Going Live & Support

Troubleshooting

April 23, 2026 docsadmin 3 min read

Troubleshooting

Every common issue we’ve seen, with the exact fix. Use Cmd/Ctrl+F to find your symptom.

Site is broken (white screen / 500 error)

Symptom: site shows blank page, or “There has been a critical error on this website”

Diagnose:

  1. Enable WP debug logging in wp-config.php:

“php define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); “

  1. Reproduce the error.
  2. Check /wp-content/debug.log for the actual PHP error.

Common fixes:

  • PHP fatal in a plugin — disable plugins via SFTP: rename /wp-content/plugins/ → plugins-old/. Site comes back. Re-enable one at a time.
  • Theme function missing — the theme might be partially uploaded. Re-upload a fresh best-classifieds.zip via SFTP, replacing the folder entirely.
  • Memory limit hit — bump in wp-config.php: define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );

Listing pages render as plain blog posts (no sidebar, no listing UI)

Cause: the listing isn’t recognized as a listing.

Fix: the post must satisfy ONE of these:

  • Be assigned to the parent Listings category, OR
  • Be assigned to a registered listing sub-category (Vehicles, Property, etc.), OR
  • Have post meta _bc_price or _bc_location set

If the WOW Feeder created the listing, all three should be true. If you created it manually, double-check the Categories panel in the post editor.

Price shows as $0 or $ 0

Cause: the price helper is casting a pre-formatted string to float.

Fix: versions 2.0.0+ handle this correctly. If you’re on an older theme, update.

If you’re on the latest and still seeing $0:

  • Check the actual _bc_price meta value: wp post meta get {post_id} _bc_price
  • If it’s empty, the listing genuinely has no price set

Category archive title shows raw HTML

Symptom: “Category: <span>Property</span>” appears literally.

Cause: WordPress’s the_archive_title() returns HTML; we have to strip it before escaping.

Fix: versions 2.0.0+ have this fixed. Update the theme.

Search dropdown shows spinner + empty + results all at once

Cause: the [hidden] HTML attribute is being overridden by display: flex.

Fix: versions 2.0.0+ have a [hidden] { display: none !important } rule. Update the theme.

If it’s still happening after update: hard-refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R) to bust browser CSS cache.

“Show Contact Email” button doesn’t actually show the email

Cause: old behavior used mailto: directly without revealing the address.

Fix: versions 2.0.0+ use a two-click reveal. First click shows the email, second click opens the mail composer.

“Post Free Ad” button goes to #

Cause (with Pro): the customizer URL is # and the smart routing isn’t running.

Fix:

  1. Verify Pro is active and licensed.
  2. Verify /post-a-listing/ page exists. Run the WOW Feeder again if not.
  3. Or set the URL manually at Customize → Best Classifieds Options → Hero → “Post Free Ad” button URL.

Cause (free theme only): the customizer URL was never set.

Fix: set it to your submission page URL or remove the button by leaving it blank — the theme hides the button if the URL is empty.

Demo Importer fatal: “Unexpected token ‘<', 'There h'... is not valid JSON"

Cause: a PHP fatal occurred during the listings step. Usually memory exhaustion downloading 144 Pexels images.

Fix: in wp-config.php:

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M' );
@ini_set( 'memory_limit', '512M' );
@ini_set( 'max_execution_time', 600 );

WOW Feeder 1.2.1+ also has a fatal-handler that converts PHP fatals to readable JSON errors — update the plugin if you’re on an older version.

Pexels images don’t appear after import

Symptom: Media Library full of gradient placeholders even though the API key is saved.

Cause: first import ran without a key; subsequent runs skip existing listings.

Fix:

  1. Tools → BC WOW Feeder → click Test connection → confirm the key works.
  2. Click 🔄 Refresh images only.
  3. Wait ~2 minutes — only the photo step runs, replacing placeholders with real photos.

Pexels API returns 0 photos

Cause: rate limit (200/hour) hit, or the search query is too obscure.

Fix:

  • Check the Pexels error displayed inline on the WOW Feeder admin page
  • If “rate limit”: wait an hour, click Clear Pexels cache, retry
  • If “0 photos”: the query in listings.json for that listing is too specific. Open the JSON, change pexels_query to something broader.

License key shows “Invalid”

See Updates & License → Troubleshooting for full coverage.

Quick checklist:

  • Re-copy the key (no whitespace)
  • Site URL hasn’t changed since activation
  • curl https://fasterthemes.com works from your server’s CLI

Listings vanish after activating a new theme then reactivating Best Classifieds

Cause: the other theme used a custom post type, and now those listings don’t show on a post-type-based theme.

Fix: convert post types via WP-CLI:

wp post list --post_type=other_post_type --format=ids 
  | xargs -I {} wp post update {} --post_type=post

Image uploads fail in the frontend submission form

Cause: server upload limits.

Fix: check php.ini settings (your host’s control panel usually exposes these):

upload_max_filesize = 10M
post_max_size = 12M
max_file_uploads = 20

Restart PHP-FPM after changing.

Customizer doesn’t preview color palette change

Cause: the customizer’s transport: postMessage for instant preview isn’t wired for palette changes.

Fix: click Publish and reload to see the change. Live-preview support for palettes is coming in 2.1.

“Post Free Ad” goes to login but never returns to the submission form

Cause: WP login redirect URL has a stale value.

Fix: verify in the URL bar that ?redirect_to=... is set when you click the button. If not, the smart routing isn’t generating the redirect; check Pro is active.

Live search REST endpoint returns 404

Cause: rewrite rules need flushing.

Fix:

wp rewrite flush

Or via UI: Settings → Permalinks → Save (without changing anything).

OSM map doesn’t render on listing detail

Causes:

  • Listing has no _bc_lat or _bc_lng meta set → no map shows (by design)
  • Both meta exist but JS isn’t loading → Leaflet might be blocked by an aggressive ad-blocker or CSP. Check the browser console for errors.

Email notifications never arrive

Cause: WordPress’s default wp_mail() uses the server’s sendmail, which most cloud hosts block or sandbox.

Fix: install WP Mail SMTP plugin and configure with Postmark, SendGrid, or Amazon SES. See Going Live Checklist → Email deliverability for the full setup.

Stripe checkout opens but payment doesn’t go through

Diagnose:

  1. Stripe dashboard → Logs → look for the failed payment intent.
  2. Check the error code (declined, 3DS failed, etc.).

Common fixes:

  • Live keys in test mode (or vice versa) — they don’t mix; double-check at Classifieds Pro → Settings → Payments → Stripe.
  • Webhook signing secret missing — webhooks fail silently without it.
  • Currency mismatch — your Stripe account is configured for a currency that BC Pro isn’t sending.

Razorpay checkout doesn’t open

Cause: Razorpay’s JS SDK can’t load (CSP, ad-blocker, network).

Fix:

  • Test in a clean browser without extensions
  • Check Content Security Policy headers — https://checkout.razorpay.com must be in script-src
  • Ensure outbound HTTPS to *.razorpay.com isn’t blocked by your firewall

Site is slow / PageSpeed scores low

The base theme scores ~95 on mobile. If you’re seeing lower:

  1. Check what plugins you’ve added — bloat is usually the culprit (heavy social-share plugins, push notification, on-page chat widgets)
  2. Install a page cache (WP Rocket or Cache Enabler)
  3. Confirm images are being lazy-loaded
  4. Use a CDN (Cloudflare free tier)

Search returns nothing even though listings exist

Cause: WordPress’s default search excludes private and pending posts and limits to specific post types.

Fix: confirm your listings are publish status. If using a custom post type, register it with 'public' => true and 'exclude_from_search' => false.

Custom font isn’t loading

The theme uses self-hosted Geist/Geist Mono and Playfair Display via the bundled assets/fonts/ files. If a font isn’t loading:

  1. Check the browser console for 404s on /wp-content/themes/best-classifieds/assets/fonts/...
  2. Verify the font files actually uploaded (sometimes SFTP misses binary files)
  3. Hard-refresh

Mobile menu doesn’t open

Cause: navigation.js not loading.

Fix: check Plugins for a JS-minifier plugin that might be munging the script. Disable it temporarily and verify the menu works without minification.

Got an issue not covered here?

  1. Check the browser console for JS errors
  2. Check /wp-content/debug.log for PHP errors
  3. Disable all plugins except Best Classifieds Pro to isolate
  4. Switch to Twenty Twenty-Four briefly to confirm it’s the theme vs. a global issue
  5. If it’s reproducible in a clean install, email support@fasterthemes.com with:

– Steps to reproduce – Screenshot or screen recording – WordPress version, PHP version, list of active plugins – The relevant entries from debug.log

We aim to respond within 8 hours on business days.

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