How To Enable & Disable Debugging in WordPress

Are you a web developer or site admin? If yes, you might have encountered puzzling issues, broken functionalities, or unexpected errors on your WordPress website. Here debugging in WordPress will come to help. How?

Debugging in WordPress is a powerful tool that empowers web developers and managers to diagnose and fix issues, optimize website performance, and maintain a robust and secure online presence. WordPress debug mode is a standard practice that can improve a WordPress website’s quality and reliability.

Enable WordPress Debugging for Smooth Operations: How it Can Help?

• When a WordPress website encounters problems, it may display error messages or unexpected behavior. Debugging enables you to view detailed error messages, making it easier to pinpoint the root cause of the issue.
• Conflicts between plugins or themes can disrupt website functionality. Debugging helps to identify which plugin or theme is causing the conflict. It allows you to disable or troubleshoot the problematic component.
• It is essential to test code changes and ensure they work as intended. 
• It allows you to view and analyze database queries executed by your WordPress website. It helps optimize database performance and identify slow or inefficient queries.
• WordPress debugging logs errors and warnings in a file, making it easy to review and analyze issues. 
• It helps identify and address security vulnerabilities, ensuring your WordPress site remains secure against threats.

Smooth Website Migration: The Role of Debugging in WordPress

The relationship between debug and WP migration is crucial, as migration processes can introduce new issues or errors that must be addressed to ensure a successful and smooth transition. During or after migration, various common problems may arise, and debugging becomes an essential tool to identify, diagnose, and resolve these issues. Some of the typical problems that can occur during or after a migration include:

• Broken links or missing files after migration
• Incompatibility issues with the new server environment
• Changes in file paths that lead to broken images or resources.
• Database connection issues or corrupted data
• Plugin or theme conflicts in the new environment, etc.

When these issues occur during migration, debugging becomes necessary. Developers will need to identify the source of the problem, understand why it happened during migration, and apply appropriate fixes to ensure the website functions correctly in the new hosting environment.

To avoid or minimize such issues during the migration, you should follow a well-documented and tested migration process, make backups before starting the migration, and check for compatibility with the new hosting environment. The wordPress migration plugins or services that handle the process more smoothly can also prevent problems. However, it is critical to be prepared for potential issues and debug and fix them as needed.

How to Enable Debug Mode in WordPress?

• First, you need to access the files of your WordPress website. You can do it by using an FTP client or your hosting’s file manager.
• Once you have accessed the files, locate the wp-config.php file in the root directory of your WordPress installation. This file contains essential configurations for your website.
• Open the wp-config.php file using a text editor. It can be done directly from the FTP client or file manager.
• Add some lines of code to enable debug mode. Insert the following lines just above the line that says: “That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging.”
• Save the changes you made to the wp-config.php file and upload it back to the server, overwriting the existing one.

The steps will help you successfully enable debug mode in WordPress. Your website will start logging errors and warnings to the debug.log file in the wp-content directory. You need to “disable debug” mode when you no longer need it to prevent unnecessary log data from being stored on your server.

How to Disable Debug Mode in WordPress?

• Access your WordPress Files: Log in to your hosting account and locate the File Manager or use an FTP client to access your website’s files.
• Locate wp-config.php: Look for the wp-config.php file in the root directory of your WordPress installation.
• Edit wp-config.php: Right-click on the wp-config.php file and choose “Edit” or “View” to open it in a text editor.
• Disable Debugging Constants: Within the wp-config.php file, locate the lines of code that were previously added to enable debug mode:
• Modify the Constants: To disable debug mode, change the values of the constants as follows:
• Set WP_DEBUG to false to disable debug mode. You may also set WP_DEBUG_LOG to false if you don’t want to log debug messages to the debug.log file. However, it’s recommended to keep WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY as false and @ini_set( ‘display_errors’, 0 ); unchanged to suppress PHP errors from being displayed on your website.
• Save the File: Save the modified wp-config.php file by clicking “Save” or “Save Changes” and close the text editor.
• Upload the File: If you use the File Manager, the changes are automatically saved. If you use an FTP client, upload the modified wp-config.php file back to your server, replacing the existing one.

The steps will help you to disable debug mode in WordPress. Your website will no longer log errors and warnings to the debug.log file, and PHP errors will be hidden from being displayed. It ensures your website runs smoothly without unnecessary debug data.

Conclusion

A reliable and well-designed migration plugin like Transferito can be a lifesaver in avoiding migration-related issues. Such plugins feature advanced debugging elements to detect and resolve potential problems during migration. They handle the complexities of migration, ensuring hassle-free data transfers supporting file integrity, and managing database connections accurately. Our help simplifies the migration process, minimizing downtime and reducing the probability of issues

By integrating debugging practices and using reputable migration plugins, web professionals can optimize website performance, protect data, and ensure a smooth transition during migration processes.