PHP Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds

Hi kateh,

If you’re site is taking longer than 30 seconds, it could be:

1. A plugin stuck in some sort of bad login / loop. Try disabling all plugins, and if it resolves the issue, enable them one by one to determine which one is causing the problem.

2. Your host could be experiencing a problem on their end. For example, you most likely share a server with other users. If another user has a MySQL query taking 30+ seconds to run, then your WordPress script can time out waiting for its turn to run queries.

3. It could also be something theme specific. Try enabling the default WordPress theme to see if this helps.

Good luck, keep us updated!

thank you so much for the suggestions – will get on to the plugins now, and will call my web host tomorrow to talk to them about the sql query possibility. thanks thanks – and i’ll report back ?? cheers k

hi again – ok – disabled all the plugins but it is still happening, took off some widgets that i’d recently added as well (scoop.it profile etc)… still not sorting the issue.
web host says they arent having any problems – nothing reported from anyone else.
last step is to try the default theme and will see what difference that makes
cheers

Could it be a jetpack issue? I tried disabling all the plugins and then could not get jetpack to start back up again: so I deleted wordpress.com stats which was sitting in the Inactive folder just in case that was the problem, but I am still getting:

Jetpack could not contact WordPress.com: register_http_request_failed. This usually means something is incorrectly configured on your web host. There are no HTTP transports available which can complete the requested request.

My webhost says no they think it is a wordpress problem, and going by the threads online it does seem that it could be. For the moment i have deactivated JetPack and so have no stats package (which was all i needed it for anyway).

and – crossing fingers – have not had a timeout error when trying to access my blog today! (though i think this may just be a coincidence ??

cheers
k

it was a coincidence …. all started up again

Have you tried:

– switching to the Twenty Eleven theme to rule out any theme-specific problems.

– resetting the plugins folder by FTP or PhpMyAdmin. Sometimes, an apparently inactive plugin can still cause problems.

CHEERS – will try that in the morning (am too scared to change themes at the moment cos everything is timing out and i’m concerned i might loose stuff…. but in the mornings everything seems to run more smoothly ?? — i’m thinking cos less internet traffic until america wakes (i’m in scotland :-). so yep will try that tomorrow.
and will have a look at the resetting the plugins folder now.
thanks thanks

did the resetting plugins thing but not making any difference so far.
will try the theme suggestions in the morning
thanks

Do you have access to hosting settings?
Can you view server load?
It seems like some sort of error on server. Can you contact hosting support?
If error comes up suddenly – it is not wordpress issue.

To aviod data loss.
Backup database. Use hosting web panel for it (if any) or upload phpMyAdmin to server to make backup manually. Or use some of free googlable scripts.

When running site measure time it takes site to load. Reload the same page several times.

Find some file on server, for example image from theme, and try to load it from different browsers severals times. Turn browser cache off.
If image downloading time differs a lot – it is server issue.

Or just post your site URL here ))

Hi Oleg – thanks for the suggestions
I’ve been in touch with my web hosts and they dont think it is server load cos i’m on a shared server and there are no problems with anyone’s else’s site that are on that server, however they are going away to have a cloaser look.
I’ve now taken off all plugins and activated the wordpress default theme (so everything now looks AWFUL :-)) https://enf.org.uk/blog/ (the theme i had been using was mystique)

two points that might be of use:
the main bit of the site https://www.enf.org.uk doesnt seem to be affected, it is always the blog.
the php error message only starts to happen early afternoon (and then all afternoon and at least early evening)…. for some reason i dont have any problems in the morning.

So – i’m presuming i cant tell whether it is a theme issue until later this afternoon… so have to leave the default theme on for a while.

Question: i’m hosted on a windows server (cos the main site has a backend from where i send newsletters and the database it runs on only works in a Windows environment) …. would it help if i moved the blog on to a Linux server?

whoa

thanks everyone
kate

Generally, linux hostings are better. But it shouldn’t make so much difference.

Also, I think it’s better to switch back to your normal theme and wait untill (if) errors appear. And then switch to default theme to see if it fixes problem.

ah ok – good plan
will activate the old theme and then do as you suggest…cheers

aargh they updated my old theme Mystique and now i cant get the old one back … well i can get it but everything is blank…. now beginning to think maybe the old mystique was just too resource heavy??
now installed Ari — which isnt quite perfect for me but a hell of a lot better than the default or mystique-lite.
going to keep an eye on it this afternoon and keep my fingers crossed that this whole nightmare has been a theme issue and that now that i have changed theme i might be OK
cheers
k

Do you still have all plugins disabled?

no – i’ve activated a few now…. Akismet, Google XML sitemaps, share this, social media widget, wp cache and wp text sizer… should i turn them off again?