Support » Fixing WordPress » Getting a 500 Internal Server Error

  • Hello,

    So, for a brief background, I am new to WordPress but not to web design, I have written html since the days of netscape, and have some javascript and C++ background, although I really need to learn php I am not a professional coder, in fact, I’m a Realtor. I have not been doing much in the way of tech for the past few years and I started designing a site in Dreamweaver but thought I’d give wordpress a try as an easier way to update, add, edit, etc. So far, I like what I see, but I’m having a problem. I installed a WP Spry plugin to create dropdown menus, I got going and it was working fine, then somewhere along the way something happened and it won’t update, add, edit, or delete anything. Whenever I try to make changes to the menu I receive a 500 Internal Server Error with the following message:

    Internal Server Error
    The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

    Please contact the server administrator and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

    More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

    Apache/1.3.33 Server at mywashingtondcrealtor.com Port 80

    I would really like to get around deleting everything and starting over. I believe the problem might be happening where I accidentally added duplicate entries, but I’m not sure. If you view my site at mywashingtondcrealtor dot com you’ll see under Washington, D.C. -> Ward 6 many entries are duplicates. Ever since that happened I get this error.

    I could go into the source file and clean this up, but I’m not sure where to look as I am very new to wordpress. Any help much appreciated.

    Also, on a side note, would there be a way to add catagories through the source file? I have a long list I could cut and paste and then edit, rather than adding them one by one in the GUI.

    Thanks in Advance,
    Craig

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  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    Volunteer Moderator

    Internal server errors (error 500) are often caused by plugin or theme function conflicts, so if you have access to your admin panel, try deactivating all plugins. If you don’t have access to your admin panel, try manually resetting your plugins. If that resolves the issue, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause.

    If that does not resolve the issue, try switching to the Default theme (WordPress 1.5 – 2.9.2) or the Twenty Ten theme (WordPress 3.0 and higher) to rule-out a theme-specific issue. If you don’t have access to your admin panel, access your server via FTP or SFTP, navigate to /wp-content/themes/ and rename the directory of your currently active theme. This will force the Default theme (WordPress 1.5 – 2.9.2) or the Twenty Ten theme (WordPress 3.0 and higher) to activate and hopefully rule-out a theme-specific issue.

    If that does not resolve the issue, it’s possible that a .htaccess rule could be the source of the problem. To check for this, access your server via FTP or SFTP and rename the .htaccess file. If you can’t find a .htaccess file, make sure that you have set your FTP or SFTP client to view invisible files.

    If you weren’t able to resolve the issue by either resetting your plugins and theme or renaming your .htaccess file, we may be able to help, but we’ll need a more detailed error message. Internal server errors are usually described in more detail in the server error log. If you have access to your server error log, generate the error again, note the date and time, then immediately check your server error log for any errors that occurred during that time period. If you don’t have access to your server error log, ask your hosting provider to look for you.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
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