A WordPress update broke my site: what now?
Why updates break WordPress sites, what to do in the next ten minutes, and how to keep updating without it happening again.
By Gary Blake · Bath IT, Radstock
Guides
WordPress
If an update has broken your WordPress site, stop updating, restore your most recent backup if you have one, and then find out which update caused it. It's rarely WordPress on its own. Usually a plugin and the theme no longer agree with each other, or a plugin can't cope with a newer version of PHP. Once you know which, the fix is normally straightforward.
Why updates break things
A WordPress site is several pieces of software from different people: WordPress itself, a theme and however many plugins, all running on PHP on your host's server. Each is updated on its own schedule, and nobody tests your exact combination except you.
Plugin and theme conflicts. One plugin changes how something works, and another plugin, or the theme, was relying on the old way. The result can be a broken layout, a form that stops sending or a blank page.
PHP versions. Hosts upgrade PHP to keep their servers safe. A plugin or theme written for an older version can stop working the day that happens, even though you didn't update anything.
Page builders and premium plugins. These often have their own updates, tied to a licence. If a licence has run out, one part falls behind while everything around it moves on.
What to do now
Stop clicking update. Each extra update makes it harder to tell what broke it.
Note what you updated and when, and any error message you can see.
If you have a backup from before the update, restore it. Your host may keep one.
If not, roll back the plugin or theme that caused it to its previous version.
If you can't get into the admin at all, ask your host. They can switch off plugins or restore their own backup.
A white page, or a message saying there has been a critical error, usually means a plugin or the theme has crashed. WordPress may also email the site's admin address a link that lets you log in with the faulty plugin paused, so check that inbox.
Be careful with advice to switch off every plugin at once. It can get the site back, but it also switches off things like your shop or contact forms, and you then have to work out which ones to turn back on.
When you can't roll back
Sometimes there's no backup and no older version to go back to, or the old version is the one with the security hole. Then the fix is to find what's actually broken and change it, which may mean replacing a plugin with a maintained one or updating the theme. That's a job for someone who can read the error logs.
If the site was built by someone who's no longer around and nobody knows what half the plugins do, that's worth sorting out too. Our page on WordPress help covers taking over a site someone else built.
How to update safely
The answer isn't to stop updating. Updates carry security fixes, and a site that's never updated is the kind that gets hacked. The answer is to update in a way you can undo.
Take a full backup first, files and database, and keep it off the server.
Try updates on a staging copy of the site before the live one. Many hosts offer this.
Update one thing at a time, and check the site after each one.
Check the pages that matter: the homepage, contact forms, checkout and bookings.
Read what's changed before a big update to WordPress or your page builder.
Keep an eye on your PHP version, and plan the upgrade before your host does it for you.
It takes longer than pressing "update all", but not by much, and it means an update that goes wrong costs you a few minutes, not a day.
Getting help
We fix broken WordPress sites and can keep them updated safely afterwards. Start with our free security check, then we quote in writing at £75 an hour. A small fix is about £30. See WordPress help for how it works.
Quick answers
Tired of updates breaking things?
We'll build a free mockup of your homepage on our own platform, where we look after the updates, so you can see the alternative before you decide.