WordPress Troubleshooting Overview

WordPress-specific troubleshooting for performance issues, tracking problems, and integration conflicts. This guide addresses issues unique to the WordPress ecosystem.

Common WordPress Issues

Performance Problems

WordPress performance can be impacted by themes, plugins, hosting, and content:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) - Slow theme loading, large images, server response time
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) - Dynamic ad injection, web fonts, theme layout changes
• First Input Delay (FID) - Heavy JavaScript from plugins, third-party scripts
• Total Blocking Time (TBT) - Unoptimized theme code, excessive DOM manipulation

See:

• LCP Troubleshooting - WordPress-specific LCP fixes
• CLS Troubleshooting - Layout shift solutions

Tracking and Analytics Issues

WordPress's plugin ecosystem can create tracking conflicts:

• Events not firing - Plugin conflicts, caching interference, JavaScript errors
• Duplicate tracking - Multiple analytics plugins installed
• Missing data - Caching plugins serving stale content
• Server-side tracking failures - Blocked API calls, incorrect credentials

See:

• Events Not Firing - Debug tracking issues

WordPress-Specific Debugging Tools

Browser Developer Tools

Essential for diagnosing WordPress issues:

Console (JavaScript Errors):

// Check for common WordPress conflicts
console.log(window.jQuery); // jQuery version
console.log(window.wp); // WordPress API
console.log(window.dataLayer); // GTM data layer
console.log(window.gtag); // GA4
console.log(window.fbq); // Meta Pixel

Network Tab:

• Filter by analytics.js, gtag/js, fbevents.js to verify tracking scripts load
• Check for 404 errors on plugin/theme assets
• Monitor AJAX requests from WooCommerce

Performance Tab:

• Record page load
• Identify slow WordPress plugins
• Check for render-blocking resources

WordPress Debug Mode

Enable debug mode to identify plugin/theme errors:

// Add to wp-config.php
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false); // Don't show errors to visitors
@ini_set('display_errors', 0);

Check debug log:

# View debug log
tail -f /path/to/wordpress/wp-content/debug.log

Query Monitor Plugin

Install Query Monitor to debug:

• Database queries (slow queries, duplicate queries)
• PHP errors and notices
• HTTP API calls (for server-side tracking)
• Enqueued scripts and styles
• Hooks and actions fired
• Environment information

Health Check Plugin

Use Health Check & Troubleshooting to:

• Test for plugin conflicts (Troubleshooting Mode)
• Check server requirements
• Verify file permissions
• Test email delivery
• Review PHP info

Common WordPress Conflicts

Plugin Conflicts

Symptoms:

• Tracking stops working after plugin update
• JavaScript errors in console
• Events fire multiple times
• Admin dashboard errors

Diagnosis:

1. Enable WordPress Troubleshooting Mode (Health Check plugin)
2. Disable all plugins except WordPress and tracking plugins
3. Re-enable plugins one by one
4. Identify conflicting plugin

Common Culprits:

• Multiple analytics plugins (MonsterInsights + GA Google Analytics)
• Aggressive caching plugins (W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache)
• JavaScript optimization plugins (Autoptimize, WP Rocket)
• Security plugins blocking external scripts

Caching Plugin Issues

Symptoms:

• Data layer doesn't update with new data
• Tracking shows old product prices
• Events don't fire on first page load
• Different behavior logged in vs. logged out

Solutions:

WP Rocket:

// Exclude tracking scripts from optimization
add_filter('rocket_exclude_js', 'exclude_tracking_scripts');
function exclude_tracking_scripts($excluded) {
    $excluded[] = 'googletagmanager.com/gtag/js';
    $excluded[] = 'google-analytics.com/analytics.js';
    $excluded[] = 'connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js';
    return $excluded;
}

// Exclude dynamic pages from caching
add_filter('rocket_cache_reject_uri', 'exclude_dynamic_pages');
function exclude_dynamic_pages($uri) {
    $uri[] = '/checkout/';
    $uri[] = '/cart/';
    $uri[] = '/my-account/';
    return $uri;
}

W3 Total Cache:

Performance → Minify → Never minify the following JS files:
googletagmanager.com/gtag/js
google-analytics.com/analytics.js
connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js

Performance → Page Cache → Never cache the following pages:
/checkout/
/cart/
/my-account/

LiteSpeed Cache:

LiteSpeed Cache → Page Optimization → JS Excludes:
googletagmanager.com
google-analytics.com
connect.facebook.net

LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Exclude → Do Not Cache URIs:
checkout
cart
my-account

Theme Conflicts

Symptoms:

• Tracking code doesn't appear in source
• wp_head or wp_footer hooks not firing
• Custom theme removes tracking on certain pages

Diagnosis: Check if theme properly implements WordPress hooks:

// In your theme's header.php, before </head>
<?php wp_head(); ?>

// In your theme's footer.php, before </body>
<?php wp_footer(); ?>

If missing, tracking code added via hooks won't load.

Solution:

• Update theme to include proper hooks
• Use child theme to add hooks
• Switch to a well-coded theme

WooCommerce Conflicts

Symptoms:

• E-commerce events don't fire
• Purchase event fires on every thank-you page visit
• Product data incorrect in tracking

Common Issues:

1. AJAX Cart Updates:

// Ensure events fire on AJAX add-to-cart
add_action('wp_footer', 'track_ajax_cart_events');
function track_ajax_cart_events() {
    ?>
    <script>
        jQuery(document.body).on('added_to_cart', function(event, fragments, cart_hash, $button) {
            // Fire tracking event here
            gtag('event', 'add_to_cart', {...});
        });
    </script>
    <?php
}

2. Variable Products:

// Get selected variation data
jQuery('.variations_form').on('found_variation', function(event, variation) {
    console.log(variation); // Check variation data available
});

Testing WordPress Sites

Local Testing Environment

Test changes before deploying to production:

Local WordPress Setup:

• Local by Flywheel - Free local WordPress environment
• XAMPP - Apache, MySQL, PHP stack
• Docker - Containerized WordPress

Staging Environment: Most WordPress hosts provide staging:

• WP Engine: Automatic staging
• Kinsta: One-click staging
• SiteGround: Staging tool
• Cloudways: Staging environment

Testing Checklist

Before deploying tracking changes:

1. Test with Caching Disabled

   • Disable all caching plugins
   • Test tracking implementation
   • Re-enable caching one by one

2. Test Logged Out vs. Logged In

   • Use incognito/private browsing for logged-out testing
   • Verify admin tracking exclusion works

3. Test on Different Devices

   • Desktop browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
   • Mobile devices (iOS Safari, Chrome Mobile)
   • Tablet devices

4. Test WooCommerce Flows (if applicable)

   • Browse products → View product → Add to cart → Checkout → Purchase
   • Verify each event fires correctly
   • Check data accuracy (price, product ID, quantity)

5. Test Forms

   • Submit Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, WPForms
   • Verify Lead events fire
   • Check form data doesn't include PII

Validation Tools

Google Analytics:

• Real-Time Reports - Immediate feedback
• DebugView - Event-level debugging
• Google Analytics Debugger Chrome extension

Meta Pixel:

• Meta Pixel Helper Chrome extension
• Events Manager → Test Events

Google Tag Manager:

• Preview Mode - Step-through debugging
• Tag Assistant - Visual debugging

General:

• ObservePoint - Automated tag auditing
• Tag Inspector - Comprehensive tag analysis

Performance Debugging

WordPress Performance Profilers

Query Monitor: Shows database queries, PHP errors, HTTP requests:

Install Query Monitor plugin
Enable profiling
View slow queries in admin bar

New Relic: APM for WordPress:

• Server response time
• Database query performance
• External API calls
• PHP function profiling

GTmetrix / PageSpeed Insights:

• Overall page performance
• Core Web Vitals
• Resource optimization recommendations

WordPress-Specific Performance Issues

Too Many Plugins:

• Deactivate unused plugins
• Replace multiple single-purpose plugins with one comprehensive plugin
• Use lightweight alternatives (Query Monitor vs. full APM)

Unoptimized Images:

• Install image optimization plugin (ShortPixel, Imagify, EWWW)
• Use WebP format
• Implement lazy loading (native browser or plugin)

Slow Theme:

• Switch to lightweight theme (GeneratePress, Astra, Kadence)
• Remove unused theme features
• Use child theme to remove bloat

Hosting Issues:

• Upgrade to better hosting (shared → VPS → managed WordPress)
• Use WordPress-optimized hosts (WP Engine, Kinsta, Flywheel)
• Enable server-side caching (Redis, Memcached)

Getting Help

WordPress Community Resources

• WordPress Support Forums
• WordPress Stack Exchange
• WooCommerce Support

Plugin-Specific Support

• MonsterInsights: Support Portal
• PixelYourSite: Documentation
• GTM4WP: GitHub Issues

Performance Help

• WordPress Performance
• WooCommerce Performance

Next Steps

Dive into specific troubleshooting areas:

• LCP Issues - WordPress LCP optimization
• CLS Issues - Layout shift fixes
• Tracking Issues - Debug events not firing

Related Resources

• Global Issues Hub - Universal troubleshooting concepts
• WordPress Integrations - Set up tracking correctly from the start
• WordPress Performance Best Practices