The first thing to do is to check if you have received any communication from WordPress regarding the error.

• Log in to your email that you registered with the related WordPress admin account
• Look for the recent messages or simply type WordPress in the search box and hit enter
• If you can find the email, just open and read it for the details
• The email will enable you to troubleshoot the error in reasonably small time without going through guesswork or multiple attempts. You would find 2 key pieces of information
• Particulars of Conflicting Plug-in/theme
• Recovery mode link

Notes:

• Sometimes the error message tells you to check for the instructions in your site admin email inbox. In that case, just log in to WP admin of your site with your login credentials and open your site admin email for troubleshooting instructions
• If you cannot find the mail in your primary folder then check your spam folder as well. Sometimes the mail may be regarded as spam and sent directly to the spam folder
• In case, you don’t get the email or it doesn’t contain any helpful details then you here are the effective DIY instructions to resolve the issue independently

Many times conflicting themes/plugins can cause the error: “The site is experiencing technical difficulties”. Installation of plugins or themes having codes that are difficult to co-exist, is the reason behind the same.

As an open-source CMS, WordPress seamlessly supports the extensions built by developers of diverse coding disciplines. In some cases, however, two or more themes/plugins written in different codes can clash with one another and result in different issues.

In case of minor conflict, one of the problematic tools would simply stop working but in some cases, the conflict can cause the error message.

How to resolve conflicting extensions issues in WordPress?

To work with the conflicting extensions, you first need to deactivate them. The challenge is how to deactivate a theme/plug-in as the error message doesn’t allow you to access the admin area. Here are two roundabout ways:

• If you can access the recovery mode link (you can find it in the email communicating the error) then click it to visit the site’s backend and log in the normal way.
• In case you are not the admin and site admin have sent you the recovery mode link then you can use your credentials to log in
• Click the link to plugins to open the list of conflicting extensions.

Deactivate all the plugins in the list one by one

• Go to admin bar and select Exit recovery Mode
• It will deactivate the conflicting plugins for the users and visitors, allowing everyone to access your site normally. Go to the browser and open your site through the general process (i.e., enter the site address in the address bar and hit enter) to confirm if the problem has been resolved.
• If the problematic extensions or plugins are serving any key functionality purpose then simply delete them
• · If the problems are with the theme then delete and replace with another theme.

Things to remember

• The recovery mode will allow you to enter the admin area and work but keep in mind that it doesn’t mean that the error on the front end will go away. Your visitors would still be seeing the same error when they try to open your site. The normal website access is available only through the recovery mode.
• While in the recovery mode the WordPress will pause the conflicting plug-in or theme that has caused the error. You can get specific particulars about the same in a banner communication displayed at the top of your screen.
• You may not wish to permanently part with the conflicting theme, plug-in, or extensions. In that case, you can simply communicate the issue to the vendor/developer, requesting for a timely ideal solution.
• Before deleting the theme make sure that your themes folder should have at least one default WordPress theme.

The memory limit in your site may be less than the minimum amount which is causing the issue. In that case, you need to reset it. Here’s how to do it:

Change it from .htaccess file

• Go to the WordPress root directory and open your .htaccess file

• Add this code

php_value memory_limit 256M

• Save the file and close it

Change it from php.ini

• If your hosting provider permits to decide custom php.ini file then go to the root directory of WP installation
• Open custom php.ini file and add this code

memory_limit = 256M;

• Save the file and close

• After any of the above mentioned processes, open your website in the browser and see if the above steps have got “The site is experiencing technical difficulties” in WordPress fixed. In case the error message still persists then read on this article to explore other ways to resolve it

If you aren’t able to access the recovery mode then try accessing through FTP client using your credentials. You can get the FTP credentials in your registered hosting account profile.

• Login to the site server through FTP client and click wp-content>plugins

• It will display the subdirectories belonging to different plugins
• Right-click the subdirectory of conflicting plug-in and click rename
• Rename it in such a way that WordPress should not be able to find the files related to the problematic plug-in. At the same time ensure that it shouldn’t deter you from identifying the renamed subdirectory as you would need to access/change it again. You can just append the name relevantly like changing “Plug-in A” to “Plug-in-A-deactivated”)
• It will deactivate the plug-in and all the users can visitors can now normally access the frontend/backend
• When the issue is resolved following this process, then simply remove the last plug-in that you removed as it is the one that is creating the conflict.

Things to remember

• The troubleshooting can be a bit challenging if you aren’t sure about the conflicting extension or plug-in. In that case, you would have to rename one plug-in at a time and refresh your website to see if the issue is resolved. You would need to repeat the same process until the error is resolved.
• Follow the same steps for troubleshooting the conflicting theme. The related subdirectories for themes can be accessed from wp-content themes.