of a fatal error with the inability to find the code in wp-config. Download the engine archive, then replace your wp-config with the one in the archive. It is important to copy all the information for connecting to the MySql database from the old file to the new one. This applies to: database name, username, password, server name, encoding, mandatory prefix. After that everything should work.

5. If the problem is in functions.php and there is no way to fix it. So download the archive of your theme template, then unzip it. After that, replace your functions.php with the new one from the unpacked archive.

These recommendations should solve your problem.

500 Internal Server Error in WordPress lack of server memory resources

Over time, more and more visitors come to the project, the amount of content is constantly growing. All this seriously affects the consumption of server resources by the site. At one point, the server or hosting can no longer provide the allocation of the required amount of memory for the execution of processes.
The trouble is related to the limits set on the server or hosting. When it comes to resource exhaustion on the server side, this consequence occurs.
How to change limits:

• If you use the VestaCp hosting panel, you can increase the limit in the server settings section. The value is specified in the memory_limit field. It is also possible to correct the php.ini configuration file, the directive responsible for the memory limit looks like this:
  • memory_limit = 256.
  • define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '128M');
  • define('WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M'); Specifying memory limits in wp-config - open and scroll to the bottom, then insert two constants:

• To change the memory limits in .htaccess, just open it and make a rule:
• php_value memory_limit 128M

These fixes should help you.

Invalid php version contributes to Internal Server Error

This is a rather rare case, it refers to the transition to a new version of php. Then it is recommended to simply use the previous version or the corresponding workable one. The change is made completely individually, the reason is in the different interfaces of the existing
For your part, it is enough to contact the hosting provider with this request. They will definitely come to meet you. It is worth considering that fact. If you did not make such updates before the situation that arose, then this is not the case at all.
That's all I know, I hope it helps. If you know of other ways, then tell us about them in the comments or write to me in a personal.

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