Troubleshoot an unavailable website

Use these checks to identify connection or application errors. Contact [email protected] if you need help.

1. Check from another connection

Check whether the problem also occurs on another device or network:

• 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 = this request succeeded
# 5xx or timeout = investigate the server or connection

2. Record the browser error

The browser error helps identify which part of the connection failed. Record the message before making changes:

3. Check DNS records

# 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: check whether the account is reaching its plan limit.
• Physical memory: check for memory limit or OOM errors.
• Entry processes: check for 508 Resource Limit Reached errors.
• Disk space: check that space remains for uploads, sessions and logs.
• Inodes: check the file count against the account limit.

For an update on your service, contact [email protected].

5. Read the error logs

Check the application error log for entries matching the time of the failure. In cPanel, open Errors or Metrics → Errors. If SSH is available:

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.log

Common 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

Check for a WordPress plugin failure

# 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 plugins

Contact support

Email [email protected] for help with the outage. Include the following details where available:

• The affected URL and error message
• 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 issues

• Cached error pages. Compare the result in another browser or clear the browser cache.
• 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.
• Expired certificate. Check the certificate dates and run AutoSSL if renewal has failed.
• Recent .htaccess changes. Restore the previous configuration if an edit caused the error.