WordPress Blog Blank Pages

If your WordPress blog is stalling or not responding, this is most likely the result of a corrupted plugin or theme. When loading the blog in your browser, it will continuously load until it times out; or it will load with a blank page.

Database Issue

If you are using WordPress 3.1.x, incorrect information in your wp-config.php file can cause a white page to appear. If the MySQL username or MySQL password in this file are incorrect, a white page will appear. In previous versions of WordPress this would appear as a "Error establishing a database connection" message, but that is no longer the case with version 3.1.x.

Correcting Database Issues

To fix this issue you must create a new MySQL user and update the wp-config.php file to have the new MySQL username and MySQL Password. Simply locate the following information in that file, and update the bold sections with your new information:

/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'user_wp1');

/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password');

Plugins Issue

You can easily determine if it is a plugin causing the issue by disabling the plugins temporarily. When a plugin is the issue, it is unlikely you will be able to obtain access to the WordPress Admin Dashboard to disable the plugin. The Dashboard can be accessed by going to your WordPress blog and adding /wp-admin/ onto the end of the URL.

Themes Issue

If it is not a plugin issue, it may be a theme related issue. If you have access to the WordPress Admin Dashboard, it is recommended that you simply log in and change your default theme. Some issues can cause you to lose access the WordPress Admin Dashboard; so, in order to change the theme in this case, you should access the database directly using phpMyAdmin.

Changing the Theme

1. To determine which database WordPress is configured to, look inside the wp-config.php file to find the line:

   define('DB_NAME', 'user_wrdp1');

2. Use your database management software to open the database specified in the wp-config.php file.
3. Once inside of the database, you will need to select the wp_options table from the list.
4. Inside of this table you will see a list of rows. These rows hold all of the configuration information for your WordPress installation such as the settings to limit number of posts per page, enable comments, etc. The rows we are looking for are template and stylesheet. To edit a row, simply click on the pencil icon next to the row:
5. For WordPress 3.0.x and above, edit the option_value for each of these rows to the word twentyfifteen and click the "Go" button to save your changes.
6. Repeat this edit for both the template and stylesheet entries. This will force WordPress to use the current default theme for 2015, which WordPress updates yearly.

   To check if a more current WordPress default theme is available please check here.

   For WordPress 2.9.x and below, edit the option_value for each of these entries to the word default. This will force the default theme to load instead of the custom theme.