Diagnosing and fixing problems in the Customizr WordPress theme

This is a short guide to diagnosing problems when using Customizr themes free or pro.

When starting to use Customizr, most people turn to the Support Forums when they get stuck. Here you’ll find a Community of experienced Users who will help you resolve most problems. However, you may have to wait 24 hours or more for a response, particularly if you live outside Europe.

But there are several things you can try before using the Support Forum which might lead you to a quicker solution.

Customizr has broken my site !

This appears many times in the Support Forum. In most of the cases, it is more likely that you have broken your site by doing something that has broken Customizr! So although it is possible that a new theme update may have upset things, it’s not the most common root cause.

So if you are having a problem, try these initial steps to see if they resolve it. Otherwise, get on to the Support Forum so we can assess the problem with you.

Update to the latest version first !

Are you using the latest version of Customizr? You can find the latest version here. It is highly recommended that you keep your WordPress install and the Customizr theme updated to the latest versions. This will maximise your security and ensure you have access to the latest features.

Check WordPress common errors causes

Must read : Common WordPress Errors

Must read : I Make Changes and Nothing Happens

Read The Fantastic Manual (RTFM)

Please start by reading the Documentation. It isn’t long. It isn’t technical. It shows you how to use the Customizr Theme, including many examples of how to adapt it to meet various needs. And it answers most of the questions you will have before you venture onto the Support Forum and prove you haven’t read it!

Common Resolutions

Before anyone can help, we need a good analysis of your problem. Posting ‘my site has stopped working’ does not help at all. We need to understand the symptoms of the problem: What isn’t working? What is the behaviour that is causing a problem? Can the problem be reproduced repeatedly? Have you made any recent changes? What version of a) WordPress (eg 3.8) b) Customizr (eg 3.1.6) are you using? Do you have a link to your site?

blank page

In most of the cases, this occurs when you have add some wrong php code in the theme or the child theme.

Activate the debug mode in wp-config.php. (Read more here). And try to make the corrections.
If you can’t fix your problem, then re-upload a clean theme or child theme to your server.

Plugin conflict

I’d guess that the #1 cause of problems is due to conflicts with other Plugins. If you consider how many WordPress Themes and Plugins are in circulation, then the potential for conflicting code must be almost infinite. WordPress publish rules/guidelines to developers to minimise the risk of this happening, and the most experienced developers write their code professionally to minimise this risk. Most developers are only human, and it is possible that bugs may be introduced.

Use the Dashboard>Plugins>Deactivate (Select All Plugins) feature which will deactivate every plugin with a single click.

Now retest the site and check if the symptoms are still present.

If problem still present: Try next Common Resolution
If problem not present anymore: You have a conflicting Plugin

We now need to isolate the conflicting Plugin, so Activate each Plugin one-by-one. Retest after each one until the problem is reproduced – that’s the culprit. Deactivate it again and retest (so site should be working OK again). Activate the remaining Plugins just to check that there aren’t multiple problems.

Child Theme

Did you set up a Child Theme? Did you do it correctly? Check Customizr Child Theme Snippet.

So now check that the Child Theme is not the cause: Activate the core Customizr Theme inDashboard>Themes and retest

If problem still present: Try next Common Resolution
If problem not present anymore: You have a Child Theme problem

functions.php: did you make any changes? A common error is to have a blank line at the end of that file. This can often cause a White Screen Of Death (WSOD).

core php files: did you make any changes? did you place them in the correct directory path? For example, changes to core php files MUST NOT be made in the core Theme files directory.

styles.css: did you make any changes?

It is very easy to make mistakes here. For example, using our Code Snippets may mean making multiple changes to the same Property. CSS is executed inline, so code at line 10 will be superseded by code at line 100. Did you merge any changes correctly?

Correct any problems with your Child Theme, Activate it again in Dashboard>Appearance>Themes and test if your problem is resolved.

WordPress configuration issue

Check your configuration is setup correctly. Some problems (eg White Screen of Death – WSOD) are typically caused by problems with the .htaccess and wp-config.php files. If you have a localhost system, did you ftp the latest files back to the Server?

Hint : Resist deleting files until you are sure you have a solution. For example, keep .htaccess.notworking, .htaccess.saved, wp-config.old etc on your hard drive.

Hosting

How is your website being hosted? How are you uploading files to your hosted site?
Is your web host running an outdated version of PHP or MySQL?
Are there any access/permissions restrictions on folders that Customizr/WordPress need to access?
Have you exceeded your quota by uploading too many large images/multimedia files?
Do they have a Support Contact who may help you diagnose/fix hosting problems?

Still have a problem?

OK, it’s time to hit on of the support forum.

If you are a pro user, you might want to open a new support ticket in our support system.
If you are a user of the free version, use the WP.org Customizr Support Forum. Before creating a new thread in the support forum, search for issues already solved. There are literally thousands of support questions/answers which you can reference, chances are that other users might have had the same problem.

Tips when opening a new thread in the WordPress.org forum

First of all, make sure you've read the Forum Welcome page to have an overview of the rules. There's even more information available on this article : Using the Support Forums.
To add any code, remember to add backticks at start/finish. This is easily done using the ‘code’ button at the start and it changes to a ‘/code’ button for the finish.
Similarly, the ‘link’ button can be used to provide links to your site – this is important if you want to save time as most SuperUsers will use Firebug or Code Inspector to see where your problem may lie.
Tick the ‘Notify Me’ checkbox if you want to receive an email when someone replies to your Topic.
DON’T add your problem to the back of someone else’s Topic. It makes it much harder to answer multiple questions which may seem to be related but often are similar symptoms of different problems.
DO change the status to [resolved] when you have received a solution. The originator can see a dropdown in the Right Sidebar. With lots of Posts to monitor, it helps to sift ones that have been answered. Another reason not to add to someone else’s Topic marked [resolved].

Contribute :)

If you appreciate the theme and want to give back in return, your contribution is welcome, of course! Help is always needed in the support forum. So if you think you can share your skills, that’s just great! It is also a very good way to learn as we face new problems and code challenges every day.