The WordPress Plugin That Hurt My Blog

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I honestly didn’t think I’d figure out what exactly went wrong with my WordPress-powered blog that made this already invisible blog more invisible than it already is. As I’ve written in this post and in this post, the recent upgrade to WordPress 2.6 caused my blog to go down, down, down for at least three (3) days. The frequent “script-tinker” and “never-seem-to-be-content” person that I am had me thinking that it was my messing with the redirection script for mofuse.com that created a mobile-friendly version of my blog for those readers accessing via their mobile phones (as if there are any..*sigh*), has caused this problem. And for a while there, I actually told myself that I wouldn’t mess with scripts anymore (at least for this blog). As I’ve lost hope in ever identifying the root cause of this “blank screen of death” as another blogger puts it, I’ve abandoned all interests to continue researching online or elsewhere. But as fate would have it, maybe reinstallation wasn’t bad after all. Maybe it’s what I really needed — a fresh start, so I can see things clearer.

As you know, reinstallation requires me to re-upload and reconfigure plugins I previously had. So after uploading my favorite theme of the moment, importing my posts from an xml file and adding a few widgets from memory, I did the tedious task of reinstalling plugins. Now, I have all my used plugins stored somewhere in my local drive, so to hasten my reinstallation a bit, I decided to upload all of them plugins indiscriminately. Everything went well. But not for long. You see, I have about 39 plugins activated for my blog (not that I use all of those anyway). Well into the 30-ish plugin, I clicked on my blog header as if by force of habit or stroke of destiny — whatever. Anyway, imagine my horror, when, staring at me is that horrible “blank screen” that has caused me utter panic and disappointment in the last 3 or so days! I would have panicked, yes. But knowing what it is exactly I did last that may have probably caused this (unlike before, because the first time it happened, I was messing with scripts, plugins and upgrading all at the same time) made me feel a bit confident and happy this time. After all, this was what I’ve always wanted — to know what screwed-up my blog’s homepage.

So, anyway. Disabling and enabling plugins one at a time and testing my page did the trick. It was then that I found out the exact WordPress plugin that hurt my blog after upgrading to WordPress 2.6. It is this: Sticky Posts Plugin. This plugin is said to show “sticky” posts. By using this, you can set up a sticky post and add a custom field named ’sticky’ set to value ‘1′ while editing one of your blog entries. This means that any post to which you assign as “sticky” value of 1 will “always” be displayed on top of your main page — which is good. I haven’t exactly used this yet even in pre-WordPress 2.6 setting. I just had this plugin enabled but never really bothered to configure its settings. I am guessing it’s either that this may not be compatible with WordPress 2.6 or enabling it without configuring its settings is what caused it to display a blank homepage. As I’ve read somewhere, plugins that inject itself to your blog’s main page are more likely to cause problems if not configured properly or if there are compatibility issues with the CMS software, in this case, the super awesome WordPress 2.6. Inevitably, I had to remove this plugin entirely until I figure out if it’s simply a configuration issue. I never run out of questions to answer, do I? Well, that’s just how I am — always looking for answers.

Anyway, I am not saying that Sticky Posts is a bad plugin. In fact, I think it is awesome. Otherwise, I would not have installed it in the first place. In fact, it probably works fine for others. I’m not so sure. The fact remains, however, that it is what hurt my blog. I would be happy if I can reconfigure it someday to work with my blog. It is after all, a good idea for a plugin.

So there. Thus endeth my search for an answer as to that “blank screen”. And thus begins my quest for the reason why it did so. Nonetheless, I’m happy that my blog is now up and running at WordPress 2.6.

How about you? Have you upgraded to WordPress 2.6? If so, have you had any problems? If you haven’t upgraded yet, does this post make you think twice? Let’s hear it. :)

Suggested Further Reading:

• Thank God For "Restore"
• Thank God For “Restore”

Tags: problem with wordpress plugin, problems, solutions, sticky posts plugin, wordpress 2.6 upgrade issues