Tips

Throughout our website here at UsingJoomla.com we give many tips, hints and suggestions.

Tip

Many articles include boxes like this one that include a brief tip, hint, or some food-for-thought.

There are articles on web-hosting, and Joomla Tools.

However - this article goes in a slightly different way.

Sometimes when we are building our website things "go wrong" - it happens in all walks of life.

There are however some things we can do to "fault find" - from simple things to much more complicated.

Here we aim to list some of the more simple things we can try.

Tip

The first thing we should do is:



Keep calm !

Ask yourself some questions:

• What is not working ?
• When did it go wrong ?
• Do you get any error or warning messages ?
• Is it possibly a browser issue rather than a website issue ?

Things you can consider are:

• Clear your Joomla caches;
• Clear your server caches - for example: opcache
• Clear your browser cache, close your browser, re-open your browser and visit your site again - browsers can cache your website meaning changes might not always work properly;

As well as . . .

• Have you just installed a new extension/component/plugin/module ?
• If you have:
  • Have you enabled all necessary features ?
• Have you recently changed a setting or parameter ?
  • If you have changed a setting or parameter try changing it back to what is was;
• Have you recently updated one or more component, plugin, module (extension) ?

If you are having an issue with the "front-end" - something not working or "looks terrible"

• Try a different browser - does it work / look as expected ?
• Try the same browser on a different PC / Laptop;
• If trying a different browser, or different PC / Laptop is not such an easy option - have you added one or more browser extension - try disabling browser extensions - these too can interfere with website functionality.

If you have recently enabled, or disabled, plugins or modules?

• Try disabling plugins / modules, one at a time that you have recently enabled - does the issue go away ?
• Try enabling plugins / modules, one at a time that you have recently disabled - does the issue go away ?

Tip

Above we say: try disabling plugins/modules one at a time.

Two important points to remember:

1) Disable - do not (yet) uninstall - there is a major difference between disabling and uninstalling;
2) Take a note of what you disable - you may need to enable them again after your tests;

If you have updated one or more component, plugin, or module - developer mistakes happen.

Mistakes happen

A couple of very true and apt quotes:

'One who makes no mistakes makes nothing' Giacomo Casanova.

'It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.' Joseph Conrad.

When you are aware that an update is available, consider:

• Visiting the developer's change-log for that (those) extension(s);
  • What does the change-log indicate has changed ?
    • This will give you a good idea of what has changed and maybe what to expect, or to look at if there is an issue for you ("Forewarned is forearmed");
    • Waiting a few days, for example 3 - 5 days, before updating; Why ? Reported issues may well get resolved quickly.
• Visiting the developer's support forums:
  • Has there been an increase in support requests since the updated version was released ? ('Forewarned is forearmed');
• Visit the developer's latest releases page:
  • Has a new release been made available relatively quickly addressing any support requests ?