Your site is down. The impulse is to open a support ticket immediately, but a quick triage on your end finds the cause about 90% of the time, faster than we can. This article is the five-minute checklist we run ourselves when a customer reports an outage. Do these in order before emailing.
1. Is it just you?
Local issues (your ISP, your DNS cache, your VPN) present as 'the site is down' constantly. Verify it's actually the site before anything else:
- · Open the site in a private/incognito window (bypasses most local caches)
- · Try from your phone on mobile data (bypasses your home network)
- · Use downforeveryoneorjustme.com or isitdownrightnow.com
- · Run: curl -sI https://yourdomain.com/ from a different network
# Neutral vantage DNS lookup
dig @1.1.1.1 +short A yourdomain.com
# Neutral vantage HTTP check
curl -sI --max-time 10 https://yourdomain.com/
# 200 = site fine, just you
# 5xx or timeout = real problem2. What does the browser actually say?
Different error screens point at different causes. Don't describe it as 'the site is down'. Read the exact message:
| Error | Typical cause | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN | DNS record missing or wrong | Check A record at DNS provider |
| ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED | Server down or firewall blocking | Check server status page |
| ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT | Server unreachable from your network | Try different network / VPN off |
| 500 Internal Server Error | Application error (PHP, WordPress) | Check error logs in cPanel |
| 502 Bad Gateway | LiteSpeed can't reach PHP-FPM | Usually resolves itself; check PHP version |
| 503 Service Unavailable | Server overloaded or maintenance | Check resource usage in cPanel |
| 504 Gateway Timeout | PHP script too slow | Raise max_execution_time or fix slow query |
| NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID | SSL certificate expired | Run AutoSSL in cPanel |
| Page isn't redirecting properly | Redirect loop (usually HTTPS/Cloudflare mismatch) | Check Cloudflare SSL mode |
3. Is DNS pointing where you think?
# What is the world seeing?
dig @1.1.1.1 +short A yourdomain.com
dig @8.8.8.8 +short A yourdomain.com
# Are the two answers the same? If no → DNS is still propagating.
# If yes and the IP is wrong → DNS record is wrong at the source.
# If yes and the IP is correct → problem is on the server.4. Check the server status and your resource usage
Log into cPanel and scan the sidebar Statistics panel:
- · CPU usage: over 100% sustained? You've hit the plan limit (entry-price processes get queued).
- · Physical memory: at quota? Scripts will start dying with OOM errors.
- · Entry processes: at limit? Visitors get 508 Resource Limit Reached.
- · Disk space: full? PHP can't write session files or logs; cascading failures.
- · Inodes: at limit? Even tiny files fail to write; same cascade.
Also check https://status.omdigital.cc. If the server is on our incident list, you've found it.
5. Read the error logs
The application error log is your most honest source of what broke. In cPanel, open Errors or Metrics → Errors. Or from SSH:
ssh [email protected]
# Tail the most recent error log
tail -100 ~/logs/error.log
# PHP errors specifically
tail -100 ~/logs/php_errors.log
# For WordPress: enable WP_DEBUG_LOG in wp-config.php then:
tail -100 public_html/wp-content/debug.logCommon patterns in the log:
- · PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size ... exhausted → raise memory_limit in php.ini or MultiPHP INI Editor
- · Error establishing a database connection → database down, wrong credentials in wp-config.php, or MySQL restarted
- · 500 preceded by a plugin file path → disable that plugin from wp-admin or by renaming its folder via SFTP
- · .htaccess: Invalid command → a recent .htaccess edit is invalid; revert
Quick-fix: disable every plugin without dashboard access
# Rename wp-content/plugins to temporarily disable all plugins
ssh [email protected]
cd public_html/wp-content
mv plugins plugins-disabled
# Try the site. If it works, the culprit is in plugins-disabled.
# Rename back and enable plugins one by one from wp-admin to find it.
mv plugins-disabled pluginsWhen to open a ticket
Email [email protected] after the checks above if: DNS is correct, status page shows no incident, resource usage is healthy, and error logs don't explain it. Include in your message:
- · The exact URL and the exact error text (not 'it's down')
- · What you've already ruled out
- · Approximate time the issue started
- · The output of curl -sI https://yourdomain.com/
- · Any recent changes (plugin update, theme swap, DNS edit)
Common gotchas
- · Browser cache lying. A 404 cached aggressively looks identical to a real 404. Always test in a private window.
- · Firewall at your ISP or workplace blocking specific IPs. Test from mobile data.
- · Free-tier Cloudflare in 'Under Attack' mode. Five-second interstitial can be mistaken for an outage.
- · Certificate just expired. Error is specific (NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID). Force AutoSSL.
- · You edited .htaccess and it's now syntax-broken. Rename .htaccess to .htaccess-bak and see if the site returns.
Still stuck?
Email [email protected] with the triage results above. We respond 24/7 and will take it from there.