Neve Customizer won’t save changes (Published + expected_array)

  • summitarcwelding

    (@summitarcwelding)


    1 day, 21 hours ago

    Hi Neve team,

    I’m using:

    • WordPress 7.0
    • Neve 4.2.7 (free)
    • PHP 8.2.32
    • SiteGround hosting

    I’m experiencing an issue where the Neve Customizer is not saving certain settings.

    Symptoms:

    • The Customizer says “Published.”
    • After refreshing the page, the changes revert.
    • This happens with Global Colors, Custom Colors, Site Logo, and Button settings.
    • Occasionally the Customizer displays an expected_array error.
    • Other Customizer settings (such as Background Image) can publish successfully.

    Steps to reproduce:

    1. Appearance → Customize
    2. Global → Colors & Background
    3. Change any Global Color.
    4. Click Publish.
    5. Refresh the Customizer.
    6. The color reverts to the previous value.

    I’ve also reproduced the issue when changing the Site Logo.

    Things I’ve already tried:

    • Updated WordPress, Neve, and all plugins.
    • Disabled all plugins for testing.
    • Removed custom code.
    • Cleared SiteGround and WordPress caches.
    • Tested in an incognito browser.
    • SiteGround reviewed the PHP error log.

    SiteGround found this fatal error:

    PHP Fatal error: Uncaught ValueError:
    DOMDocument::loadXML(): Argument #1 ($source) must not be empty

    /wp-content/plugins/templates-patterns-collection/includes/Importers/WP/WXR_Parser_SimpleXML.php:25

    They disabled the “Starter Sites & Templates by Neve” plugin and cleared all caches, but the issue persists even with that plugin disabled.

    Site Health information:

    • PHP XML extensions are installed.
    • File permissions are writable.
    • PHP 8.2.32
    • Memory limit: 768 MB
    • Uploads work normally.

    Could this be a known issue with Neve 4.2.7 on WordPress 7.0, or could the theme_mods_neve option be corrupted?

    If there are any debugging steps or a safe way to repair only the Neve Customizer settings, I’d be happy to test them.

    Thank you!

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
  • rodicaelena

    (@rodicaelena)

    16 hours, 9 minutes ago

    Hi there,

    Thanks for such a thorough report. You’ve already ruled out most of the usual suspects (plugins, caches, custom code, incognito), which is a big help.

    The key clue is that only certain settings revert (Global Colors, Custom Colors, Logo, Buttons) while simpler ones like Background Image save fine, plus the intermittent expected_array error. Those specific settings are stored as JSON-encoded arrays inside the theme_mods_neve option in your database. Neve reads them back and expects an array; if one stored value has become malformed (invalid JSON, an empty string, or broken serialization on the option as a whole), the server rejects the save even though the Customizer optimistically shows “Published”. So this points to a corrupted theme_mods_neve value rather than a bug in 4.2.7 or WordPress 7.0.

    How to safely test/repair this:

    1. Back up your database completely before proceeding.
    2. Install a free, lightweight plugin like Option Optimizer or use phpMyAdmin via your SiteGround cPanel.
    3. Search the wp_options table for the option_name: theme_mods_neve.
    4. To test if corruption is the cause: You can temporarily rename this option to theme_mods_neve_BAK.
    5. Go back to your Customizer. It will reset to theme defaults. Try changing a global color and hitting Publish. If it saves successfully, the original theme_mods_neve row was indeed corrupted or contained an invalid data structure.
    6. If you don’t want to lose all the current changes, you can search and remove just the corrupt mod so Neve regenerates its default, e.g. wp theme mod remove neve_global_colors, then re-set that option in the Customizer.

    Hope this helps.

    Kind regards!

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

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