Upgrade WordPress or wait and see? Here’s the answer!

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WordPress updating can be a challenge! That’s true for most WordPress website owners. Many people hesitate and postpone updating their WordPress websites month after month, and eventually even for a year or longer. We understand why.

The fear of changes to the website design, concerns about non-functioning plugins, or the cost and effort of updating.

However, it’s crucial to set aside these concerns and regularly update your WordPress website. Read on to learn why it’s better to update WordPress and its plugins every 2 months or even monthly.

Updating WordPress prevents bigger problems!

updating WordPress is necessary to prevent the risk of hacks
You can (not) endlessly postpone updating WordPress. By regularly updating your WordPress website, you prevent bots from exploiting weak plugins and creating malware, backdoors, SEO spam, and unwanted administrators on your website.

Removing and undoing malware and hacks can be expensive and time-consuming. That’s why it’s important to update your WordPress website regularly and prevent these issues.

Yes, there can be issues with updating your WordPress website…

[inn-2v3e]Unfortunately, updating your WordPress website can sometimes cause problems.

You’re absolutely right about that.

Perhaps you’ve experienced it yourself while updating your WordPress website or some plugins… or your theme.

Buuuut…[sluit-inn]
[inn-1v3e]website update error[sluit-inn]

The risks of not updating your WordPress website are much greater!

Research on wpscan.com reveals that there are many old plugin versions and themes with security vulnerabilities. Ignoring updates leaves your WordPress website open to these unnecessary vulnerabilities!

But how can you update WordPress, plugins, and themes without issues?

PRO TIP: Updating WordPress? FIRST create a free backup with UpdraftPlus for WordPress!

UpdraftPlus allows you to create a free backup of your WordPress website before performing updates. If something goes wrong, you can restore the plugins, theme, or database individually to their previous state before performing the update.

Some of the key features of UpdraftPlus that are currently available for free:

  • Backup creation
  • Ability to restore the theme
  • Ability to restore plugins
  • Ability to restore the database

Download and install UpdraftPlus for free!

After creating a backup, you can proceed with the updates with greater confidence.
Are you still very cautious? Are you still postponing the updates?

But updating my WordPress website is still scary!

PRO TIP 2: LET a professional update and maintain your WordPress website</

ERROR 500 – Due to a plugin – Now what?

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If your website gives an ERROR 500 message, and this is specifically number 500, then you can assume that there is such a code or output error in your website that the server can no longer do anything with it.

In the case of a simple problem, most errors, the server still knows how to handle it.
With an error 500 the server can do nothing with it. It gets completely stuck on the code, as it were, and cannot produce a decent message.

Usually these errors are caused by code errors in plugins.

In 9 out of 10 cases the plugins are the cause of such an error.
Disadvantage of course is that you cannot deactivate the plugin anymore… because you usually cannot get into your admin!

What you have to do then

Delete the plugin. From the server.
Then it will no longer run and you can access your website again, your admin.

Remove the plugin with Filezilla FTP

If you have access to your server using Filezilla, you can simply browse to the plugin and click delete.

Follow these steps to remove the plugin causing the error

If you cannot find the server access in your mailbox, you can request it from your web host or website maker.
Those have the server address, username and password.
Download Filezilla at filezilla-project.org
Fill in the data from step 1 & click on Quick connect

  1. ftp filezilla verbinden
  2. Once you have entered the correct information you will see a number of folders. Your website is usually in 1 of these directories: public_html OR www OR domains
    mappen server root
  3. Then again you will see some files, and some folders. You now go to the wp-content folder.
    wpcontent
  4. We are almost there, you now see the folder called “Plugins”.
    plugins
  5. Delete the plugin OR change the name of the plugin causing the error.
    (Right click on the folder & delete / rename)
    plugin verwijderen

I don’t know which plugin is causing the error!?

Then go through each plugin 1-by-1.

  1. Put a dash or character in front of the plugin’s name. The name change will deactivate the plugin.
  2. Reload your website each time after renaming a plugin, when your website is working again and your admin is accessible again you will know which plugin caused the error.
  3. Do not forget to remove the rename for the other plugins, otherwise they will be deactivated… and you do not want that 🙂

naam veranderen plugin verwijderen

Can I never use the plugin now?

Some plug-ins are simply faulty, they are poorly coded or no longer work with the latest version of WordPress.

But it could also be that the plugin no longer works because it didn’t land correctly on the server. Something can go wrong when uploading and even when installing via your dashboard, causing a file in the plugin to be incomplete.

Possible solution: Try to upload the plugin again manually via Filezilla.

Finding a code solution to the error

Once you’ve re-uploaded the plugin and are sure your WordPress is fine, you can see if others have the error as well.
For example, Google “the plugin name” + “error 500,” or better yet “error 500 fix.”
There are still sometimes solutions to the errors, especially when the plugin is used by many people who also have the problem.

Finding an alternative to the plugin

There are more than 55 thousand free plugins available on WordPress.org
So it is quite possible that another plugin exists that does the same thing, but without error 😉

If there is NO alternative to the plugin

Maybe there is no alternative, or you bought the plugin.
Then go to the developers of the plugin, visit their website and contact them.
Tell them as clearly as you can what, and when it goes wrong. They may have a solution to the error.

Keep in mind that this last step can take a lot of time.
Therefore, first weigh how important a plugin is, whether it is irreplaceable, take the steps for re-uploading, check on google if the error occurs more often. And only then get to work contacting the developers.

My WordPress website is slow. How can that be?

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**A slow WordPress website can be quite frustrating** both for yourself when you want to add new content and for your visitors. Let’s discuss some common causes of a slow WordPress website and their solutions:

1. Slow WordPress website due to plugins

Having too many plugins can significantly slow down your website, especially on a budget web hosting package.

How many plugins are too many?

Having more than 8 plugins is not recommended, unless they are very simple and lightweight. Each plugin loads JavaScript requests in the header, CSS, or PHP code that can significantly slow down the loading time.

**Solution:** Deactivate and remove unnecessary plugins.

2. Slow WordPress website due to the hosting provider

Sometimes, hosting providers overcrowd their servers with too many websites. For WordPress, it’s important to use a good hosting package as there are many PHP scripts being loaded.

If you have a shared hosting package, consider upgrading to a VPS or business package depending on your needs. Pay attention to the processing power your website can use from the server, not just the amount of data or disk space you get.

Using a caching plugin can help, but having a good hosting provider and package is crucial.

**WPbeveiligen** hosts websites on a fast server and ensures there is enough capacity to keep the website working well.

3. Slow WordPress website due to hack attempts

As mentioned on this website, various scripts attempt to crack WordPress websites. These scripts send numerous requests per minute to your server, targeting files such as login.php and others.

All these requests can overload the server and slow down your website.

**Good WordPress security** ensures that files are not accessible to these scripts or that there is a maximum number of requests allowed. Plugins like WordFence can block requests based on their frequency and IP addresses.

4. Slow WordPress website due to spam

If your website is hacked by a virus or script, and it results in a file on the server sending dozens of emails per minute, it can significantly slow down your website.

**It’s important** to remove the spam file and secure your website to prevent it from happening again.

5. Slow WordPress website due to missing files

Surprisingly, files called in the code that don’t exist on the server can slow down the website. The website waits for a response from these files, hindering the loading of other files.

**Ensure that all JS files, PHP includes, and CSS files** have the correct path.

6. Slow WordPress website due to large images

Sometimes the cause of a slow WordPress website is not technical or complicated. Images in the text or theme that appear small in size but are actually 3-5 MB can slow down the website during loading.

**Solution:** Optimize your images and ensure they are appropriately sized for web use.

Using online speed tests and experience, experts can quickly identify what’s causing your website to be slow and find solutions to address it.

If your WordPress website is still slow despite following these tips, consider contacting a professional to help you resolve the issue.