How to Fix the 503 Error in WordPress - DreamHost

A 503 Service Unavailable Error typically means your web server ran out of the resources it needs to display your website. This can be ... KnowledgetoPowerYourWebsite WordPress Tutorials InsideDreamHost CustomerStoriesDreamHostAnnouncementsTechTalk WebHosting CloudSharedHostingDreamPressDedicatedHosting Domains WebsiteBuilder Search HowtoFixthe503ErrorinWordPress Tutorials WordPress February24,2022ByJasonCosper Servererrorscanbeincrediblyfrustrating,primarilybecauseitisn’talwaysclearwhat’scausingtheproblemorhowyoucanfixit.The503ServiceUnavailableErrorgenerallymeansthatyourserverhasrunoutofresources.However,whythisisoccurringmayvary. Forthemostpart,a503ServiceUnavailableErrorhappensbecauseWordPressusestoomuchmemoryorbecauseyourhostingserviceisexperiencingunanticipatedissues.Assuch,theproblemcanberesolvedbyeitherreducingtheamountofmemoryyoursiteisusingorupgradingtheresourcesavailableonyourhostingaccount. Thisarticlewilllookatthe503ServiceUnavailableError,whyitoccurs,andwhatproblemsitcancause.Thenwe’llwalkthroughhowtotroubleshootandfixit.Let’sgetstarted! WhatCausesthe503ServiceUnavailableErrorinWordPress It’simportanttonotethatthisisn’taWordPress-specificerror.ItmayoccurbeforeWordPresshasevenhadtheopportunitytostartrunning. A503ServiceUnavailableErrortypicallymeansyourwebserverranoutoftheresourcesitneedstodisplayyourwebsite.Thiscanbefrustratingbecausetheerrormessageisextremelyvagueanddoesn’tconveythesourceoftheissue. Likeanapplicationonyourcomputer,awebsiterequiresacertainamountofresourcestorun.Forexample,itneedsmemory,processingpower,andharddrivespace.Thisistruenomatterwhattypeofhostingyouhave. Withthatinmind,herearesomecommoncausesofthiserror: YourWordPresssiteisconsuminganunusualamountofresourcesbecauseapluginorthememaybeoperatingincorrectly.Thisisbecauseeachpluginthatyourundemandsadditionalresources. You’reexperiencingunusuallyhighvolumesofdynamictrafficonyourwebsite.Ifmanypeoplearevisitingyoursiteatonce,yourresourcesarebeingconsumedmuchfasterthantheyordinarilywouldbe.Thegoodnewsisthatyoucanavoidslowloadingtimesandprepareyourselfforhighertrafficlevelsinadvance. Yourwebservercouldbeexperiencingdifficultiesofitsown.Ifyourwebhostingservicerecentlyupgradeditssoftware,forinstance,yoursitemightnotbeproperlyconfiguredoroptimized.Asaresult,yourwebhostmightneedtorestartoneormoreserverprocessesbeforeyouareabletoseeperformanceimprovements. Regardlessoftherootcause,the503ServiceUnavailableErrorisnotsomethingthatyoucanignore.Unlessit’sahost-levelproblem,theerrorwon’tresolveitself,anditwilllikelycreatesignificantissuesforyoursiteandvisitors. Whythe503ServiceUnavailableErrorCanCauseProblemsforYourSite Whenaserver-sideissuelikea503ServiceUnavailableErrorpopsup,itcanbehardtoknowwhatyou’redealingwith.Everycircumstanceisdifferent.Forexample,sometimes,thesitemightworkintermittently.Onotheroccasions,specificpagesmaygodown(themostresource-intensiveones),oryoursitemaystopworkingentirelyforalongerperiod. Hereareafewproblemsthata503errormaycauseforyourbusiness: Yourvisitorswillnotbeabletoviewyoursite. Searchengineswon’tbeabletoread(andthereforerank)yoursite. Yoursite’sutilities(suchassecurityscanning)won’trunproperlyorattheirscheduledtimes. Overall,a503ServiceUnavailableErrormakesitdifficultforbothyouandyourvisitorstouseyoursite.Fortunately,it’sanerrorthatcanbeeasytofix. HowtoFixthe503ServiceUnavailableErrorinWordPress(4Methods) Theharshrealityisthatallsiteswillgodownoccasionally,ifonlyformaintenance.Therefore,itissuggestedthatyoucheckwithyourhostingserviceforanyknowndowntimereportsormaintenancewindowsbeforeyoustarttroubleshootingany503ServiceUnavailableErrorsthatyoumaybeseeing. Related:YourWebsiteDowntimeSurvivalGuide Yourwebhost’sserversmaybedownduetoaplannedserviceoutageoranunplannedemergency.Inthatsituation,allyou’llneedtodoiswaituntilyourserverisbackupandproperlyconfigured.Then,iftheserverbeginsworkingagainandyoursiteisstilldown,youcanattempttomanuallyrebootyourservicetoseeifthatresolvestheissue. Shouldthatnotwork,youmayneedtostarttroubleshootingyourself.Herearesomeusefulstrategiesyoucantry. 1.TurnOffYourPlugins AllpluginsmodifythewaythataWordPresssiteworks.Someofthemonlyaffectafewelementsofasinglepage,whileotherpluginsdramaticallyalteryourentiresite’sfunctionality. Whenitcomestoplugins,youmightbefacingoneoftwoproblems.First,youmayhaverecentlyinstalledanewpluginthatutilizestoomanyofyourserver’sresources.Alternatively,youcouldhavetoomanypluginsrunningoverall,andthenewestpluginjustsohappenstobetheonethathastippedthescales. Thebottomlineisifyou’verecentlyinstalledanewplugin,youmayneedtodeactivateit.Todothis,youcangotoyourWordPressdashboard. GotoPlugins>InstalledPlugins.ThenclickonDeactivatenexttothepluginsthatyoususpectmayhavecausedtheissue.Afterthat,trycheckingyoursiteagaintoseeifthathasclearedthe503error. Ofcourse,there’sagoodchancethatyoumightnotbeabletologintoyourWordPressadminareabecauseofthe503error.Ifthat’sthecase,you’llneedtotryanalternativemethod. Whatyou’llneedtodoisaccessyoursiteviaSecureFileTransferProtocol(SFTP).First,downloadandopenanSFTPprogramsuchasFileZilla. Next,connecttoyourWordPresssiteusingyourhostingservice’slogininformation: Then,clickonthewp-contentdirectory,andfindthepluginsfolder. Ratherthanoutrightdeletingtheplugins,itissuggestedthatyoutryrenamingthedirectoryitself.Finally,refreshyoursitetoseeifdoingallofthishasmadeadifference. Ifremovingorrenamingyourpluginsdoesn’tchangeanything,theyprobablyaren’twhatiscausingthisissue.YouwillneedtoactivateyourpluginsthroughtheWordPressadminpageorbyrenamingthedirectorybackto‘plugins’inyourSFTPclient. Itisimportanttonotethatregardlessoftheoutcomeofthesetests,youshouldalwaystakecarewhenmanagingyourplugins.Ideally,youshouldonlyhaveasmanyasyoustrictlyneed. Unfortunately,alargenumberofthird-partythemeswillcomewithanumberofpluginstosupportboththeirdesignandfunctionality.Youshouldbemindfulofthiswhenchoosinganewlookforyoursite. Commonculpritsofthe503ServiceUnavailableErrorarehigh-resourcepluginsforsecurityandmalwareprotection.Thesetendtouseatonofresourcesbecausetheyareconstantlyscanningthefilesonyourserver.However,thatdoesn’tmeantheyaren’timportant.Onthecontrary,theyareoftenquiteessential. 2.ChangeYourTheme Ifyou’restillexperiencingissueswithyoursite,yourthememaybeatfault,asitradicallychangesthewayyoursitefunctions.Themesareoftenpowerfulenoughtoturnaplainbloggingsiteintoafull-blownnewsmagazine. Sinceathemecanmakesuchdramaticchangestohowawebsitefunctions,itcanalsogreatlyincreasethesite’sresourceconsumption.Todeterminewhetheryourthemeiswhat’scausingtheerror,youcanrevertbacktoadefaultcoreWordPresstheme,suchasTwentyTwenty-Two. WordPressreleasesanewdefaultthemealmosteveryyear.Thesethemestendtobeastripped-downdesignthatshowcasescurrentWordPressfeatures.Theyalsoendupbeinglessresource-intensivethanmostotherthemes. Tochangeyourthemetooneoftheseoptions,navigatetotheWordPressdashboard.ThengointoAppearance>Themestoselectandactivateyourpreferredtheme. Ifyounolongergetthe503erroraftercompletingthistest,thenyou’vediscoveredtheproblem.Third-partythemescanconsumetoomanyresourcesbecauseofcustomcodeorrecentupdatesthatweren’tproperlyconfigured.Youcanresolvethisissuebypermanentlyswitchingyourtheme. Aswithplugins,youcanalsoremoveaWordPressthemethroughSFTPifyoucan’taccessyourdashboard.Youwillsimplyneedtonavigatetothe/[domain]/wp-content/themesdirectoryanddeletethethemeyouwanttoremove.Youcanalsorenamethethemeifyouwishtosaveitforlater. 3.ReinstallWordPress Ifturningoffyourpluginsandresettingyourthemedoesn’twork,youmayneedtoreinstallWordPress.Typically,youwillonlyneedtoresorttothisoptionifafileinWordPresscorehasbecomemodified(whichitshouldneverbe)orcorrupted. Ifthisisthecase,youdon’thavetoworryaboutlosingyourdata.WordPressstoresyouruploadedfilesontheserver,andtherestofyourinformationissafelyhousedinyoursite’sdatabase.Therefore,youcanreinstallWordPresscorefilesspecificallytotryandresolveyourissue. Still,youmaywanttobackupyourfileswithyourhostbeforemakinganymajorchanges.Everyhostingservicehasitsownbackuptools.You’llwanttocreateacurrentbackuporsnapshotofyourhostingaccountthatyoucanrestorelatertoensurethatyoudon’tloseanyofyourcontentorimages. TheeasiestwaytoreinstallWordPressisthroughthedashboard.GotoWordPress>Dashboard>Updates.ThenclickonRe-installVersion5.9(orwhateverversionhappentoberunning): WordPresswillreinstallitselfonitsown.Onceit’sdone,refreshyoursiteandseeifthat’smadeadifference. Ifyoucan’taccessyourWordPressdashboard,youcanalsomanuallyreinstallWordPressviaSFTP.First,you’llneedtodownloadWordPressdirectlyfromWordPress.org. Then,unpackthe.zipfileforWordPress.org.  Next,openFileZillaoranotherSFTPsolutionandmakesureit’sconnectedtoyourWordPresssite.UploadyourfreshlydownloadedWordPressfilestoyourWordPressdirectory. YournewWordPressfilesshouldcompletelyreplaceeverythingintheoldWordPressdirectory.Ingeneral,it’sagoodideatocheckyoursite’sperformanceaftereverymajorchange. 4.UpgradeYourHostingService Finally,ifnoneofthepreviousstepsworked,itmaybetimetoacceptthatyoursitehasoutgrownyourhostingplan’scapabilities.ItmightbetimetolookintomanagedWordPresshosting. Thismayalsobetrueifyoufindthatanon-negotiablethemeorpluginiscausingtheissue.Withbetterhostingandmoreresources,youcanstillusethepluginsandthemesyouinitiallywanted.Hopefully,you’llalsoencounterfewer503errorsmovingforward. WordPresshostingcanprovideyouwithsomeofthefollowingservices: Built-incaching.Thismeanstheserverstoresasnapshotofyourwebsite,soitdoesn’thavetoconstantlyservedynamiccontenttoyourvisitors.Thebetterthecachingis,thefewerresourcesyoursiteshouldconsume. High-performanceresources.Themorepowerfultheserveris,themoreresourcesyoursitewillhave.Astrongserverwillhavefastprocessing,plentyofmemory,andenoughharddrivespaceforyoursiteanditsfiles. WordPress-specificsupport.AhostingservicemadeforWordPresswillbetailoredtoandoptimizedforitsuniqueneeds. Managedservices.Amanagedhostingservicewillmonitormanymaintenanceelementsofyourwebsiteforyou,frombackupstositespeedtests.Youmayevengetsupporttohelpyouworkthrough503ServiceUnavailableErrors. WordPressmigration.You’llusuallyneedtotransferyourfilesandimportyourdatabasetothenewprovidertoswitchhosts.Therefore,awebhostingservicethatprovideshands-onsupportforWordPressmigrationisideal. Ifyou’retiredofreceivingregularerrors,upgradingyourwebhostingmaybetheanswertoyourproblems.Additionally,you’llbeabletobenefitfromawholesuiteofconvenientfeatures. GetContentDeliveredStraighttoYourInboxSubscribetoourblogandreceivegreatcontentjustlikethisdeliveredstraighttoyourinbox. HowtoFixOtherCommonWordPressErrors WanttolearnhowtofixothertechnicalissuesonyourWordPresswebsite?We’veputtogetherseveralguidestohelpyoutroubleshootsomeofthemostcommonWordPresserrors: HowtoFixtheMissedSchedulePostErrorinWordPress(2Methods) HowtoTroubleshoottheWordPressWhiteScreenofDeath HowtoFixthe500InternalServerErrorinWordPress HowtoFixSyntaxErrorsinWordPress HowtoFixtheWordPressNotSendingEmailIssue HowtoFixtheErrorEstablishingaDatabaseConnection HowtoFixWordPressError404NotFound HowtoFixWhiteTextandMissingButtonsinWordPressVisualEditor HowtoFixtheSidebarBelowContentErrorinWordPress WhattoDoWhenYou’reLockedOutoftheWordPressAdminArea HowtoFix“Upload:FailedtoWriteFiletoDisk”WordPressError CheckoutourWordPressTutorialssectionifyou’relookingfortipsandbestpracticesforrunningaWordPresssite.Acollectionofexpert-writtenguides,it’sdesignedtohelpyounavigatetheWordPressdashboardlikeapro. ErrorResolved The503ServiceUnavailableErrorcanbefrustratingtodealwith,buttroubleshootingitisprettystraightforward.Thiserroroccurswhenyoursiteconsumestoomanyresourcesfortheservertohandle. Ifyouencounterthisproblem,youcantrythefollowingstrategiestofixit: Turnoffyourplugins. Changeyourtheme. ReinstallWordPress. Upgradeyourhostingaccount. SometimesyourWordPresssitejustneedsmorepower.OurDreamPressManagedWordPressHostingaccountshaveeverythingyouneedtolaunchahigh-trafficwebsite.ContactustodaytolearnmoreaboutourWordPressmigrationservicesandhostingplans. GetMorewithDreamPressDreamPressPlusandProusersgetaccesstoJetpackProfessional(and200+premiumthemes)atnoaddedcost!CheckOutPlans AbouttheAuthor:JasonCosper JasonisDreamHost’sWordPressProductAdvocate,basedoutofBakersfield,CA.HeiscurrentlyworkingonmakingourDreamPressproductevenbetter.Inhisfreetime,helikestocurluponthecouchandwatchscarymovieswithhiswifeSarahandthreeverysmalldogs.FollowhimonTwitter. 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