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How to Easily Enable WordPress Debug Mode to Fix Site Errors

Are you looking to enable the debug mode in your WordPress site?

You might encounter different errors when working with WordPress themes, plugins, or custom codes. Using WordPress debug mode, you can easily fix these issues.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily enable WordPress debug mode to fix site errors.

How to easily enable WordPress debug mode to fix site error

Why Enable WordPress Debug Mode?

Sometimes a WordPress plugin, theme, or custom code like PHP or JavaScript can cause conflicts on your website. This can lead to different errors, and you may notice that your site isn’t functioning properly.

Now, you can always deactivate and uninstall multiple plugins to see which one is causing the error. Similarly, you can also switch to a different WordPress theme or remove the custom codes to find the root cause of the error.

However, all of this takes a lot of time. You’ll have to rule out each plugin individually, change multiple themes, and edit custom codes.

An easier way of fixing website errors is by enabling WordPress debug mode. It shows a log of all the errors and warnings on your website. This way, you can pinpoint issues on your WordPress site and fix them quickly. It even uncovers errors that might not be visible otherwise.

That said, let’s look at how to enable the WordPress debug mode. We’ll show you 2 methods. You can use a WordPress plugin or manually view the debug mode.

Method 1: Enable WordPress Debug Mode Using a Plugin

An easy way of enabling debug mode is by using the WP Debugging plugin. This method is recommended for beginners and those who aren’t comfortable working with website files.

WP Debugging is a free WordPress plugin that works out of the box. By using this plugin, you won’t have to edit your website files manually.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the WP Debugging plugin. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to Tools » WP Debugging from your WordPress dashboard. Next, ensure that the ‘Set WP_DEBUG to true’ option is enabled.

View the wp debugging settings

After that, you’ll see a ‘Debug Quick Look’ option added to your admin bar at the top.

Go ahead, hover over it, and then click the ‘View File’ option.

Click view file in debug mode

This will open the log file with all the errors on your website. You can then find out what’s causing issues on your site and quickly fix them.

When you’re done debugging your website, don’t forget to disable the plugin.

Method 2: Manually Enable WordPress Debug Mode

The second method you can use to enable WordPress debug mode is editing the wp-config.php files. This method is more advanced and suitable for users who are comfortable editing website files.

We recommend creating a backup of your website before editing files. This way, you can easily restore your website in case anything goes wrong.

To access the website files, you’ll need a file transfer protocol (FTP) client for Mac or Windows.

For this tutorial, we’ll use the FileZilla FTP service. If you need help, then please can see our guide on what FTP is and how to use it.

Once you’re logged in, simply go to the public_html folder. Here, you’ll find the ‘wp-config.php’ file.

Edit wp-config file using FTP

Alternatively, many WordPress hosting services also let you manage your site files using the cPanel.

For instance, in Bluehost, you can visit the ‘Advanced’ tab and then go to File Manager.

Open file manager in Bluehost

From here, simply access the public_html folder from the panel on your left.

After that, scroll down to the ‘wp-config.php’ file.

Download the wp-config file

Next, you can right-click the file and download it on your computer. It’s smart to make a copy of the file as a backup, just in case anything goes wrong.

After that, open the file using any software or tool like Notepad or Sublime Text.

Once the file is open, scroll down to the ‘That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing‘ line and add the following code before that: 

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true);
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);

Don’t forget to save the file before closing it.

Save the wp-config file

Next, you’ll need to upload the wp-config.php file back to your website server using the FTP client.

For more details, please see our guide on how to use FTP to upload files to WordPress.

To view the error logs for your website, you’ll need to view your website files and navigate to the public_html/wp-content/debug.log path. Simply download the file and view it in a notepad software to see issues on your site.

View the debug log file

Once you’re done debugging your site, you can disable the debug mode.

To do that, repeat these steps and then remove the code you added to the wp-config.php file or edit the following code to have a false value:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', false);

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily enable WordPress debug mode to fix site errors. You can also see our ultimate WordPress SEO guide for beginners and our expert tips on how to improve WordPress security.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Enable WordPress Debug Mode to Fix Site Errors first appeared on WPBeginner.

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How to Disable wp-cron in WordPress and Set Up Proper Cron Jobs

Are you having problems with scheduled actions not working in WordPress?

WordPress has a scheduling system called wp-cron, but it sometimes misses a scheduled task like publishing scheduled posts, sending triggered emails, etc. Proper cron jobs run by your server’s operating system are often more reliable.

In this article, we’ll show you how to disable wp-cron in WordPress, and cover two ways you can set up proper cron jobs.

How to Disable wp-cron in WordPress and Set Up Proper Cron Jobs

Why Disable wp-cron?

Your WordPress website has a built-in scheduling system called wp-cron. It performs time-sensitive tasks such as checking for updates, publishing scheduled posts, automatically creating regular backups, sending triggered emails, etc.

You can learn more in our guide on how to view and control WordPress cron jobs.

Viewing Scheduled Tasks in WordPress

The problem is that WordPress is only prompted to check for scheduled jobs when someone visits your website. This works well enough for most sites, but sometimes it can cause problems for smaller ones.

For example, if your site has low traffic, then your scheduled posts may not be published on time. And if your website gets a lot of traffic, then wp-cron will be checked frequently, which may impact your website’s performance.

Now if you just want to fix the missing scheduled posts error, then you can use the free plugin Missed Scheduled Publisher, but if you want to solve all scheduled action issues, then you need a real cron job.

A real cron job is run by your web hosting server’s operating system, not by WordPress. You can set it up to check for scheduled tasks more reliably. By default, WordPress doesn’t have access to set this up on the server level, but you can easily do it by following our tutorial.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how to disable wp-cron and set up a proper cron job. Here’s what we’ll cover in this tutorial:

Disabling wp-cron in WordPress

To disable wp-cron, you need to edit wp-config.php, which is a core WordPress configuration file. It’s located in your WordPress site’s root folder, and you will need to use an FTP client or the file manager in your web hosting control panel.

This file contains a lot of sensitive information, and making the wrong changes can break your WordPress site. We recommended making a backup of the file first, just in case. You can learn how by following our guide on how to edit wp-config.php in WordPress.

You’ll need to paste the following code into the wp-config.php file just before the line that says ‘That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging.’

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);
Pasting Code into wp-config

After that, you need to save the file and upload it back to your website.

WordPress will no longer trigger wp-cron when someone visits your website.

Setting Up a Proper Cron Job on Your WordPress Host

Now you’ll need to set up a proper cron job to run your scheduled tasks. The way you do this will vary depending on the tools provided by your WordPress hosting provider.

The easiest way to set up cron jobs is using cPanel, a popular website control panel included with many web hosting plans, including Bluehost. We’ll use the Bluehost cPanel in this tutorial.

Note: Some web hosts don’t use cPanel and some may not even allow you to create cron jobs. If in doubt, you should contact your hosting provider or consult their support documentation. You can always use a third party cron service (below).

Once you log into your hosting account and navigate to cPanel, you should scroll down until you find ‘Cron Jobs’ and then click on it.

You may find it in the ‘Advanced’ section, but this can vary depending on your hosting provider.

Find 'Cron Jobs' in cPanel

This will take you to a new page where you can create new cron jobs.

Don’t worry about the warning you’ll see about needing a good knowledge of Linux commands. Only one command is necessary, and we’ll show you exactly what it is below.

The cPanel Cron Jobs Page

If you need to, you can change the email address where cron job notifications will be sent. The default address is the one you used when you signed up for your web hosting, and this will work fine on most websites.

Now, let’s scroll down to the ‘Add New Cron Job’ section and set up a cron job.

First, you need to decide how often the cron job will be run. This can be anything you like, but we recommend 30 minutes interval.

You will need to click the ‘Common Settings’ button and select a time interval from the dropdown. ’Twice Per Hour’ is a good choice for most sites if you’re not sure.

Creating a New Cron Job in cPanel

Now you can enter the command that will ask WordPress to run its scheduled tasks. You need to paste the following code into the ‘Command’ field:

wget -q -O - https://example.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron >/dev/null 2>&1

Make sure you replace ‘example.com’ with your own website’s URL.

Once you’ve done that, make sure you click the ‘Add New Cron Job’ button, and you will see the new cron job added to the list below.

Viewing the List of Cron Jobs in cPanel

WordPress will now check for and run scheduled tasks every 30 minutes instead of when someone visits your website.

Setting Up a Proper Cron Job Using a Third Party Service

If your hosting plan doesn’t offer proper cron jobs, or they are difficult to set up, then you can use a third party cron service instead.

These are dedicated services that allow you to set up cron jobs using a simple interface. Here are a few of the better ones:

For this tutorial, we’ll use EasyCron because it is easy to use, and the free plan is suitable for most beginner use cases.

Once you create a free account, you can create a new cron job by clicking the ‘+ Cron Job’ button on the left.

Creating a New Cron Job in EasyCron

This will pop up the ‘Create Cron Job’ screen. First, you need to paste the following URL into the ‘URL to call’ field.

https://example.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron

Make sure you replace ‘example.com’ with your own site’s URL.

Creating a New Cron Job in EasyCron

After that, you should choose ‘Every 30 minutes’ from the ‘When to execute’ drop down. When you’re finished, don’t forget to click the ‘Create Cron Job’ button to store your settings.

The new cron job will be added to the list, and run wp-cron on your website every 30 minutes.

Viewing the List of Cron Jobs in EasyCron

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to disable wp-cron in WordPress and set up proper cron jobs. You may also want to see our step by step guide to WordPress SEO, or check out our list of common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Disable wp-cron in WordPress and Set Up Proper Cron Jobs first appeared on WPBeginner.