What Error 500 on Wp-Admin Means

There are many site error pages you’ll encounter as go along building your own website. One of which is the error 500, this error is both interesting and frustrating when trying to fix it. It won’t just go away easily and fixing this error on your site needs you to understand what it is, causes of the error and how to actually possibly fixing it.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Error 500 is an internet error code that your server is telling you something is wrong on your website’s server. The problem here is that the server can’t also state it as detail as possible for us to understand what is going on behind the machine. But we can pin point what are the possible causes why this error is happening. It could be a:

• Corrupted .htaccess file
• Exhausted php memory limit
• Fault plugins
• Corrupted core files
• Incorrect file permissions

Are only few of the possible errors that leads to error 500, as mentioned the server can’t state what exactly went wrong on the server side. So, we’ll try to provide the common solutions for this.

1. Fix Corrupted .htaccess File

When encountering this type of error, the most common culprit is the .htaccess file in your root directory. Accessing your site directory will require you to use ftp client or any other software that functions the same. Or if you’re using the ftp application, you can learn how to navigate it using our guide how to access your files using ftp.

Note: If you are not seeing the .htaccess file, you can check on this guide to show hidden files in your root directory.

From there, you can rename your old .htaccess file to .htaccess_old, and create a new one. Save it and upload it to your root directory.

Try refreshing your site, if it works then you figured what’s causing your site’s error 500. You’re having an .htaccess file corruption. Sometimes this solution works, but not for everyone. If you still see the error 500 after doing the steps above, next is to try increasing your php memory limit.

2. Increase PHP Memory Limit

PHP memory limit is usually assigned to your site by your host server and is usually assigned lowered for shared hosting plans. Your WordPress will try to increase your php memory limit but only as far as how much storage your host server has set.

But you can however, increase it manually to try and fix the error 500 you are experiencing. You can do this manual change on your php memory storage by accessing your root directory and locate your wp-config.php file, download and save it to your computer. Open the file in your preferred text editor. Insert the code under the opening php tag: define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '64M');

Save the file, re-upload it to your root directory, overwriting the original file. Refresh the client, refresh your site. If the error is still there, you are not having php memory limit issues. Remove the code, save it and re-upload it to root directory.

If none of the steps above fixed the error 500, you may also consider checking on other possible areas that’s causing the error. Read our full guide on how to fix interal errors for your website.

Impact on SEO Rankings

Delaying to resolve error 500 can impact on your SEO. If the error is not dealt for an extended period of time like 6 hours and more, Google will see it as a site level issue and needs to be fixed thus affecting your SEO rankings.

For further assistance regarding error 500, please don’t hesitate to contact our technical support team.