Blank screen during installation

  • Resolved 1db

    (@1db)


    6 years, 7 months ago

    I’ve created dozens of WordPress sites, and am thoroughly used to installing them, but this is something I’ve never seen before. Upon uploading the config file, with all the correct information (I’ve checked it over and over again), I navigate to the site and instead of the first installation screen specifying language, I get nothing at all. It’s the WordPress white screen of death, but it’s happening before the site is set up, so I have no way of debugging it (that I know of) or figuring out what’s happening; and Google, in its googly way, gives tons of irrelevant results but nothing on this specific problem.

    Has anyone encountered this and knows what it is?

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

  • It could be (almost) anything. The way to debug it is to set the value for WP_DEBUG in your wp-cofig.php file to true, and that should show the errors. If that doesn’t show anything look at the error logs on your server. Something will be logged somewhere.

    If it’s a fresh installation with no custom plugins or themes, I’d take a look at your PHP settings. Specifically look at your installed PHP extensions as well as your memory limit and PHP version.

    You can create a new file called info.php with this line of code:

    <?php 
phpinfo(); 
?>

    There is a nice list here of all the dependencies you need.

    Most all of the popular web hosts compile PHP with these by default, but if you’re running a custom setup, it’s possible you have something missing.

    The white screen of death can also be a memory limit issue if it’s set very low. I like to recommend at least 128MB but you can tell this from the info.php file.

    Finally, make sure you’re using at least PHP 7.0. PHP 5.6 is still used a lot, but you’ll notice a world of difference with 7.0+.

    Hope this solves your issue!

    Thread Starter 1db

    (@1db)

    Well, I think I know what the problem was…not WHY it was a problem, though. I attempted to save down-time on the site by uploading everything — themes, plugins, etc. — before going through the installation. Something about that was stopping WordPress in its tracks. I deleted everything and started over with a fresh install, without uploading my custom theme or any plugins besides the default two, and the installation came off without a hitch.

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by 1db.

    Thanks for the update!

    Yes, that’ll cause an issue.

    You first have to install WordPress from scratch BEFORE uploading any custom themes or plugins. This is because the database isn’t yet built, so when you add these elements first, the database doesn’t know they exist.

    If you were perhaps migrating over an existing site, you’ll actually export your current database into the new one and then upload everything.

    None-the-less glad your issue is solved.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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