How to Debug WordPress Without Going Crazy

WordPress is a beautiful part of modern life. No, really– how often in history has there been a platform that’s open and available to anyone who has a thought they’d like to get across? Blog platforms, such as WordPress, give the previously voiceless a voice in our global conversation, and spark chains of thought that would have never existed without a spark from someone’s humble musings. WordPress is a powerful tool, but only when it functions correctly. That’s why you need some top-notch debug skills to make sure your WordPress content stays up and visible.

We’ve put together this guide to help you get your WordPress debugging process down cold. We’ll look at WordPress’ native debugging tool and show you how to get the most of it in your error-correction crusades. We also include some advanced steps that you can take to make the WordPress debugger even more useful. While having errors in WordPress can be frustrating– and correcting them might seem to be out of your skill level, you’ll be amazed at how soon you’ll be confidently striding through your WordPress pages, swatting away bugs and making your words sparkle, if you follow the tips in this guide.

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Enable Debugging

To get started in your WordPress debugging quest, you’ll first need to know how to start the damn debugger, right? Fortunately, getting the debugger going is easy enough. WordPress was developed with the end user in mind, and all of its debugging tools are easy to access and simple to comprehend. And, if you have some prior experience with debuggers, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to understand any WordPress log dumps compared to other platforms.

First, log onto the WordPress cPanel or connect using SSH. Open your “wp-config.php” file and edit it using your preferred text editor. Add the line: “define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true);” to the config file. Now, you’ll get notifications for any warnings, errors, and notices that might occur once you save the config file and exit the text editor. When you finish your debugging, you’ll need to be sure to disable debugging to shut off the notification stream. To disable the debugger, open the config file again and change the line to “define(‘WP_DEBUG’, false);”.

Know Your WordPress Debug Optional Commands

Just getting your WordPress debugger going is often enough to find the answer to your issue, but sometimes you’ll need to dig deeper to find the underlying issue. That’s why WordPress included some other useful debugging commands that you can try when the standard debugger isn’t enough. Add these commands to the “wp-config.php” file (the same way you added the debugger command earlier) when you want to give your error detection a bit more oomph.

To push all error data to a log file for parsing and issue identification, enable WP_DEBUG_LOG by changing its config line to “define(‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true);”, and wait for the logs to start streaming in. Be sure to change “true” to “false” when you’re done to avoid filling up your logs. If you’re concerned about scripting issues, you can also use a config-file entry to set up your investigation. Enable SCRIPT_DEBUG in the config file by changing the line to “define(‘SCRIPT_DEBUG’, true);” —this will force WordPress to use core JavaScript and CSS development cores rather than the usual compressed ones.

We hope that you enjoyed this WordPress debugging guide. Being a WordPress ninja means being able to fix any issues that pop up, so knowing how to debug WordPress is a vital part of any skilled blogger’s toolkit. With our guide, you’ll be able to get your debugging sessions jumping and be a master blogger in no time. If you want even more knowledge, consider enrolling in an online WordPress course to round out your skillset.