WordPress is powering millions of websites globally powering over 43% of the internet and commanding apprx. 61% market share. It is said to be that over 90,000 plugins available today. With thousands of partners and service providers to WordPress but even reliable systems can run into issues. WordPress often face technical issues due to various reasons. Among the most frustrating issue is the “500 Internal Server Error,” a vague message that provides no clear direction on what went wrong. After we analyzed over 1,000 WordPress websites, In this post, we’ll walk you through common causes, step-by-step diagnostics, and best practices to prevent and troubleshoot it from happening again this 500 Internal Server Error.
What Exactly Does “500 Internal Server Error” Mean?
A “500 Internal Server Error” is a generic HTTP status code indicating that the website’s server encountered an unexpected condition or configuration issue that prevented it from fulfilling the request, and it couldn’t provide more specific details about the problem. Note this: the issue is on the server side, not your computer, browser, or internet connection. For customers or internet users, this means the error is often temporary and may resolve on its own, while for website owners, it requires checking server logs and configurations on servers to find the root cause.
What are Common Triggers for the 500 Error in WordPress?
Common causes of a WordPress 500 error message include:
- Broken, Corrupted, or misconfigured .htaccess file: This file controls many important aspects of server behavior, and if it gets corrupted, broken, or misconfigured, it can also lead to a 500 error.
- PHP memory limit issues: When your website exceeds the allocated PHP memory limit from the server while installing, it can result in an internal server error due to insufficient resources.
- Problems with WordPress plugins: Nulled, faulty, incompatible, or poorly coded WordPress plugins can cause conflicts with website server that lead to 500 errors.
- Issues with file permissions: Incorrect file and directory permissions can prevent scripts from running properly, resulting in an internal server error (This type of is rarely occur).
- Internal Server Error due to them: A new theme or update is another common cause of HTTP status code 500.