Job wordpress-plugin-conflict-one-broken-page · revised 11 October 2026
Find which plugin or theme breaks one WordPress page, form or feature, and fix it
Isolate the plugin, theme or setting that breaks one named page, form or feature on a staging copy, then hand over a tested fix or workaround and the evidence.
You might be seeing
- A form button spins or does nothing when clicked
- A feature works on one page but not another
- The page loads, but part of it is missing or shows the wrong content
- The browser console shows a JavaScript error only on that page
No passwords, keys, card details or admin invites needed to start.
What usually happened
The site does not crash, so there is no fatal error to read. One feature fails because two pieces of code interfere: two plugins load clashing scripts, a theme overrides a plugin template, a cache keeps a stale script, or a setting changed. Switching things off at random on the live site risks losing settings and hiding the real cause.
Who it’s for: Owner or manager of a WordPress site where one page, form, menu or feature misbehaves while the rest of the site still loads.
Usually starts when: A button does nothing, a form will not submit, a slider or filter stopped working, or a page shows the wrong layout after something was installed or updated, and nobody can say which plugin is responsible.
The result: The one failing page or action you name works on a staging copy in a repeatable test, the conflicting combination is named with the evidence, and you get the smallest fix or a clear workaround with steps to apply it live and to undo it.
Check whether this job fits
A few short questions. Your answers stay on this page unless you choose to email them.
Checks you can run yourself
Open the browser console on the failing page
Press F12 (or right-click and choose Inspect), open the Console tab, reload the page and repeat the failing step.
Look for: A red error line naming a file path under the plugins or themes folder. Share only the file name and the message, not cookies, tokens or full page addresses with parameters.
Note what changed and when
Open Dashboard, then Updates, and the Plugins page, and write down which plugins updated recently.
Look for: A plugin that updated close to the time the problem started. This is a lead, not a verdict.
What you get
- A note naming the cause, with the redacted console or log lines
- A table of the runs: what was active, what was tested, the result
- The change as settings steps, a patch or files, with exact steps to apply it
- Before and after screenshots and console output for each agreed page
- Steps to undo the change
Included
- One failing page, form or feature, described as exact steps a person can repeat
- Reproducing it on a staging copy and recording the browser console and any server log lines
- Isolating the cause by changing one theme, plugin or setting at a time, with a written record of each run
- The smallest change that fixes it: a settings change, a script-loading change, a template override in a child theme, or a plugin version that works
- Re-testing the failing action and up to five neighbouring pages
Not included
- A fatal error, a blank page or HTTP 500: that is a different job
- Checkout or payment failures on a shop
- Rewriting or replacing a plugin, or building a replacement feature
- Slow pages, hosting faults, DNS or email delivery
- Malware cleanup
- Changing the live site ourselves; your site holder applies the fix
- WordPress multisite networks, which are quoted separately
How we know it’s done
Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.
The failing action, run exactly as written in the agreed steps, fails on the unchanged staging copy and succeeds after the fix on three runs in a row
Evidence: The run table with date, active components, and pass or fail for each run
The browser console on the named page shows no new error after the fix compared with the recorded before state
Evidence: Console output before and after, with personal details removed
Up to five agreed neighbouring pages load and behave as they did before the change at desktop and phone width
Evidence: A screenshot per page and width
After your site holder applies the fix, the same failing action succeeds on the live site
Evidence: Your check, with a screenshot, or a status check we run on the public page
Sign-off. You sign off after the staging checks pass, your authorised site holder applies the fix, and the live action works.
If it fails. If the checks do not pass, you do not pay, and you keep our run table and findings so anyone can continue.
When it fits, and when we stop
It fits when
- You can describe the failing action as steps someone else can repeat
- You or your host can make a staging copy or a full backup of files and database
- The site is a single WordPress site, not a multisite network
- The failing feature is not one that only live customer data or live payments can trigger
We stop and tell you if
- The failure shows a PHP fatal error, which belongs to the critical-error job
- Signs of a hack: unknown admin users, injected code or spam pages
- The cause is inside a paid plugin whose code or licence we cannot get: we hand the evidence to its vendor
- The failure appears only with live payments or live customer records
- The failure is intermittent and cannot be repeated on staging within the agreed test window
What could go wrong
The fix is a settings change or a short list of files, each named in the handover, so your site holder can reverse it. We do not restore or edit the live database.
Scroll the table sideways to read it all.
| Risk | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| Disabling a plugin to make the page work removes a feature the business needs | We name what each disabled plugin does and choose a fix that keeps the feature, or tell you plainly what the trade-off is. |
| Caching hides the real cause or makes a fix look like it failed | We test with caches off first and on again afterwards, and note which cache layers your host or plugins run. |
| Staging differs from live in PHP version or caching | We confirm versions match first; your site holder re-checks the live page after applying the fix. |
A second reviewer checks that the named cause matches the run table, that the fix does not just hide the feature, and that the undo steps work.
How we deliver
We arrange the work and independent review, then show you the result against the agreed checks. You keep authority over your systems.
- Confirm the staging copy runs the same WordPress, PHP, theme and plugin versions as live, with outgoing email off
- Reproduce the failing action and record the console, network failures and any log lines
- Isolate the cause by changing one theme, plugin or setting at a time, and record every run
- Make the smallest change that fixes it and re-run the failing action and the neighbouring pages
- Independent review of the change and of the evidence that it holds on a clean browser profile
- Hand over the change, the run table and undo steps; your site holder applies it live
This is a one-off job, not emergency cover or a subscription. We confirm eligibility, the total price, a start window and a delivery date before you accept. Work starts only after agreed inputs, secure access, any licences and necessary permissions are in place. Hosting, plugin licence and supplier charges are excluded unless the written quote includes them. No charge or booking is created by an enquiry.
Need to keep it working?
Discuss trying each plugin and theme update on a staging copy before it reaches the live site.
Ongoing work is separately scoped and quoted: no monitoring, response-time guarantee or automatic subscription is included in this job.
Explore an ongoing engineering lane, or mention the responsibility you need in your enquiry.
What you can check
This is a new service. We have not delivered this job for a client yet.
Other ways to get this done
- WordPress documents a manual route: deactivate plugins one at a time on a copy of the site and test after each change. If you are comfortable doing that on staging, you may find the cause yourself.
- If the problem started with one plugin update, the plugin's support forum often has a thread for it; check there before paying anyone.
Questions
Will you need my live admin password?
No. After you agree we need a login to the staging copy only, never your live admin.
What if two plugins both need to stay?
Then we look for a settings, loading-order or template fix that lets both run. If none exists we say so and explain the options; replacing a plugin is a separate job.
What if the cause is the theme?
A theme override can be moved into a child theme so the fix survives updates. Moving a whole set of theme edits is the separate child-theme job.
Do you fix the live site?
No. Your site holder applies the tested change with our steps, which also say how to undo it.
Send an enquiry
Send us
- The address of the page and the exact steps that fail, with what you expected and what happens
- When it last worked and what changed since: a plugin, theme, WordPress or PHP update, a new plugin
- The list of active plugins and the theme name, as text
- Any error text you can see on the page, with personal details removed
- Whether your host offers staging
Later, once you agree
- A staging copy or backup shared the way you choose, such as an invite to your host's staging tool
- A staging admin login, not your live one
- The browser and device where the problem appears
- A company-controlled secure handoff agreed before access: no live passwords, keys, private code or customer records by ordinary email.
You keep the live site, hosting account and admin passwords. We work on a staging copy and your site holder applies the fix to the live site.
Email fallback: open your mail app
If website submission is unavailable, review and send the fallback email yourself. An email fallback is not a website receipt. Or write to hello@syntheticindustry.ai with “wordpress-plugin-conflict-one-broken-page” as the subject.