✨ Introduction

Boom. Just like that — our entire website went down. All we saw was that dreaded white screen with the cryptic message:

"There has been a critical error on your website."

No pages, no admin dashboard, no warning. One moment everything was working; the next, we were locked out of our digital storefront.

If you’ve ever faced this, you know the panic. Lost traffic. Lost sales. And that gut-wrenching fear that your website might be gone for good.

The good news? We fixed it. Fast. And in this blog, we're pulling back the curtain on exactly how we did it — step-by-step.

You’ll learn:

Let’s dive in and help you get your site back online.

🧨 What Is a “Critical Error” in WordPress?

The “There has been a critical error on your website” message is WordPress’s way of telling you something catastrophic just broke your site.

It typically appears due to:

WordPress introduced this “white screen” in version 5.2+ as part of its fatal error protection, but unfortunately, it tells you nothing about what’s actually broken.

🕵️‍♂️ Step 1: Immediate Actions We Took After Seeing the Error

🔍 Check Your Email

WordPress often sends a recovery mode email with more details.

But we didn’t receive one. That meant we had to manually diagnose the issue.

🛑 Disable Error-Causing Plugins via FTP

Since we couldn’t access the WordPress dashboard:

  1. We connected to the server using FileZilla (FTP)
  2. Navigated to: /public_html/wp-content/plugins
  3. Renamed the suspect plugin folder (in our case, elementor) to elementor-disabled

Pro Tip: Renaming a plugin folder deactivates it instantly.

🔎 What We Found

Right after disabling Elementor, the site partially loaded — confirming the plugin was the issue. But styles were broken and some pages didn’t work.

That led us to believe there was a deeper conflict or version issue.

⚙️ Step 2: Enable WordPress Debug Mode to Get Clues

To see real error messages, we enabled debug mode:

// In wp-config.php
define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );

After refreshing the site, we checked the log at: /wp-content/debug.log

Boom — there it was:

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function ...

The plugin was calling a function missing from the current PHP version.

🧩 Step 3: Check PHP Version and Server Logs

🖥️ SSH into the Server:

php -v

We found the server was running PHP 7.2, while the plugin required PHP 8.0+.

That’s a major compatibility issue.

✅ Solution: Upgrade PHP

We upgraded the PHP version to 8.1 using our hosting control panel and restarted the web server.

Then, we:

🎉 The critical error was gone.

🧹 Step 4: Clean Up Broken Plugin Data

Even though the plugin reloaded, some widgets and pages weren’t displaying correctly. That’s because:

We:

🔐 Step 5: Security + Hardening Audit

Crashes like this are wake-up calls. After the site was back up, we:

🔄 Implemented Automatic Backups

🔒 Hardened WordPress

🛠️ Lessons We Learned (So You Don’t Repeat Our Mistakes)

❌ Don’t update major plugins blindly

We updated Elementor without testing on staging. Bad move.

⚠️ Avoid outdated PHP versions

Plugins evolve — your server should too. Always stay on supported versions.

✅ Use a staging environment

It’s non-negotiable. We’ve now set up:

💾 Back up before every update

Even small updates can wreck your site. Automate full backups before plugin/theme/core changes.

⚡ Quick Takeaways: What to Do If You Hit a Critical WordPress Error

📣 Call to Action

Critical errors can cost you more than just traffic — they erode trust and destroy momentum.

If you’re not confident navigating FTP, debugging PHP errors, or setting up recovery workflows, don’t go it alone.

At Ramlit Limited, we offer:

👉 Get Expert Help Now and protect your website from the unexpected.

❓ FAQ: WordPress Critical Error Fixes

Q1: What triggers a critical error in WordPress?

Usually plugin conflicts, outdated PHP versions, corrupted themes, or missing dependencies.

Q2: Can I fix the critical error without developer access?

Yes — if you can access your server via FTP or cPanel, you can disable plugins, check logs, and apply fixes.

Q3: Will restoring a backup always fix the issue?

Often, yes. But if the root cause (like outdated PHP) still exists, the error may come back after restoration.

Q4: How can I test updates safely?

Use a staging environment or local WordPress development tool like LocalWP or DevKinsta.

Q5: What’s the best plugin for preventing future site crashes?

A combo of: