Have you ever received an error message when trying to access a website? Have you ever seen error messages with numerical indications, such as HTTP Error 500, HTTP Error 404, HTTP Error 504, HTTP Error 503, and so on?
If the answer is yes, you don’t need to worry. If you are the one accessing the website, you can refresh it. However, if you are a website owner, you need to know what causes and how to fix the error message so that the experience of visiting the site is better.
Each error has a different number code and usually consists of three digits. As additional information, the error message that displays the numbers 500–599 is caused by a problem that occurs on the server.
In this article, we will discuss one type of error message due to server problems that may appear, namely HTTP Error 500. Here we provide information about the causes and how to overcome this type of error so that you can find the cause of the problem more quickly from the error message.
Table of Contents
What is HTTP Error 500?
HTTP Error 500 is an error message that is closely related to the server on the website. Error 500 usually appears in WordPress or on websites that use a web server in it.
The HTTP 500 Internal Server Error server error response code indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request.
This error message will be displayed in the browser directly. Each browser or server will display a different HTTP error 500 message description. Some of them are:
- HTTP Error 500
- Internal Server Error
- 500 Internal Server Error
- HTTP 500 Internal Error
- 500 Errors
- Temporary Error (500)
- HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error
- 500, That’s an Error
- A Blank White Screen
- The Website Cannot Display The Page – HTTP 500
The main problem with error 500 is server-related. Occasionally, server administrators log error responses such as status code 500 with more detail with requests to prevent the error from happening again in the future.
The message that appears along with one of the above descriptions when this error occurs usually reads,
Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the administrator at support@example and inform them of the time this error occurred, and the actions you performed just before your error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log
Cause of HTTP Error 500
As previously mentioned, HTTP Error 500: Internal Server Error is closely related to the server. This error can appear for several reasons.
Internal Server Errors can appear when a request is being processed by the webserver. Collective status codes include anything unplanned that can happen on a server and prevent a website from loading. Server error 500 most likely appears because an error has occurred in the webserver configuration.
Generally, this internal server error occurs because there is a problem with the function of the plugin or theme. However, an error in the .htaccess file, PHP settings that do not match, and file permissions that do not fit may be the causes of HTTP Error 500.
The following details some of the reasons that can be the cause of HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error.
- Permission error: Access permissions for main files and folders are not set correctly.
- PHP timeout: The script experienced a timeout when trying to access an external resource.
- Error code in .htaccess: there may be an error in the structure of the .htaccess file
- Errors in syntax or code in CGI/Perl scripts: In some cases, scripts are incorrect and in particular, paths can be misaligned.
- PHP memory limit: A process exceeds memory and therefore cannot be executed properly.
How to Overcome Error 500
To resolve the 500 Internal Server Error, there are several steps you can take. Here are some ways to solve HTTP error 500 so it doesn’t happen again.
1. Clear Browser Cache
The HTTP error 500 problems can occur because of the browser. Therefore, the first step you can take is to make sure that the problem does not occur in the browser. Clearing the cache in the browser is one way that you can do it before trying other methods.
For Google users, clearing the cache is quite easy. Hover over the 3 dots in the upper right corner or Customize and Control > Select Settings > Scroll down and select Advanced > In the Privacy and Security section, select Clear Browsing Data > Check Cached Images and Files > Finally, click Clear Data.
After clearing the cache on the browser, do access again to the website that you want to open. However, if you still can’t, try some of the ways to solve Internal Server Errors in WordPress below.
2. Check Plugins and Themes
Themes and plugins built into WordPress can also be the cause of the problem. Generally, errors can occur after updating or installing new plugins and themes. Don’t use beta themes or plugins because usually these versions are still under development and have a lot of problems.
You can disable all plugins via cPanel. How to log in to your cPanel hosting > Find the Files section and click File Manager > Select your root domain then find the public_html file > find the domain name/subdomain you installed > wp-content > Themes/Plugins > Rename by adding -disabled. Do it one by one in turn.
You don’t need to worry, deactivating all plugins will not delete existing data.
3. Customizing PHP Version
Currently, most new WordPress plugins also require the latest version of PHP. So, one of the reasons the error appears could be because the plugin is not compatible with the PHP version/
To change the PHP version, you can open cPanel > look for PHP Version in the Software > Select PHP Version section. If you have made adjustments, try refreshing your website.
4. Checking the .htaccess file
Htaccess is one of the files that must be checked because htaccess could be the main problem. Try checking the .htaccess file in the public_html directory.
To test whether the .htaccess file is the problem or not, you can first rename the .htaccess file to disable it, for example, .htaccess1 or any other name you like. Then, experiment by accessing the website.
5. Adding PHP Limits
Internal server errors can also occur because PHP uses too much memory. HTTP error 500 can occur because the hosting is too heavy to load themes, scripts, plugins, or content. Therefore, you should increase your memory limit.
How to add memory and php values to the .htaccess file is to add the following line of coding script :
php_value upload_ax_filesize 128M
php_value post_max_size 128M
php_value max_execution_time 300
php_value max_input_time 300
php_value memory_limit 256M
After adding the script line above, don’t forget to click save. Finally, try to see if you can get back to normal or not.
6. Re-uploading the Core File
If all the steps above do not solve the problem, try to update all core files to default. The way to re-upload all the core files is to replace the directory and fill “wp-admin” and “wp-includes” with the files used for the installation process.
Conclusion
Thus the discussion on how to overcome the 500 Internal Server Error in WordPress. The Error 500 Internal Server Error indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request.
Error 500 can occur for several reasons, including permission errors, .htaccess code errors, and PHP limits. To solve the problems, there are several things you can do.
You can clear the browser cache, check plugins and themes, adjust to the latest PHP version, check the .htaccess file, and increase the PHP limit. If the error still occurs, you can re-upload all core files to default.