WordPress Debugging Tools For Troubleshooting: There’s always a window or a door through which problems might sneak in, even though WordPress is a calm environment where errors are far less common than in a traditional software development setup. The more flexibility a tool offers you, the more errors you may encounter. WordPress, in particular, has a lot of flexibility, which also means a lot of possible errors. You have a web server, a hosting company, a database management system, and a network. You also have an open plugin architecture you can use to add functionality to the CMS. All of these elements are autonomous and add to the share of possible problems they all represent.
Slow performance, inaccurate or damaged content, error messages, and—worst of all—the white screen of death (WSoD) indicate that your website has crashed and requires immediate repair. You should be worried if there is even the slightest performance issue, such as a delay of less than 2 seconds, since it may harm your SEO strategy and position in search engine results. And it immediately translates into fewer and fewer visitors each day, given that nowadays, especially for mobile users, a rapid response is crucial. Therefore, it is essential to have tools at your disposal whenever you suspect your website is malfunctioning. There is always space to enhance its usefulness or performance, even if it does.
What Are WordPress Debugging Tools?
Debugging is the process that developers use to find and fix errors (sometimes referred to as bugs) in their programs. It is accomplished using specialist tools that let you observe what is happening within a program as it is running. Identifying the particular component, command, or instruction causing an error can occasionally be the most difficult element of the debugging process. Developers examine the symptoms and, if required, do research to pinpoint the source of the problem to accomplish this, just like a doctor who must make a diagnosis. A monitoring tool that gives information about how a website function is the software development equivalent of medical research. Here are some WordPress Debugging Tools for your reference.
Top WordPress Debugging Tools
We’ve compiled a list of WordPress Debugging Tools to help you find the right one.
1. Debug Bar
A debug menu on the WordPress admin bar leads to a collection of plugins called Debug Bar, which displays various debugging information. Shortcodes, constants, post kinds, cron, actions & filters, transients, remote requests, and list scripts & style dependencies are some of its options. It is a free plugin because it is open source. The primary plugin, Debug Bar, offers the fundamental functionality, supplemented by the other plugins. In addition, it is compatible with WordPress’ built-in debugging options, including WP_DEBUG and SAVEQUERIES. When these flags are set, Debug Bar offers helpful debugging information like PHP warnings and MySQL queries, saving you the work of searching for and reading the log files.
The Debug Bar menu’s options each share a certain amount of debugging capability. The console, for instance, offers a console where you can run any PHP code, which is great for, among other things, evaluating the contents of variables. Likewise, the information about WordPress’s scheduled events are displayed by Cron, including the next event’s time, its total number, a list of custom events, and so on. Another option for showing hooks associated with the current request is Actions and Filters. The Filters tab displays all filter tags along with the functions associated with each one, while the Actions tab displays the actions connected to the current request.
2. WP_DEBUG
WordPress has a built-in debugging tool that must be more frequently addressed. When WordPress is turned on, a “flag” named WP_DEBUG activates the debug mode. A log that tracks all activity on your website is created when WP_DEBUG is on. You can find out what is incorrect with your WordPress website by reading this log.
By editing your wp-config.php file and adding the appropriate coding to command your weblog to record all activity in the log, you may turn on WP_DEBUG. Only some people should attempt this coding assignment since your website might cease to function if you miss a line or even a character when editing the wp-config.php file. Before taking any action, make a backup of your site and files. Then, if something goes bad, you can roll everything back to how it was if you restore the backup.
Use the file manager provided by your hosting company to change the wp-config.php file, or use the FTP client to download the file & open it locally in your chosen text editor. The file may be found in your WordPress installation’s root directory. Locate the line where WP_DEBUG is specified after opening it. It should seem as follows.
define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );If there isn’t such a line, look for the remark that reads.
/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */And above that remark, add the following lines. For websites that are accessible to the general public, the following commands will instruct your site to log any errors without showing them.
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
@ini_set('display_errors',0);Using FTP, post the changed file to your website after saving it. Then attempt to cause the error (or watch for it to occur) and examine the debug.log file. The wp-content folder of your WordPress installation is where you may find it. You may open it in a text editor and search for error messages explaining what is causing your site’s problems. After this, you should turn off logging by changing the values “true” to “false” in all the lines you added or modified in the wp-config.php file.
3. WPDB Error Reporting
You can activate WPDB Error Reporting if you know or believe that your website’s database is causing problems. Additionally, this requires coding. You may instruct your website to start displaying database errors on the screen once you enable error reporting. However, unless you are okay with it if your visitors see error messages on their displays, you should not accomplish this on a live website. Use a staging website instead to test things without letting anyone see what’s happening behind the scenes.
Like reading an X-ray requires some medical expertise, reading these error reports or logs does. You’ll have to understand some programming, networking, or database language. Still, you’ll find the main issue impacting your website and then seek assistance from someone who can solve that issue. Well, add the following line to your wp-config.php debug file (in the same manner as previously described to produce the debugging log) to start generating database error reports.
define( 'SAVEQUERIES', true);The database will start saving all queries your website does once this value is set to true. The number of queries generated by each page request & the commands used in each one may then be examined. Adding these lines to your theme PHP file during your execution flow is one approach to display the queries on screen.
global $wpdb;
print_r( $wpdb->queries );You should delete these lines to restore your website to regular functionality when you have finished debugging.
4. Using A Staging Website
A staging website is a clone of your live website where you may test updates or new features before going live with them. Because it permits you to test everything you want without interrupting the actual users of your website, using a staging site to debug problems or monitor its activity is also a fantastic idea. The structure and content of your actual website must be perfectly replicated on a staging website. You should always refresh your staging site with a duplicate of the actual one whenever you update your WordPress website with new content or add-ons (mainly plugins and themes). If a problem arises on your live website, you can reproduce it on your staging environment in this way.
Many managed WordPress hosting companies give a staging site as an added bonus to their premium plans. This is the most convenient method for creating a staging environment where you may experiment risk-free. However, if your hosting company does not give this option, you may use the WP Staging plugin to create a staging site. With the aid of this plugin, you can easily clone your website and use it just like the original. An orange bar at the top of the screen will always let you know when you are in the staging environment. If your hosting provider permits you to add a subdomain to your account, you may always manually create a staging site on a subdomain if you like getting your hands dirty. If you’re new to WordPress, choose another option because setting up the staging site this way can be challenging.
5. Firefox Developer Tools
The newest development features and tools are available in Firefox Developer Tools, formerly known as Firebug, a version of Firefox specifically designed for developers. Although it is not specifically for WordPress, it is incredibly helpful for troubleshooting websites. Comparisons between Firefox Developer Tools and the more well-known Chrome DevTools are unavoidable. However, Firefox’s dependable layout stands out in this context. For instance, the inspector tab is accessible by right-clicking any element, and the web console provides a rich output when printing objects that includes far more information than simply the object’s name. In addition to giving better information for DOM elements, it gives additional information for some kinds, enabling a deeper investigation of the object’s attributes.
The Inspector tool allows you to study and edit the HTML and CSS of any website, letting you do so whether the page is loaded locally on Firefox or remotely on a device like Firefox for Android. The Web Console displays all the webpage-related data you might need, including CSS, JavaScript, network requests, warnings, errors, and explicit informational messages captured by JavaScript code. Additionally, you may directly execute JavaScript expressions in the context of a web page to interact with it.
6. Query Monitor
Query Monitor provides much more than only monitor queries; therefore, its name may be deceiving. It is a full WordPress developer panel, enabling the debugging of scripts, stylesheets, API calls, database queries, PHP errors, and more. In addition, you may assess user capabilities and debug Ajax calls using some sophisticated features. Query Monitor starts displaying information on your website’s activity in the most helpful manner after you install and activate it.
For instance, it displays aggregate database queries organized according to the plugins, functions, or themes that initiated them. With all the debug information you could need to evaluate the issue you need to solve, an admin toolbar menu displays live page statistics. Query Monitor allows you to gradually focus your search for bugs by plugin or theme until you find the one that is impairing the performance of your website or causing a problem. Query Monitor is free and open source, just like WordPress.
7. New Relic
New Relic is a commercial solution that thousands of developers use daily to gain performance insights about their software products. As an outcome, it is one of the biggest APM (Application Performance Monitoring) sector players. In addition, an almost infinite range of technologies may be monitored by this tool thanks to its plugin design, which enables third-party added functionality.
It is designed for professional debugging jobs and has a monthly pricing range of $9.37 to $200 per host. Along with the cost of the solution, you must invest time in learning how to use it because it has a long learning curve. Users of New Relic enjoy how simple it is to include APM and infrastructure monitoring solutions. Kinsta’s MyKinsta interface makes it simple to connect to New Relic.
Consider The Following:
Conclusion: WordPress Debugging Tools
For software development experts, WordPress Debugging Tools are primarily intended. However, even if you only manage a WordPress blog and are not a developer, it is helpful to have at least a fundamental understanding of monitoring and debugging your site. In the same way that, if you feel unwell, you may save your doctor some effort by checking your temperature on your own before coming to the hospital; you can do this to provide a developer with information that will assist them in finding the source of a problem.