AI to the Rescue Again: Fixing My Broken Website

I wrote a few weeks ago about how AI saved me money by helping me draft a letter to appeal the denial of a Medicare claim. This past week, it saved me time and headaches when this website abruptly stopped working.

I’m not sure when it stopped working, but I noticed it when last week’s post didn’t show up in my email when scheduled. I went to the website to make sure I had scheduled the post properly, and instead of my homepage, I was greeted by a stark, system-generated message:

“There has been a critical error on this website.”

I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I could tell it wasn’t good.

I soon learned that in the web-design world, this message is a modern version of the dreaded WordPress “White Screen of Death,” something I have never encountered before. It means something has gone wrong behind the scenes—usually with the code—and the website has crashed.

Although I’m fairly comfortable with the basics of WordPress, I know very little about what goes on behind the scenes with my hosting company, Bluehost. But I knew this problem would require me to poke around in Bluehost to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it. I couldn’t use WordPress to solve the problem because the crash was so severe I couldn’t access my administrative dashboard to deactivate whatever was causing the problem.

AI to the rescue.

I typed the generic error message into Gemini and asked what was going on and how to fix it. Gemini explained that sudden crashes like this can be caused by memory exhaustion, server glitches, outdated PHP versions, or problems with plugins. It then told me how to diagnose the specific culprit.

Once I dug into it, I figured out what had happened—a conflict between two of my plugins caused a fatal PHP error. A recent update in one of the plugins had made them incompatible with each other.

I asked Gemini how to fix a plugin conflict when you are completely locked out of WordPress. Gemini gave me some very specific instructions for using FTP and the File Manager in Bluehost. I learned how to isolate the problem by temporarily renaming the plugin files, which effectively disabled them. That brought the site back online.

Once I could get back into WordPress, I was able to delete the problem files, download earlier versions of the plugins, and get everything working smoothly again.

Gemini’s instructions weren’t perfect. Some of them seemed to apply to an older version of the Bluehost interface. But when I got stuck trying to navigate in Bluehost, the Bluehost AI chatbot told me where to find the exact file directory I needed.

Between the two AI systems, I got the job done. It was like having two techies leaning over my shoulder, translating complicated server architecture into plain English.

My website had another critical error the next day—the result of my not deleting a file properly the first time. Once again, I diagnosed and solved the problem with the help of Gemini. And now, I’m hoping the site is stable for a while.

I learned something new this week. And I’m glad AI can help when I’m faced with a technical problem that is way over my head.

Still, this is not a problem I want to have again anytime soon. First, I don’t like surprise problems. Second, I’m still not comfortable navigating in Bluehost, though it’s nice to know AI can help me. And third, I don’t like the underlying indication that this website is having code-level compatibility issues. I’ve sensed for a while that the site needs some attention, but perhaps redoing the website yet again needs to move higher on my priority list.

When have you been confronted with a technical problem you didn’t know how to deal with?