WEBSITE HOSTING PROBLEMS
Compiled and Written by Son Do - IM Coordinator 1920.
Copyright IM Team - AIESEC in Vietnam, 2019.

LATEST UPDATE
===
## a. Mentioned recently:
- fixing the SSL certificate => why it has, how to fix it, the real process.
- Plugin Management (for future error-proof).
- Landing/ Home page does not appear.
- application form of EP does not appear/ is not updated.
## b. Need to be updated:
- Problems have already been occurred:
1. Broken Link (perma link)
1. description of various plugin

Who are we?
===
We are a team which consists of 3 people (initially) whose responsibility is to maintain and develop the information management of AIESEC in Vietnam.

Why this document?
===
This document is aim to providing various knowledge ranging from basic to intermediate level about website hosting problem of AIESEC in Vietnam.
By using this document you can understand the various problems which has the solution for each one.

The Content
===
## a. Inmotion Hosting:
### HTTPS:
Appearance: There has been a case when the website is marked as unsafe by (maybe) Google and you cannot access the website.
Cause: Website's SSL certificate was expired and it is no longer allowed to be access by Google.
How: SSL certificate is what shows the website to be reliable to Internet users. Since Google has changed its policy to not allow any website to be accessible if they do not have the approriate SSL cert, it blocks our website which had the cert expired.
Fixing: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/html5/creating-and-managing-accounts/allow-autossl-replace

### LANDING PAGE NOT APPEAR:
Appearance: the main page does not appear when you access aiesec.vn
Cause: There has been an error which is related to a theme customizing plugins named Thesis
How: Thesis plugin allows the user to drag-n-drop customizing the webpage. (Somehow) the webpage is wrongly "customized" which results in its unability to display (in other word broken).
Fixing: We can restart the Thesis plugin by recovering the backup version of the plugin.
Lesson learned: ALWAYS backup!

### FORM IS NOT UPDATED:
Appearance: forms which the user fills in on our website does not send nor update the information into our database
Cause: There is an error in the form plugin.
How: the form plugin either has been turned off, not accepting any more data or the syncing function between the form and the database is broken.
Fixing:
1. Check the plugin to see whether it is turned off
2. Check the spreadsheet containing the database for further coding-error check.

## b. Wordpress:

!!! WARNING !!!
! BEFORE TAKING ANY SYSTEM CHANGING ACTIONS, PLEASE BACKUP THE WEBSITE !

You can refer to the following website for backing up guide:
https://wordpress.org/support/article/wordpress-backups/

!!! WARNING ENDS !!!

### COMMON WORDPRESS PROBLEMS:
https://wordpress.org/support/article/common-wordpress-errors/
### FAQ on Wordpress Support:
https://wordpress.org/support/article/faq-working-with-wordpress/

### PLUGINS:
The plugin is what extend the power of a normal Wordpress website. However, in a large website system such as our aiesec.vn, this could be frustrating for the system to run all the plugins probably if they do not have compatibility to each other.

#### Plugin Compatibility

If a plugin hasn’t been updated since the most recent update to WordPress core, it may be incompatible, or its compatibility may be unknown. You can view compatibility information about plugins from the Add Plugins page, or from the Installed Plugins list.

#### Compatibility of New Plugins
To learn about the compatibility of a plugin before you install it, navigate to Plugins > Add New. Each plugin description on this page includes a note that reads “Compatible with your version of WordPress” or “Untested with your version of WordPress.” You can click the “More details” link to see information about this plugin’s compatibility.


#### Compatibility of Installed Plugin
To learn about the compatibility of plugins you’ve already installed, click the “Plugins” link in the left nav of your site’s dashboard. Each item on this list should contain a “View details” link. Click this to see information about this plugin’s compatibility with different versions of WordPress.


#### More references here: https://wordpress.org/support/article/managing-plugins/

### TROUBLESHOOTING:
Troubleshooting #Troubleshooting
Occasionally, a WordPress Plugin may not work as expected. There is no defined procedure or recipe for troubleshooting such a problem, but this section may be helpful.

#### Resources
Review the plugin’s documentation to confirm that you’ve followed the instructions. See:
Plugins > View details
Plugins > edit (Click readme.txt under “Plugin Files.”)
Search the WordPress Support Forums for the name of the plugin and keywords associated with the problem you are experiencing.
Search the WordPress Plugins Directory for notes on the plugin and links to issues reported in the Forums.
Go to the website of the plugin author and check their blog and plugin page for known issues or advice.
Search the web with the name of the plugin and keywords associated with the issue.
Post a question on the WordPress Support Forums with the name of the Plugin and specific problems in the title. For advice on how to improve your chances of getting help, see Finding WordPress Help.

#### Possible Resolutions
The plugin may be installed, but inactive. Check that the plugin has been activated in your Plugin screen.
Deactivate and re-activate the plugin to see if this makes it work.
The problem may be caused by a conflict with another WordPress plugin. Try deactivating other plugins to identify the conflict.
The plugin may be a buggy or incompatible. Search for similar plugins that you can try instead.

Advanced Troubleshooting #
The information in this section may be unfamiliar or intimidating to anyone new to WordPress. If you are an experienced WordPress user and you have no fear of going “under the hood,” this section may be helpful.

If you are experiencing problems with a new plugin or one that stopped working after an update, these steps can help you troubleshoot:

If you manually installed the plugin:
Check the location of the plugin folder. You should find it under wp-content/plugins.
If you are uploading a new version of the plugin, check that any old versions have been deleted or moved.
Use your SFTP program to delete the plugin folder, and then re-install it.
If you modified your WordPress theme to accommodate the plugin, review your changes. Make sure your code is correct, free of typos, and in the right place (e.g. within the WordPress loop vs. outside of it).
If the Plugin does not appear in the Plugins List, view the Plugin’s main file in the Plugin Editor to ensure the Plugin’s header text exists and is properly formed.
If you’re using a custom WordPress Theme, try using one of the default WordPress Themes to see if your issue is Theme related. If it is, contact the Theme developer for assistance.
Deactivate all your plugins to ensure they’re not causing the problem. Reactivate the problematic one. If it works, there may be a conflict. Activate the others one by one to see if the problem returns, which may indicate the conflicting plugin.

#### Plugin Management
Plugins are managed from the Plugins admin screen of your WordPress site. This list shows all installed plugins, whether they are active or inactive. From this screen, you can activate, deactivate and delete plugins. Each plugin on the list also contains links to further information about the plugin. Plugins listed in bold are currently active.

The main file in each plugin should have a file header that shows basic information about the plugin. WordPress recognizes the header and, if it’s present and correctly formatted, uses it to populate the list of plugins in the admin screen.

<?php
/**
 * Plugin Name: Magic Plugin
 * Description: Magic Plugin performs magic. 
 * Plugin URI: http://example.com/magic-plugin
 * Version: 2.3
 * Author: Mr. Magic 
 * Author URI: http://example.com/
 * Text Domain: magic-plugin 
 * 
 * @package Magic Plugin
 */

?> 

If a plugin you installed is missing from the list on this admin screen, there could be a problem with its file header.

Each plugin should also have a readme.txt file, which includes information about its authors, version, license, installation steps and more. To view this, click the Edit link on the admin screen, then click readme.txt under the Plugin Files list.

Must-Use Plugins #
In a WordPress multisite network, you can install a plugin as must-use, meaning it is active on all sites in the network. By installing one or more plugins as must-use, you can standardize functionality across the sites in your multisite network. Must-use plugins can’t be deactivated using the Plugins screen.

WordPress loads these plugins before normal plugins, which means that code and hooked functions registered in a must-use plugin can be assumed available to all other plugins.

The information in this section applies to WordPress multisite only. The concept of must-use plugins does not apply in a single-site WordPress instance. See Must Use Plugins and Create A Network for more details.

#### Hiding Plugins When Deactivated
When activated, some plugins add code to the WordPress template files. This extra code may remain in place even after the plugin is deactivated, and can affect the look or functionality of the theme, causing errors. Therefore, it is imperative to prevent an inactive plugin from being detected and used. To do this, add PHP code to the template to perform a simple function_exists() check. (See the example, below.) Upload the modified template to your wp-content folder.
The if (function_exists()) checks for the plugin, and will only call the plugin’s function if the plugin is installed and active. If function_exists() returns FALSE, it will ignore the plugin function and continue loading the page.

<?php 
if ( function_exists( 'FUNCTION NAME' ) ) {
  FUNCTION_NAME();
}
?>
This example plugin uses a function called alex_get_shoutbox() to print out its contents.

<?php
if ( function_exists( 'alex_get_shoutbox' ) ) {
  alex_get_shoutbox();
}
?> 
>

### AVAILABLE PLUGINS:
So far, here is the list of plugins we have which runs good:

Custom Fields
Custom Permalinks
Elementor
Elementor Pro
GDPR Cookie Compliance
GF Google Sheet Connector
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP (GADWP)
Google Tag Manager for Wordpress
Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms + Podio
Gravity Forms Entries in Excel
Gravity Forms Google Spreadsheet Addon
Gravity Forms MailChimp Add-On
Gravity Forms Zapier Add-on
Really Simple SSL
Redirection
String Locator
Tracking Code Manager
WP Quiz