How to Troubleshoot Common WooCommerce Issues

Understanding WooCommerce and its importance

WooCommerce is a popular ecommerce plugin for WordPress. It allows users to easily create and manage online stores. One of the key reasons for its importance is its user-friendly interface, making it accessible to beginners and experienced users alike. With WooCommerce, you can customize your store’s design, add products, and manage inventory with ease. It also offers various payment gateways and shipping options, providing flexibility for both customers and sellers.

Another important aspect of WooCommerce is its scalability, allowing businesses to grow and expand their online presence without limitations. Additionally, WooCommerce provides detailed analytics and reporting features, enabling store owners to track sales, monitor customer behavior, and make informed decisions to improve their business.

However, even the most popular platforms have issues that you need to troubleshoot from time to time. In this blog, we will learn about the common issues of WooCommerce and how to troubleshoot them.

Common Issues Faced By Woocommerce Users

Issue 1: WooCommerce Not Sending Emails

The wp_mail() function, a fundamental feature of WordPress, serves as the primary method for sending emails and is widely employed by various plugins. There might be a lot of reasons for the malfunction of emails not being sent. The two most common factors are

Pending Orders

WooCommerce will not send any email if you have received a new order with the status “Pending Order”. The emails will not go until the order is confirmed. There could be two reasons for the pending status.

• The customer has abandoned the payment page
• The customer did not continue with the purchase despite clicking the order button.

There might be a possibility that even after receiving payment from Stripe and PayPal, the status is still showing as Pending. This happens when the orders are not updated which means that there is an issue in the payment gateway and not the emails.

Incorrect Email Setting

WooCommerce sends different transactional emails based on the interaction with the customer. Ensure that you have enabled the email notification from WooCommerce email settings, if disabled no emails will be delivered to the customer’s as well as your email inbox. To check, Go to WooCommerce -> Settings -> Emails -> Manage. Check mark the “Enable this email notification” option.

Issue 2: WooCommerce 404 error

A 404 error code is shown when the server cannot find a page as requested by the user. As a response, the server displays a 404 error message. This happens in the following cases:

1. New migration to a new host
2. URL’s permalink structure changed and the old URL is not directed.
3. Not having file permissions
4. Opened an incorrect URL
5. Poorly coded theme or plugin.

Lots of WordPress themes have different ways to show the 404 error page.

Issue 3: WooCommerce Memory Exhausted Error

WordPress website is written in PHP language which is known as the server-side programming language. For this to function properly, every website needs WordPress Hosting. Web servers are similar to regular computers. They need memory to run many apps together. Server admins assign memory sizes to apps like PHP.

When your WordPress code needs more memory than given, you get this message:

“Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 2348617 bytes) in /home4/xxx/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php on line xxx”

The following might be the reasons behind the use of excessive memory:

• Heavy images, videos, or other media types.
• Multiple unused plugins
• Outgrown the hosting plan resources.

Issue 4: WooCommerce Product Page Not Displaying Correctly

More than 5 million people use WordPress worldwide for their ecommerce business. WordPress worldwide for their ecommerce business. WooCommerce is considered the most reliable online platform but it might show some issues which can be cleared by troubleshooting them.

One of the common issues is products not showing on the page even after the owner has added them. The following could be the reasons for the product page not displaying correctly:

• Compatibility issues of the plugin
• Wrong Permalinks
• Catalog visibility an issue
• Configuration errors of the shop page.

Issue 5: WooCommerce Checkout Errors

When a WooCommerce store’s checkout fails, it’s a big problem. Different issues can happen during checkout, but if you know what’s wrong, you can fix it. However, finding the cause isn’t always easy for regular users. This post will help you solve some common WooCommerce checkout problems. Keep in mind that the tips here might not solve your specific checkout issue.

Here are some WooCommerce Checkout Errors that are very common:

Checkout Page Redirecting Back to the Empty Cart 

If your checkout sends you to an empty cart, it’s often because your hosting doesn’t work well with WooCommerce.

Loading of the Review Order Part is Stuck

When you give your shipping or billing information, a script reloads the order review data. If there’s an error in the script, it can get stuck without showing any error message to explain what’s happening.

Payment Method Not Working 

PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, and eWay are well-known payment options. They help manage transactions between you and your customers in your store. Customers enter their credit card details and click “place order” to complete their purchase.

No Payment Option on the Checkout Page 

If you’ve set up your payment option right but it’s not showing on the checkout page, it could be because your store doesn’t have an SSL certificate. Some payment methods need this certificate to work properly.

Authentication Error

If your store has an authentication problem, it means there’s a connection issue between your store and your payment provider. Check the details you entered in the payment settings to make sure they’re right.

Unidentified Mistake 

If you see an error you don’t recognize, it might mean a PHP script in WooCommerce isn’t working right. There are a few reasons this could happen. It could be because a plugin doesn’t work well with WooCommerce, or your hosting doesn’t support the special AJAX endpoints that WooCommerce uses.

Detailed Steps To Troubleshoot Each Issue

How To Troubleshoot Woocommerce Not Sending Emails

Now, there are 4 methods to check and troubleshoot

Email Deliverability

Before going ahead with this, make sure you are through with your hosting provider as sometimes the push and receiving email setting is not completed. Once you are done with it, let’s check the email delivery from WooCommerce.

Go to WordPress Dashboard -> Plugin -> Add New -> Search Check & Log Email. You will find this on the right side of the search bar. Click Install and then Activate.  Once activated, it will start logging all outgoing emails after you enable the View Log option. Click Check & Log Email Settings and tick mark the Enable Logs option. Save your settings. You can test emails after saving the settings.

SMTP to Send Emails

If your hosting provider does not have any email hosting then you can set up SMTP for emails. It is easy to install and configure SMTP. Go to the plugin section on your WordPress Dashboard. Click on Add New Button and search Easy WP SMTP. Install and activate.

Go to the plugin settings page by clicking on the Easy WP SMTP option that lies under the settings tab of the WP Dashboard sidebar. All the settings you want to configure can be done from this page.

Your next step is to set up an SMTP host.

Save Changes once you are done.

Spam Emails

The problem could persist even after trying both methods mentioned above. The persistence could be because your mail domain server has been flagged as spam which usually happens when you have sent too many emails. However, the following could be the main reasons

• You are not targeting the right audience
• The IP address is used for spam
• Low email opening rates are pushing the emails in to a spam list

You should check the spammyness of your emails by using any email tester. Just copy the email address mentioned in the email tester website and shoot an email to this address. Go to Check & Log Email then click Status where you have a Send Test Email option. Paste the copied email here and hit the Send Test Email button. Now check the score on the email tester’s website. Your score and additional information will determine the spam counter of your email.

Website IP Reputation

The IP reputation is low for spammers and it adds to the negative reputation if they are sending high quantities of spam emails. Ensure you have top-notch email listing practices to uphold a strong reputation. Misunderstandings about WooCommerce not sending emails might stem from IP reputation issues.

Numerous tools exist to assess your sending reputation, including SenderScore, BarracudaCentral, TrustedSource, and Google Postmaster Tools, among others.

How to Fix WooCommerce 404 Error

Set Up The Permalink

If you’re seeing a “404 page not found” error on pages other than your homepage in WordPress, you can fix it by updating your permalink settings. Here’s how:

• Login to WordPress Dashboard
• Click Settings then Permalinks
• Select Default Settings
• Click Save Changes Button
• Change the settings to Default Settings
• Click Save Settings

This fix might solve the problem of WordPress showing a 404 page not found or having issues with permalinks. If it doesn’t work, you’ll have to edit the .htaccess file in your WordPress installation’s main directory. This directory is where the main index.php file is located. Often, 404 errors happen because of .htaccess files not set up correctly or issues with file permissions.

Restore the .httaccess File

You should always backup your Site before you edit or open any files or pages.

.httasscess is a hidden file and to edit it you have to make it visible. To do so, follow the steps:

• Using a FTP client, log in to your server
• Get the .htaccess file from the same place as folders such as /wp-content/, /wp-admin/, and /wp-includes/
• Open the downloaded file in a text editor
• Visit the WordPress .htaccess support page and copy and paste the most suitable version of the code.
• Save the .htaccess file and upload it on the live server.

301 Redirect

If you’ve changed a page’s URL but haven’t redirected it yet, it’s important to do so now. You can redirect using a plugin or .htaccess file. If you’re okay with .htaccess, add this code to it, but remember to use your website’s URLs instead.

Redirect 301 /oldpage.html https://www.mywebsite.com/newpage.html

For an easy way, use a plugin to set up 301 redirect:

• Install Redirection Plugin
• Go to WordPress Dashboard
• Select Tools then Redirection
• Add New Redirection, Complete the setup.

Disabling Plugins or Theme

A poorly coded theme or plugin might be the reason for the 404 error. You should deactivate the plugins and change your theme. Access the WordPress files using FTP. Go to public_html > wp-content and change the plugins folder name. Now, return to your web browser to see if the website is working. If the error is gone, it means one of your plugins might be causing the issue. If the issue is resolved then change the folder name to Plugins. To check which plugin is generating an error, follow the steps:

• On your WordPress Dashboard, go to Plugins then click Installed Plugins 
• Activate each plugin to check if the website is working or not
• The one creating a 404 error message will not work
• Update it, resolve it, or remove it at your convenience.

How to Resolve WooCommerce Memory Exhausted Error

There are many ways through which you can increase the memory of PHP. These methods are

Edit the wp-config.php File

You can find the wp-config.php file in the root directory of WordPress, it is named as public_html. You need to edit the file. You will require a FTP client like file manager in the web hosting control panel.

Next, you need to paste define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’ ); just before the line That’s all, stop editing! Happy Blogging. This will prompt the PHP memory to increase to 256MB. Save changes once you are done.

Edit the .htaccess File

Another way is to modify the .htaccess file, found in the main folder of your WordPress site. Insert the code “php_value memory_limit 256M” before “#END WORDPRESS” line. This code boosts PHP memory to 256MB. Save the changes and re-upload the file to your web server. Check if the memory limit error persists by reopening your WordPress website.

Check php.ini File

If the previous fixes don’t help, check your php.ini file. This file manages PHP settings like version and scripts. It’s not a WordPress file, usually handled by your hosting provider. Look into its code to find your PHP memory limit. Since this is complex, it’s better to ask your hosting provider’s support team. They can raise the WordPress memory limit without causing more issues.

How to Correct WooCommerce Product Page Display Errors

Changing the Catalog Visibility

The main reason for an empty WooCommerce page is often wrong catalog settings. Sometimes, products are set to “Hidden” or “Search results only” by mistake. To solve this, go to the Products section and then Catalog Visibility. Change the setting to “Shop and search results.” This adjustment will make your products visible on both your WooCommerce page and search results.

Checking Shop-Page Configuration

When you set up WooCommerce, you might face issues with your shop page. You can fix this by going to WooCommerce settings and then to Products. Look for the “Shop page” section.

Make sure to pick the “Shop” option. If it’s not selected, click the dropdown menu and pick Shop.

In WooCommerce settings, you can also assign different pages for cart, checkout, terms and conditions, and account. Go to the Advanced section to do this. Ensure each option leads to the correct page. For example, choose Cart for the Cart page, Checkout for the Checkout page, My Account for the My Account page, and so on.

Clear all Cache from the Custom WooCommerce Store

If you haven’t cleared your website’s caches, you might still see the old version. Caching issues can hide your shop page, so remember to clear all caches often. This includes client-side, server-side, and WordPress plugin caches.

Client side Cache – Your browser stores a cache of data. Clearing it varies by browser. In Chrome, go to More Tools in the Options menu, then Clear Data. For Firefox, click the breadcrumb icon, then Options, and finally Clear Data.

Server Cache – To clear the server-side cache, go to your hosting account and clear the cache there. If you’re using BlueHost, you can do this easily from your WordPress admin area. Look for the Caching option at the top of the admin area if you have the BlueHost plugin installed. Click on it and then select Purge All to clear the cache.

Plugin Cache – You can remove plugin cache using tools like Jetpack and WP Super Cache. They let you clear the cache quickly and easily with just one click.

Checking Plugin for Compatibility Issues

Your WooCommerce page may appear empty if some plugins aren’t compatible. To fix this, deactivate all plugins except WooCommerce. If your shopping page shows up, a plugin is likely causing issues. Next, activate one plugin at a time to find the problem. If products don’t appear when activating a plugin, it’s likely faulty.

Delete the problematic plugin and consider using an alternative. This process helps identify and resolve compatibility issues quickly. All plugins should be updated to the latest version as outdated plugins can cause compatibility issues.

Updating the Products after Shop Page Customization.

All products may not appear if you have customized your shop page. This happens during custom WooCommerce page development. You need to update the page when you change something or the products listed on it. If a third-party developer is involved in creating your online store then ask them to update to resolve the issue.

Update Permalinks

If you see a product on its page but not in the shop, the problem might be the permalink. Fix it by updating your permalinks, which are the website’s standard URLs. Currently, WordPress Supports

• Default Permalinks
• Mod-rewrite Permalinks
• PATHINFO Permalinks

You can pick different options for your website’s link style, like structure tags, category bases, tag bases, and category tags. To change your website’s link style, go to Settings and then Permalinks. Choose the style you like, then click Save Changes. Plugins can help fix issues with your website’s links, products, SKUs, and more.

How to Resolve WooCommerce Checkout Errors

Deactivating Plugins and Themes

The main reason why the checkout stops working with WooCommerce is usually because of a problem with a theme or plugin conflicting with each other. The best way to solve this is by deactivating all plugins and then checking which one is causing the problem. To do this, go to the checkout page, right-click on the page, and choose Inspect > Console from the menu.If you see a Javascript issue, one of your plugins or themes is probably causing the trouble.

Two ways to determine if it is the plugin or theme are:

• Deactivating multiple plugins at once
• Using Plugin Health Check

Endless Loading of Checkout Page

Another common problem with WooCommerce checkout is the never-ending loading. AJAX often causes this issue. AJAX loads payment methods or totals on the Review Order page, showing a loading spinner. If there’s a problem, the section might not load, or the spinner may stay on the page without loading it. To check for errors, go to WooCommerce > System Status.

Confirmation Emails not having Download Links

If customers don’t get download links in their purchase confirmation emails, it could lead to complaints. This happens because a table called “wp_woocommerce_downloadable_product_permissions” might be missing in your website’s database.

This happens when WooCommerce is activated, but if your WordPress SQL table prefix in the “wp-config.php” file is too long, this process fails. To fix it, change the WordPress SQL table prefix to a shorter one. Keep it around 20-25 characters as names can be up to 64 characters long.

Page not Being Displayed in WooCommerce

If your pages aren’t showing content, there might be a few reasons why. But usually, these steps can help fix the problem:

• Create a new page.
• Add the right shortcode to it.
• Publish the page.
• After that, go to WooCommerce > Settings > General.
• Choose the new page you made.
• Save your changes.

Fatal Error

If your WooCommerce store’s checkout page isn’t working, it could be due to two reasons: unsupported plugins or themes made by others. To fix it, make sure all your plugins are up to date. If that doesn’t help, try turning off your theme and using the default one called Twenty Sixteen. Reactivate the plugin afterward, and you can switch back to your original theme once it’s fixed.

Preventive measures to avoid These Issues in the Future

To prevent common WooCommerce issues in the future, consider the following preventive measures:

Regularly Update Plugins and Themes

Keep all plugins and themes updated to their latest versions to ensure compatibility with the WooCommerce platform.

Choose Reliable Plugins

Prioritize plugins from reputable developers with good reviews and frequent updates to minimize the risk of conflicts or malfunctions.

Use Compatible Themes

Select themes specifically designed for WooCommerce to ensure seamless integration and avoid compatibility issues.

Test Changes on the Staging Site

Before implementing any major changes or updates, test them on a staging site to identify and resolve potential issues before they affect your live site.

Monitor Site Performance

Regularly monitor your site’s performance, including speed and security, to detect any anomalies or potential issues early on.

Backup Regularly

Implement a regular backup schedule to safeguard your website data and content in case of unexpected issues or errors.

Stay Informed

Stay updated on WooCommerce updates, best practices, and common issues through forums, blogs, and official documentation to proactively address any emerging issues.

Conclusion

Troubleshooting common WooCommerce issues can be simplified by checking plugin compatibility and themes. Ensure all plugins are updated, and if problems persist, try deactivating your current theme and switching to a default one. This process helps identify and resolve issues related to unsupported plugins or themes created by others. By following these steps, you can efficiently address common WooCommerce issues and ensure the smooth operation of your online store.

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