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WordPress Elementor Plugin: Fixing Common Errors

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July 12, 2022
By Kiki Sheldon
WordPress Elementor Plugin: Fixing Common Errors


As a Drag-and-Drop Visual Editor, the popular WordPress Elementor plugin allows you to customize content elements to create unique website layouts easily.

Fixing Common Errors: WordPress Elementor Plugin

Elementor remains one of the most popular and widely used page builders available to WordPress users. As a Drag-and-Drop Visual Editor, the WordPress Elementor plugin allows you to customize content elements to create unique website layouts. Unfortunately, you may run into some issues using any WordPress plugin, and Elementor is not an exception. In this article, we will review five most common Elementor errors and learn how to fix them.

Is the WordPress Elementor Plugin Good for WordPress Beginners?


Yes, indeed! Because of its easy-to-use Drag-and-Drop Visual Editor, Elementor is the best solution for anyone who wants to quickly design websites without the hassle of editing any code. 

As the most popular page builder for WordPress, Elementor lives up to its reputation for being the ultimate WordPress page builder. Many of its templates and widgets are available for free, and the user interface is fast and efficient.

Why is the WordPress Elementor Plugin Running So Slow?


If Elementor is running slowly, there is most likely heavy CPU consumption caused by plugins or a lack of server resources. In most cases, the solution is to increase your memory limit or look into more powerful cloud hosting option.

Overview of the WordPress Elementor Plugin

Elementor has become the page builder plugin of choice for many WordPress site owners in recent years. The plugin currently has over five million activations, making it one of the most installed page builders. The WordPress Elementor plugin provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface and features many modules for web design elements of all kinds. It has also earned its place among the Nexcess WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting Plans/Plugins.

Elementor is supported by a passionate community of software developers who contribute to the plugin’s success by creating various add-ons. Elementor add-ons are extensions for the Elementor platform that enhance the default functionality and provide more customization options for building dynamic web pages.

Elementor System Requirements

The first step to avoiding issues with the WordPress Elementor plugin is ensuring all system requirements are met for using the page builder on your website. Here are the current systems requirements announced by Elementor:

  • WordPress Version: 5.2 or greater.
  • PHP Version: 7 or greater.
  • MySQL/MariDB Version: MySQL 5.6 or greater, MariaDB 10.0 or greater.
  • PHP Memory Limit: 128 MB or greater.

The 3 Common Reasons Behind WordPress Page Builders Errors & How to Address Them

Before we can dive into the process of understanding and fixing the top five common WordPress Elementor plugin errors, we need to understand what lies at the heart of plugin issues. It may sound surprising, but the vast majority of plugin errors are caused by the same problems, especially regarding page builders. Below we have gathered the top three common reasons behind the errors generated from WordPress page builders and how to address them so that the corresponding Elementor error or errors are fixed.

Error Reason #1: Plugin Conflicts

A WordPress plugin is a piece of software that gets built into your website to extend and enhance its functionality in different ways. Website owners tend to install many various plugins to manage every aspect of their website. The question of how many plugins should be activated on a WordPress site at once has been one of the most frequently discussed topics in the WordPress community. The more third-party plugins installed at once, the higher the chance of code conflict that results in various errors and plugin malfunctions. 

When it comes to page builder plugins in general, and Elementor in particular, plugins or themes incompatibility is one of the most common reasons why errors occur. Plugin conflicts can include Elementor conflicting with other WordPress plugins or having various incompatible Elementor add-ons installed simultaneously.

How to Address a Plugin Conflict

Addressing a plugin conflict means understanding what plugin or plugins cause another plugin’s malfunction. You can manually deactivate all plugins and activate them one by one to locate the source of the conflict. Some Elementor add-ons can be incompatible, so you may need to disable all of them the same way.

Error Reason #2: Server-Side Issues & Server Limits

Server-side issues form a considerable segment of the root causes that can affect your website's functionality and performance. WordPress allows you to build dynamic database-driven websites that rely on PHP as the programming language in use. Therefore, any issues that occur during the PHP code execution process are going to cause errors on the website.

The most common server-related issues that can cause errors on the WordPress backend are processes trying to use more memory than can be allocated to them or waiting for a script to be executed for more time than it is allowed — which are frequently referred to as reaching the PHP memory limit or hitting a timeout. The limits are in place to prevent processes from overusing server resources. Still, sometimes the default settings might be causing issues while working with page builders and other high resource usage plugins. 

How to Address a Server-Side Issue

First, it is best to check server logs to determine what caused the error. Then, you can adjust server limits based on the error messages you see in PHP and web server error logs.  

Error Reason #3: Security Tools

Security tools installed on the server are meant to protect your websites from various attacks and minimize the chances of hackers breaking in by exploiting known vulnerabilities. These security tools can include web application firewalls and WordPress security plugins.

For example, Nexcess uses ModSecurity as the web application firewall. ModSecurity presents a set of attack detection rules that a request sent to the website is checked against to protect the website from SQL injections, cross-site scripting attacks, and more. Once a detection rule is triggered, the request is blocked, and an error message is returned.

How to Address a Security Tool Item

Check the logs to see if a ModSecurity rule got triggered. For example, you may need to whitelist your IP address or adjust a particular detection rule to allow a specific URL. If you suspect a security plugin is at fault, temporarily disable the plugin during the troubleshooting process and contact the plugin support if needed.

Top 5 WordPress Elementor Plugin Errors

The WordPress Elementor plugin users can run into issues at all stages of using the popular page builder — from loading the plugin interface to saving a page. Here are the five most common Elementor errors and what causes them. As we reviewed the three most common reasons behind all page builder plugin errors, you will notice that the issues outlined below can be fixed using the approaches we discussed.

Please note that the best approach to troubleshooting any issue is to determine what caused it by thinking of any changes made to the website before the error appeared and checking server logs to get more information. 

Top WordPress Elementor Error #1: Elementor or Its Components Fail to Load


Issue Description


Elementor is stuck on the loading screen presenting, the user with a gray page. You may also be getting a blank page trying to load the plugin or notice that the widgets panel is not loading. 


Possible Causes


There are plugin conflicts, server limits reached, the Elementor system requirements have not been met, or a trigger event with one of the active security tools occurred.


Commentary


If the editor loads with a blank white page, that might indicate that the system requirements have not been met, the PHP process is reaching its memory limit, or another fatal error occurred in PHP. The gray page that is endlessly loading when trying to open Elementor is most likely caused by a plugin conflict, an Elementor add-ons conflict or occurring PHP fatal errors. When the widget panel fails to load, it can be caused by all reasons listed above, and it is hard to say which one is more likely to be at fault.


Top WordPress Elementor Error #2: Unable to Publish or Update the Page


Issue Description


Collectively, this is a big group of publishing issues that includes all types of errors you may receive when trying to use the Publish/Update button in Elementor. The most common errors are the 500 Internal Server Error and 403 Forbidden Error. You may also notice that you cannot edit a page as you keep getting redirected to the live page.


Possible Causes


There are plugin conflicts, server-side issues, server limits have been reached, or a trigger event with one of the active security tools occurred. 


Commentary


Plugin conflict or the PHP process reaching the PHP Memory Limit set might be at fault for being redirected to the live page when trying to edit it in Elementor. The 403 Forbidden Error is most likely caused by a security tool condition, where there is a high chance that a ModSecurity rule got triggered while saving an edit to the page. 


All kinds of issues can cause the 500 Internal Server Error, so it is recommended to check PHP and web server error logs to determine the best way to fix it. If you receive a 502 Error, try saving the edit again or using another browser.


Top WordPress Elementor Error #3: Changes Not Getting Applied on the Live Pages


Issue Description


Sometimes you may notice that the changes you make to your website pages are not applied after saving them. 


Possible Causes


The browser or server-side caching is causing this condition.


Commentary


If you do not see the changes you made applied to your website from Elementor, clear the cache in your browser. If it does not help, you may need to flush the WordPress cache and the CDN cache. If you are using Memcached or Redis, you would want to take additional steps to clear the cache on the server side. If clearing the cache does not work, regenerate the CSS file by clicking Regenerate Files & Data option from Elementor > Tools area.


Top WordPress Elementor Error #4: Page Not Found


Issue Description


You are getting a 404 Page Not Found Error when you try to navigate to a specific page.


Possible Causes


There are plugin conflicts, broken WordPress permalinks, server limits have been reached, or a trigger event with one of the active security tools occurred.  


Commentary


The 404 Page Not Found Error can be caused by broken permalinks. It can be addressed by resetting the permalinks structure. A plugin conflict might be at fault, or you might be hitting the PHP Memory Limit or running into another fatal error in PHP. A ModSecurity rule triggered can also return a 404 Error Code, but it is rare.


Top WordPress Elementor Error #5: The Edit with Elementor Button Missing


Issue Description


The Edit with Elementor button has disappeared from the WordPress Admin Bar.


Possible Causes


There are plugin or theme conflicts, or the proper post types have not been selected.


Commentary


Ensure that the relevant post type is selected from Post Types by reviewing them in Elementor > Settings > General area. If the post type is selected, consider if any changes have been made to the site recently, including updating the WordPress version or adding any custom code added. You can also temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme to rule out any issues with the current one. A plugin conflict may also be at fault regarding the Edit with Elementor button missing.

Conclusion: WordPress Elementor Plugin & Fixes for Common Errors

The WordPress Elementor plugin is the page builder of choice for many website owners due to the fantastic functionality it provides for web page creation. However, to minimize the possibility of experiencing issues with the plugin, it is key to meet the Elementor system requirements. The vast majority of errors that may appear while using Elementor are caused by plugin conflicts, reaching server limits, or server security tools blocking the requests. Knowing how to diagnose and troubleshoot page builder plugins’ errors can help you address these issues appropriately in a timely manner.

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Our Support Team can help you set up and configure ElasticPress if you ever get stuck along the way. Outstanding performance combined with free automatic backups, 24/7 support, and top-notch security is what makes Nexcess the best WordPress hosting company in the industry.


Check out our Fully Managed WordPress Hosting Plans to get started today.

Scale Your WordPress/WooCommerce Solution with Nexcess

Managed WordPress and WooCommerce plans are scalable hosting  plans that allocate 10 or more PHP workers per site. For static blogs or similar sites, that should be more than enough to have them work flawlessly, while other, more complicated websites will easily find their home within other Managed WordPress Hosting and Managed WooCommerce Hosting plans. These hosting plans also come with an excellent 24/7/365 support team ready to help with any glitches that might arise along the way!

See what industry insiders have to say about Nexcess and its use of PHP workers:

Other Useful WordPress Links for Developers & Admins


Further Reading for Performance Tuning WordPress

In addition to the increase in site performance by regular WordPress maintenance of WordPress transients, you can see an increase in site performance by:



You can find answers to your other WordPress questions in our Nexcess Knowledge Base.


Managed Hosting with Nexcess


Hosting optimized for the industry's leading platforms, including Managed WordPress Hosting, Managed WooCommerce Hosting, and Managed Magento Hosting:

Build Better Sites and Stores With Fully Managed Hosting from Nexcess 

Faster Speeds, Stronger Security, Inherent Scalability and Trusted Support.

Our range of hosting plans caters to any business scale. We do all the heavy lifting for you to focus on growing your business. In addition, we automatically update ore components and plugins to the latest version and ensure your hosting environment is properly optimized, secured, and updated.


Nexcess infrastructure was specially designed to keep up the best speed and performance in the industry. No traffic surge can threaten your website to go down thanks to our autoscaling technology which adds more resources to your server to handle the load. In addition, we offer always-on security monitoring and support from web hosting experts 24/7/365 and a built-in CDN with 22 locations and advanced caching for ultra-fast loading.


All hosting plans include The Nexcess 30-Day Web Hosting Money Back Guarantee.


Need a No-Code Website Building Solution? 


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Next Steps with a Nexcess Cloud Hosting Solution?

Read more about the Fully Managed Cloud Environment by Nexcess and its benefits for your business.

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We make applications easy with environment optimizations for:


And there are many more!


We also have a variety of Nexcess support articles about how best to implement our product offerings housed in the Nexcess Knowledge Base, including how to get your site going with a number of different configuration options. These resources include a great article on setting this up for Migrating to Nexcess with managed WordPress and managed WooCommerce hosting. 

About the Nexcess Portal

Starting with a new hosting partner can be overwhelming. For that exact reason, we have prepared a Nexcess Portal Guide to make each client’s introduction to our Nexcess Portal easier.

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You signed up for an account with Nexcess but now what do you do? New systems can be intimidating to learn, so we’ve put together this guide to help explain what is in the portal and where to find it.


Next Steps with Fully Managed WordPress Hosting?

Read more about the Fully Managed WordPress Hosting and its benefits for your business.

Build Better Websites with Fully Managed WordPress Hosting 

It’s hosting optimized for WordPress. That means a faster, more secure and scalable website. Smart monitoring tools are built-in to help you keep it that way. 

It’s why WordPress Users Trust Nexcess Hosting.

We also have a variety of Nexcess support articles about WordPress, including how to get your site going with a number of different configuration options. These resources include a great article on setting this up for Migrating to Nexcess with managed WordPress and managed WooCommerce hosting. 

Considering Use of a CDN?

Many businesspeople wonder how a CDN speeds up your ecommerce site, but they will discover that the reasons are remarkably straightforward. Review the content, resources, and links in this article to learn more about those reasons in full detail.  

24-Hour Assistance

If you need any assistance with the above-mentioned, don't hesitate to reach out. For 24-hour assistance any day of the year, Nexcess customers can contact our support team by email or through your Client Portal.

Useful YouTube > Nexcess Channel Links

Resources for More Information

Need more help? The Applications, WooCommerce, and WordPress sections within the Nexcess Knowledge Base are important resources for those seeking additional knowledge. Or, check out our related articles below.

The Applications section also contains valuable insights for those seeking additional knowledge about our other various hosted applications and platforms. Check out our related video playlists and articles below:

New Customers: Fully Managed Hosting Solutions

Not a Nexcess customer yet? Check out our fully managed hosting solutions. The option to chat with an expert is also available.

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Kiki Sheldon
Kiki Sheldon


Kiki works as a Security Specialist for Liquid Web. Before joining the Abuse & Security Operations Department, she worked on the Liquid Web Managed Hosting Support Team, where she gained extensive knowledge of Linux System Administration and popular Content Management Systems (CMSs).

Kiki’s passion for writing allows her to share her professional expertise and help others. She keeps up with technology and always looks to improve her technical skills. In her free time, she enjoys reading, especially classic books and detective stories.

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