How We Resolved a Critical WordPress Website Breakdown – Lessons & Fixes

It started subtly — first, the admin panel became unreliable. Soon, we couldn’t upload images, update pages, or even see media files. Eventually, the dreaded white screen appeared with the message:

“There has been a critical error on this website.”

We were locked out of essential site functionality.

🔍 Diagnosis: Digging Under the Hood

After regaining dashboard access through phpMyAdmin, we started troubleshooting:

  • Verified REST API and database health
  • Deactivated plugins
  • Switched themes
  • Checked browser console logs
  • Ran Health Check tools

We discovered that the Action Scheduler system, used by plugins like WPForms, Forminator, and WooCommerce, was failing. The root cause? A corrupted database table:
wp_actionscheduler_actions — missing a critical column: priority.

🛠️ The Fix

We:

  • Created a missing priority column manually
  • Repaired the usermeta structure for our admin user
  • Cleared server and browser cache
  • Deactivated and reactivated each plugin
  • Re-tested media, posts, and page updates

Still, the site’s frontend kept crashing. That’s when we took the final step:

🔁 Full Migration to Fresh WordPress Install

We:

  1. Installed a clean WordPress environment
  2. Verified all functionalities worked (media, posts, pages)
  3. Restored the content and uploads from backup
  4. Rebuilt database structure where needed
  5. Reinstalled plugins one-by-one and reconfigured

And it worked! The site is now live, fast, and fully functional.

🧠 Lessons Learned

  • Always test backups before relying on them
  • Never interrupt plugin updates
  • The wp_actionscheduler_actions table is essential for modern WordPress sites — know it
  • Even when the frontend is broken, the backend can be revived

✅ Summary

Troubleshooting WordPress requires a mix of server access, database knowledge, and structured debugging. If your site breaks, don’t panic — approach the problem layer by layer. And if you need help, we’re always one message away.

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