This guide deals with website issues on the Webhosting service (including WMS). If you are troubleshooting an FTP connection, follow the FTP – Troubleshooting guide. If your emails do not work, follow the instructions Emails – Troubleshooting. If you are using WEDOS Global and the site is not behaving properly, read Global – Troubleshooting.

In this article, you will learn:

• How to find out what’s wrong with your website
• How to troubleshoot:
  • The domain and DNS
  • Webhosting settings
  • Directory structure and files
  • CMS or web app
  • Infected website
• Frequently asked questions

Most of the common errors are well known, and the best way to get instructions for solving them is to enter an error message or a brief description of the error in combination with the name of the provider (or content management system) in a search engine (Google, etc.), for example WordPress cannot connect to database WEDOS.

If you can’t find a procedure to follow, try these steps:

1. Run the domain diagnostics according to the instructions Domains – Basic Diagnostics. Here you can find out if the services are active/disabled, or if they are operated by WEDOS at all.
2. Check the Status service at wedos.status.online. You can find the web server label in the diagnostics from the previous step.
3. Go through the chapter Website Troubleshooting chapter step-by-step.

More advanced tools suitable for diagnosing web problems include:

• Logging. Allows you to locate specific errors (Errorlog) and possibly their connection with the number of page accesses (Accesslog). Once a month you can activate Webhosting logs for 24 hours for free. Instructions can be found in the article Webhosting – Logging.
• Browser developer tools. It is particularly suitable for checking broken parts of pages (Network) and scripts (Console). Instructions can be found in your browser manual.

Website problems can arise in a variety of places:

• With the domain or DNS: This usually includes domain expiration, disconnected DNS servers, or problematic DNS records.
• With Webhosting settings: Some service parameters may conflict with the application you are running on the hosting.
• With the directory structure or filesystem: These problems are usually caused by tampering with files via FTP, less often when uploading content in other ways.
• With the CMS or web app: These problems are very diverse – any app, template, plugin or combination of them can cause the error. WEDOS only provides guidance (or support) for the most common of these issues.
• As a result of malware infection: If you have malware on your website, or if an attacker has deleted or altered your data, we can provide you with a backup if the problem is detected in time. We do not deal with the infection itself, seek the help of a specialist.

Domain, DNS and Webhosting are different services. Always make sure you know the current provider of these services before troubleshooting.

Domain and DNS errors occur almost exclusively as a result of changes to these services, either manual (altering DNS servers or records) or automatic (disabling the domain by the registry, automatic settings in the administration panel).

Some of the most common domain or DNS issues include:

• Inactive domain
• DNS errors

An inactive domain has either expired or has not been created yet. You can find the domain status in its details in the customer administration panel. If you don’t see a previously active domain in the administration panel, it is either in another customer account (or with another registrar), or the system deleted it after a certain period of expiration.

If you can, pay for the service. It should work again within 6-48 hours after the payment has been successfully processed by our system.

A common reason for deactivating generic domains (COM, NAME, …) is failure to verify the domain owner’s email, sent after its registration, within 15 days. Find this email and use the link to verify the domain owner. If you cannot find the email, ask support to resend it. Include the domain name in your request.

DNS errors occur especially when changing your hosting provider, or when changing the domain, Webhosting, or DNS server/record settings.

Certain actions, such as setting up a new hosting, renaming, adding an alias, or adding a domain to the WEDOS Global system, can automatically change type A and AAAA DNS records. Pay close attention to the automatic DNS settings options when performing these actions.

Common DNS errors that prevent a website from working properly are:

• Incorrect DNS servers. If you have recently changed the DNS servers (NSSET) of your domain, check that you have the correct type A or AAAA records with the new provider. Also expect a longer time for DNS server propagation, which usually takes 6-48 hours.
• Incorrect or missing A or AAAA records. For a website to work on a domain, it must have at least one type A or AAAA DNS record. If the web hosting provider does not support the type of record (IPv4 or IPv6 address), make sure that you delete the old records of this type so that visitors are not directed to the old address.

Webhosting setting errors most often appear when changing its parameters or updating an application that runs on the hosting.

Some of the most common problems with Webhosting settings include:

• Shut down or restricted web server
• Insufficient performance or PHP parameters
• Broken HTTPS

You can easily recognize a disabled web server – there is an error screen with the message Webhosting is disabled.

The web server is most often shut down after the Webhosting expires.

A Webhosting that has expired for more than 30 days (7 days for terminated Webhosting) is completely deleted from the system. You can restore it by ordering a new service and uploading your own backup. We have no backup data for deleted Webhosting services and therefore cannot restore it.

In extreme cases, when an attack on the website threatens the entire server or infrastructure and WEDOS Global Protection cannot be deployed, the Webhosting can be shut down by a technician. More often, however, we only restrain its performance. In either case, we notify the service’s invoicing email and phone (via SMS).

The most common performance error is Error 503 – Service Temporarily Unavailable, in which the allocated performance is exhausted and the server does not have time to process further application requests. The Webhosting performance depends primarily on the chosen plan. In justified cases, performance can be adjusted by support or a technician.

PHP parameter problems usually appear in error messages, or you come across them when troubleshooting applications and plugins with their support. Some PHP parameters depend on the Webhosting plan, and you can set others, including the PHP version, according to the instructions Webhosting – PHP Configuration.

You can check the availability of PHP functions that your application requires in the PHPinfo statement.

When the HTTPS settings aren’t working correctly, the browser usually displays an error message about an insecure connection or a Not Found on Accelerator message.

In either case, manually check the Webhosting HTTPS settings and remove any errors. Repeat the next HTTPS test at least half an hour after the administration panel shows the certificate as active.

If problems persist, contact customer support.

Directory structure and file errors usually occur as a result of unprofessional tampering with FTP or as a result of attacks.

The most common directory structure and file errors include:

• Status errors 403, 404 and 500
• Missing basic structure directories

The most common status errors you will encounter on Webhosting are:

• 403 – Forbidden, when directory access or display of the index.html or index.php file is blocked;
• 404 – Not Found, i.e. file not found, mostly because it is renamed or deleted;
• 500 – Internal Server Error, which is mostly caused by invalid commands in an .htaccess file, or by a conflict of Webhosting subdomains.

These errors can appear either on the entire website or just some parts. You can find the corresponding error codes in the browser’s developer tools, under the network tab (if you don’t see them, reload the page).

If you run one website on Webhosting, always place its files on FTP in the www folder. Files located in the root FTP directory will not work and the website may not display correctly.

If you host more than one website, make sure to follow the structure for separate alias domains or subdomains.

Less obvious directory structure errors include problems with file uploads and token storage. Both are caused by a missing folder (tmp or session) in the root directory. In this case, restore the basic directory structure of the web hosting according to the instructions Webhosting – File Management.

WEDOS is in no way responsible for errors in content management systems or apps running on Webhosting, including apps installed by our installer or migrated by our automatic migration tool.

If you request assistance from WEDOS support, set up temporary FTP access for at least 1-2 working days and expect that such an intervention may take several days or may be denied.

You can find solutions to the problems that the community comes across most often among the Help community guides. If you don’t see a solution to your problem here, you can try asking a question in the forum.

If you know which part of the system or application is causing the problem (for example, you see the name of the error template or plugin in the file path), contact their support directly.

An infected website can manifest itself in different ways. The most common include:

• Changing or deleting website content
• Unwanted redirect
• Sending spam

We deal with infected websites at most by limiting the performance of the website or shutting it down, in the case of spamming by blocking the mail() function. If you don’t have a safe backup of files and databases, you must solve the matter yourself or through an external specialist.

Question: What should I do if none of this solves my problem?
Answer: Activate temporary support FTP access for support and contact us via the form. Include the site name and a detailed description of the problem, including screenshots of error messages or the unwanted behavior. If the solution takes a long time, please be patient and keep the temporary FTP access active. If you decide to resolve the issue yourself during this time, please terminate FTP access and notify us.

Question: How long does it take for WEDOS support to resolve my issue?
Answer: We usually send instructions for solving known problems within 1 hour. In the case when CMS/WebSite department or technician intervention is needed, the solution may take several days – it always depends on the difficulty of the solution and the workload of the assigned department.