If your WordPress blog is stalling or not responding, this is most likely the result of a corrupted plugin or theme. When loading the blog in your browser, it will continuously load until it times out; or it will load with a blank page.

Database Issue

If you are using WordPress 3.1.x, incorrect information in your wp-config.php file can cause a white page to appear. If the MySQL username or MySQL password in this file are incorrect, a white page will appear. In previous versions of WordPress this would appear as a "Error establishing a database connection" message, but that is no longer the case with version 3.1.x.

Correcting Database Issues

To fix this issue you must create a new MySQL user and update the wp-config.php file to have the new MySQL username and MySQL Password. Simply locate the following information in that file, and update the bold sections with your new information:

For information on how to add a new MySQL user to a database, please read the following article:

• How Do I Create a MySQL Database, a User and Then Delete if Needed?

Plugins Issue

You can easily determine if it is a plugin causing the issue by disabling the plugins temporarily. When a plugin is the issue, it is unlikely you will be able to obtain access to the WordPress Admin Dashboard to disable the plugin. The Dashboard can be accessed by going to your WordPress blog and adding /wp-admin/ onto the end of the URL.

You can determine if it is a plugin issue by simply renaming the directory that stores the plugins. Inside of the /wp-content/ directory, rename the subdirectory /plugins/ to/plugins-bak/. Note this will disable all of your plugins, but it will allow you to access your WordPress.

How to Disable Specific Plugins

Alternatively, to disable a specific plugin, you can look under the /wp-content/plugins/directory of your WordPress installation. Inside of this directory you will see a listing of all of the plugins. You can remove or rename the new plugins directory to deactivate it.

Each plugin will have a directory associated with it. You can go down the list and disable a plugin by renaming the directory for that plugin. An example of this would be if you had a plugin directory of /headerplugin/, it could be renamed /headerplugin-bak/. If your WordPress loads after renaming it, it is likely that specific plugin that is causing the issue.

Themes Issue

If it is not a plugin issue, it may be a theme related issue. If you have access to the WordPress Admin Dashboard, it is recommended that you simply log in and change your default theme. Some issues can cause you to lose access the WordPress Admin Dashboard; so, in order to change the theme in this case, you should access the database directly using phpMyAdmin.

Changing the Theme

To determine which database WordPress is configured to:

1. Look inside the wp-config.php file to find the line:
   define('DB_NAME', 'user_wrdp1');
2. Once inside of the database, you will need to select the wp_options table from the list.
   
3. Inside of this table you will see a list of rows. These rows hold all of the configuration information for your WordPress installation such as the settings to limit number of posts per page, enable comments, etc. The rows we are looking for are template and stylesheet. To edit a row, simply click on the pencil iconnext to the row.
   
4. For WordPress 3.0.x and above, you will then replace the option_value for each of these rows to the word twentyten. This will force the new 3.0 default theme to load instead of the custom theme.
   
   For WordPress 2.9.x and below, you will then replace the option_value for each of these rows to the word default. This will force the default theme to load instead of the custom theme.