He called late in the evening. His voice was tense but calm, like someone who knows they can’t panic, although everything in their head is already on fire.
He runs a store based on WordPress and WooCommerce — daily orders, weekly promotions, ads running, customers visiting… and the site is down.
He can’t log in. Customers are calling. The promotion is running. Money is slipping away.
WordPress and the White Screen – What Went Wrong?
He didn’t need to say much. He just asked: “Please check, whatever you can, as soon as possible.”
I logged in via the server, went through the files, checked the error logs. I recognised the pattern — an automatic update of one plugin that conflicted with another.
WooCommerce broken, the homepage doesn’t load at all. For someone inexperienced, it’s black magic. For me — a familiar sight.
WordPress Knowledge is More Than Just Time Worked
A code fix, a specific plugin version, clearing the cache, a restart. A few minutes later — the store came back to life.
— It works… — he whispered in disbelief — You don’t know how much this saved me.
“Why so Much?” – A Classic WordPress Crisis
I sent the invoice.
A moment later, I received a message:
— But… why so much? It was only twenty minutes.
I calmly replied:
— For twenty minutes of work — twenty pounds. For knowing exactly what and how to fix before your customers noticed the problem — the remaining one hundred and eighty.
I haven’t been learning this for just a day. I started back when websites were written in Notepad, and a contact form required more than one click in the installer.
I’ve come a long way from plain HTML, through manual uploads to the server, to today’s “Install WordPress” and “Add Plugin.”
I don’t know everything. But I know enough not to guess, but to search for solutions where others would give up.
See also: Everything You Need to Know About WooCommerce Options in WordPress