A website error log is a record of error messages triggered on your website. You can use your website error log to identify what is triggering an error and then apply a fix.
View website error log
1. Log in to your hosting control panel
2. Click on the Account Usage button
3. Locate your website’s domain name under the Domain column
4. On your domain’s row, click on Error Log under the Logs column
5. Scroll to the bottom of the report and locate the most recent date and timestamp (log times are shown in Eastern Standard Time)
6. On the most recent error log entry, scroll to the right (horizontally) to view the full error, here is an example:
7. The error report will indicate the specific problem being triggered on the website – it can range from a plugin, theme, PHP version or Modsec firewall security trigger. You can take action based on the error log being shown.
Below are examples of what each type of error log will look like and what action steps to take in order to apply a fix.
Plugin error
If there is a plugin triggering an error on your website, you will see it indicated like the format below. The name of the plugin triggering the error will be indicated after the / forward slash in front of the word plugins.
2023-11-09 19:37:32.076020 [NOTICE] [1681121] [T0] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function hello_world() in /home/domains/skystrahelp/public_html/wp-content/plugins/helloplugin/functions.php:50Fix
1. Log in to your hosting control panel
2. Click on the File Manager button
3. Double click on the domains folder
4. Locate your website folder and double click on it
5. Locate the public_html folder and double click on it
6. Locate the wp-content folder and double click on it
7. In the wp-content folder, you will see a plugins folder, double click it
8. Inside the plugins folder, locate the folder for the plugin you are trying to disable (it will have the exact same name as from your error log)
9. Right click on the folder to reveal a dropdown and select Rename, we’ll use a plugin called akismet as an example:
10. In the Rename popup, in front of the existing name of your plugin or theme, put – old as its suffix. For example, if your plugin folder name is akismet, then you would rename is to akismet-old
11. Once you’ve added – old to the plugin folder name, click the Rename button to save it
12. Now, log in to your WordPress admin dashboard – it should now be loading
13. You can also reload your website and you should now see it loading
Theme error
If there is a theme triggering an error on your website, you will see it indicated like the format below. The name of the theme triggering the error will be indicated after the / forward slash in front of the word themes.
2023-11-09 19:37:32.076020 [NOTICE] [1681121] [T0] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function hello_world() in /home/domains/skystrahelp/public_html/wp-content/themes/hellotheme/functions.php:50Fix
1. Log in to your hosting control panel
2. Click on the File Manager button
3. Double click on the domains folder
4. Locate your website folder and double click on it
5. Locate the public_html folder and double click on it
6. Locate the wp-content folder and double click on it
7. In the wp-content folder, you will see a themes folder, double click it
8. Inside the themes folder, locate the folder for the theme you are trying to disable (it will have the exact same name as from your error log)
9. Right click on the folder to reveal a dropdown and select Rename, we’ll use a theme called astra as an example:
10. In front of the existing name of your theme, put – old. For example, if your theme folder name is astra, then you would rename is to astra-old
11. Once you’ve added – old to the theme folder name, click the Rename button to save it
12. Now, log in to your WordPress admin dashboard – it should now be loading
13. You can also reload your website and you should now see it loading
PHP version error
If there is a PHP version error on your website, you will see it indicated like the format below.
2023-11-12 17:33:44.649211 [NOTICE] [1361089] [T0] [127.0.0.1:47160-5#APVH_www.skystrahelp.com>69.156.120.236:lsapi] [STDERR] PHP Fatal error: Exception thrown without a stack frame in Unknown on line 0\nFix
1. Update your hosting account PHP version, go here: Manage PHP version – this fix will update the PHP version on your entire hosting account
2. If you need to apply a specific PHP version on a specific website, enable multi-PHP, go here: Enable multi-php
Modsec security error
If there is a Modsec rule triggering an error on your website, you will see it indicated like the format below. A Modsec error means an action performed on your browser triggered a network firewall rule.
2023-11-12 09:22:26.457356 [NOTICE] [1812847] [T2] [70.126.138.244:36962-H3:C76CDF23F821D4EE-0#APVH_www.skystrahelp.com:443] [MODSEC] mod_security rule [id "77350123"] at [/etc/modsecurity.d/011_i360_1_infectors.conf:568] triggered!Fix:
1. If the error is being triggered by a security rule, labeled as MODSEC – open and submit a request to our team