Managing a website is not an easy task. Configuration, setup, design, etc. can allpush you to the edge. Besides, the existence of bugs and problems is part of the the nature of technology. Every once in a while you difinitely face some issues that need to be fixed. The good news is you can find everything on the internet today if you encounter such issues.
However, when you face an error 500, the story becomes a bit different. This is becasue the root of the problem is not clearly stated and you should check a number of different things that may have caused this error. In this article we are going to see what may cause this error and how to fix it.
Introduction to HTTP 500 Error
HTTP 500 errors mean there is a problem with the server, not your website, or computer or the Internet. These errors do not tell you any specific information, but they mean there is a potential issue with a number of things that might have gone wrong.
Basically, this error ocurs either when you are trying to access a website or you face this error on your own website. Below we have talked about both of the situations.
If It Is Not Your Website
If you are trying to go to a particular website and you face an HTTP 500 error, you can be sure that your internet, computer and browser are working fine. The problem is definitely with the website. Here are a number things you should try:
Refresh the page
Do you remember those days when you had to turn off and turn on everything in order to fix it? The same tactic applies here. Press Ctrl + F5 keys on your browser to give it a hard refresh. Doing so may resolve the issue as the page might have been down only temporarily.
Try again later
There is also this possibility that the website admins know about the issue and be busy working on it. So waiting and trying again later works most of the times. You can also report to the website admins.
Delete your browser’s cookies
Sometimes your browser have saved cookies and deleting them solves the problem.
See if others have the issue
There is a website called Down for Everyone or just Me. You just need to paste the URL you cannot access and see if others are experiencing the same issue.
If It Is Your Website
What about the time when you face an HTTP 500 Internal Server error on your own website? Well, there are several possible resons for it. Let’s see some of them:
Corrupted or broken .htaccess file
.htaccess is an important file in your website that keeps some information about the software functions. Installing new plugins during configuring your website is a prevalent cause for this.
Permission error
When a user doesn’t have permission to access a specific page, they may face a HTTP 500 Internal Server error.
Exceeding the PHP memory limit
You may know that PHP manages your content, database, etc. on your website, and they consume some of your website memory. If you exceed this limit, the error will appear.
How to Fix the HTTP 500 Error
Now that we have gained information about the causes, let’s see how we can fix them.
Deactivate your theme or plugins
Installing new software may cause such an error due to some issues with important configuration files. You should try to find the issue by checking every plugin one by one. If none of them helped you in solving the issue, then you should go for the other solutions.
Use a debugging plugin
WordPress has a great plugin called WP Debugging. You can install it and use it to find out about the issue.
Check your PHP settings
If PHP timeouts are causing the issue, you should check them and set timeout rules. In order to do so, you should look for php.ini directives on google and see which one is suitable for you.
Check your .htaccess file
Maybe the most complicated solution, this one must be done only if you know what you are doing. You should refer to your server folder and find the .htaccess file (using cPanel or FTP is also possible), then check its code to find out if there is something wrong.
Last resort
If you are not so handy in this realm, or you don’t have the time, or any other reason, you can easily hire a professional to check into your problem. You may have tried all the above solutions and still face the error. You can then refer to a professional and ask them to look into the issue and solve it. Naturally it may cost you some, but it will be faster and easier definitely.
Conclusion
We hope this article have been helpful for you in guiding you through dealing with a HTTP 500 Internal Server error. Just remember that if you are facing this error on other websites,you don’t need to do anything because it is not your fault. However, if it is on your own website, you should follow the above mentioned steps and see where the problem is.
