How do I find a problematic WordPress extension?

Procédure

Introduction

In the world of WordPress, extensions play an important role in expanding the functionality of a website. However, it is not uncommon for a malicious or faulty extension to cause a variety of problems. This documentation focuses on the LWS web host and offers practical advice on how to identify whether a WordPress extension is the cause of a problem. By understanding these methods, users will be able to maintain the health and performance of their LWS-hosted WordPress site.

Resolution principle

Regardless of which of the methods described below is used, the principle remains the same to determine if a WordPress extension is the cause of an error you are experiencing on your site: error 403, 500, 503 etc....

You should therefore follow the following method:

1. Deactivate all the extensions on your WordPress site
2. Check that the site no longer contains any errors after this first action.
3. If the site is still in error, then the problem does not come from a WordPress extension and you can reactivate them all before looking for another source of the problem.
4. If the site is working again, then an extension is the cause of the problem. You then need to reactivate each extension one by one, checking each time between each reactivation whether the site is working or in error to determine which extension is at fault.

How do I activate or deactivate an extension from the WordPress Dashboard?

This is one of the easiest ways to manage the extensions on your WordPress site, but it requires that you have access to your site's dashboard. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, depending on the problem you are experiencing on your site.

To deactivate all extensions, once you are in your dashboard :

1. Click on "Extensions" in the menu (1)
2. Select all the extensions
3. Click on the "Grouped actions" drop-down list
4. In the drop-down menu, click on "Deactivate".
5. Finally, click on "Apply".

Once all the extensions have been deactivated, check whether or not your site is working again.

If the problem persists, it is not due to a WordPress extension and you can reactivate all the extensions by performing the same operation and selecting "Activate" instead of "Deactivate".

If deactivating all the extensions solves the problem, you then need to reactivate the extensions one by one from the dashboard to determine which extension is causing the problem.

After each plugin activation, check that your site is working properly. As soon as your site is in error again, you can deduce that the last extension activated is the cause of the problem.

How do I activate or deactivate an extension from the WP-Manager LWS Panel?

This method, along with that of the WordPress dashboard, is one of the simplest for managing the extensions on your WordPress site. Of all the methods suggested, this is the fastest. In particular, it allows you to manage your site's extensions if you no longer have access to the WordPress Dashboard. To use this method, you need a shared LWS hosting package with WP-Manager. In addition, certain problems may render the WP-Manager non-functional, in which case you will need to use the method via the File Manager.

First of all, you need to access the management of the WordPress site concerned from your hosting's WP-Manager.

Then click on the "Plugins" tab(1) and then on the "Deactivate all" button(2).

Once all the extensions have been deactivated, check whether or not your site is working again.

If the problem persists, it is not due to a WordPress extension and you can reactivate all the extensions by performing the same operation and selecting "Activate All" instead of "Deactivate All".

If deactivating all the extensions solves the problem, you then need to reactivate the extensions one by one from the WP Manager to determine which extension is causing the problem.

After each plugin activation, check that your site is working properly. As soon as your site is in error again, you can deduce that the last extension activated is the cause of the problem.

How do I activate or deactivate an extension from cPanel's WordPress Manager?

This method, along with that of the WordPress dashboard, is one of the simplest for managing the extensions on your WordPress site. Of all the methods suggested, this is the fastest. In particular, it allows you to manage your site's extensions if you no longer have access to the WordPress Dashboard. To use this method, you need a cPanel or Cloud cPanel hosting package. In addition, certain problems may render the WordPress Manager non-functional, in which case you will need to use the method via the File Manager.

First of all, you need to access the management of the WordPress site concerned from the WordPress Manager of your cPanel hosting.

Then click on the"Manage plugins" button.

In the window that appears, deactivate all the extensions

Once all the extensions have been deactivated, check whether or not your site is working again.

If the problem persists, it is not due to a WordPress extension and you can reactivate all the extensions by performing the same operation.

If deactivating all the extensions solves the problem, you must then reactivate the extensions one by one from the WordPress Manager to determine which extension is causing the problem.

After each plugin activation, check the operation of your site. As soon as your site is in error again, you can deduce that the last extension activated is the cause of the problem.

How do I activate or deactivate an extension from the File Manager?

This method is the most complex, however, it is the only one that is available at all times to manage WordPress extensions, whatever the problem encountered with your site. This method is similar whether you're using the File Manager in the LWS Panel, cPanel or an FTP client such as Filezilla.

For practical reasons, we will only present the method via the LWS Panel file manager below.

Once you have connected to the file manager of your choice, you need to determine the root folder of your WordPress site.

• If the WordPress site is accessible from the main domain of your hosting, then the files for your WordPress site will be located in the"htdocs" folder (1) for LWS Panel packages and"public_html" for cPanel packages.
• If the WordPress site is accessible as a multi-domain or as an additional domain on your hosting, then the files for your WordPress site will be located in a folder with the same name as the companion domain (2) itself located in the"htdocs" folder for LWS Panel packages and"public_html" for cPanel packages.

Once you have identified the folder containing your WordPress site, you need to access the contents of the "wp-content" folder by double-clicking on the folder.

then rename (2) the "plugins" folder (1) to "plugins.old".

This action will deactivate all the extensions on your WordPress site because your site will no longer be able to find the folder where they are installed.

Check whether or not your site is working again.

If the problem persists, it is not due to a WordPress extension and you can reactivate all the extensions by performing the same operation and renaming the "plugins" folder as it was originally.

If deactivating all the extensions solves the problem, you then need to determine which extension is causing the problem.

To do this, follow this procedure:

1. Rename the "plugins.old" folder to "plugins" in order to reactivate all the extensions.
2. Go to the contents of the "plugins" folder, where you will find folders. Each folder corresponds to an extension on your site.
3. Rename each folder one by one, adding .old at the end. This will deactivate the extension concerned.
4. Between each deactivation, check whether or not your site is working again.
5. As soon as your site is up and running again, it's likely that the last extension deactivated is the cause of the problem.
6. Remove the .old from all previously renamed extensions to reactivate them (except for the extension causing the problem, of course).

What do I do once I've identified the problematic extension?

Once you've been able to determine which extension was causing the problem, you have a number of options for resolving the issue once and for all:

• The extension was not essential to the operation of your site and you can simply dispense with it and delete it permanently.
• You can find another extension with similar functionality that does not cause problems for your website.
• The extension may not be compatible with another extension. If you can determine the pair of extensions, you can try replacing one or other of them.
• The extension may be experiencing a problem due to a specific setting on your hosting, such as incompatibility with the PHP version of your hosting. Modifying the PHP version may solve the problem.
• Contact the developer to tell them about the problem and get their help in solving it.

What should I do if the problem is not with the extension?

If the problem does not come from an extension, you need to take other actions or carry out other checks, such as :

• check the theme
• reinstalling the WordPress core
• checking the server logs
• etc.

Conclusion

You now know how to :

• Determine if a problem on your WordPress site is caused by an extension by deactivating all the extensions and reactivating them one by one.
• Use the WordPress Dashboard, the WP-Manager LWS Panel, cPanel's WordPress Manager, or the File Manager to activate or deactivate your extensions.
• Identify theproblematic extension and take the appropriate steps to resolve the situation, whether by deleting the extension, replacing it, adjusting the hosting settings or contacting the developer.
• Proceed if the problem is not with the extensions, by checking the theme, reinstalling WordPress or consulting the server logs.

By following these steps, you are now equipped to maintain the performance and security of your LWS-hosted WordPress site, even in the face of recalcitrant extensions. 🛠️🔍

Thank you very much for reading! Please feel free to share your experiences or ask any questions you may have by leaving a comment below. Your feedback is invaluable and allows the community to help each other. 💬🤝