Basic Troubleshooting for Common Website Issues

Encountering issues with your website or hosting can be frustrating. Here are some common problems and basic troubleshooting steps you can take before contacting NG Domain support. This can often help you resolve the issue quickly or provide valuable information to our support team.

1. Website Not Loading / "Site Can't Be Reached"

• Check Your Internet Connection: Ensure your own internet is working. Try visiting other websites.
• Clear Browser Cache and Cookies: Sometimes old data stored in your browser can cause display issues.
• Try a Different Browser/Device: This helps determine if the issue is specific to your browser/device or more widespread.
• Check Your Domain's DNS Propagation: If you recently changed nameservers or DNS records, it can take up to 24-72 hours for these changes to propagate worldwide. Use an online DNS propagation checker.
• Is Your Domain Expired? Log in to your NG Domain account and check if your domain registration is current.
• Is Your Hosting Account Active/Suspended? Check for any notifications from NG Domain regarding billing issues or terms of service violations that might have led to suspension.
• Ping Your Domain: Open a command prompt (Windows) or terminal (Mac/Linux) and type ping yourdomain.ng. If you get replies, your domain is resolving to an IP. If not, there might be a DNS issue.
• Check error_log (via cPanel File Manager): Look for an error_log file in your public_html directory or the directory where your website files are. This log might contain specific PHP errors or server errors.

2. Website Displaying Errors (e.g., 500 Internal Server Error, 403 Forbidden, White Screen)

• 500 Internal Server Error: This is a generic server error.
  • Check your website's error_log file (see above).
  • Incorrect .htaccess file rules can cause this. Try temporarily renaming your .htaccess file (e.g., to htaccess.txt) to see if it resolves the issue.
  • Recent plugin/theme changes (if using a CMS like WordPress) can be a cause. Try deactivating plugins or switching to a default theme.
  • PHP errors in your code.
• 403 Forbidden Error: You don't have permission to access the requested resource.
  • Check file/folder permissions (typically 644 for files, 755 for folders).
  • Issues with .htaccess file.
  • IP blocking (either by you or the server).
• 404 Not Found Error: The requested page or file doesn't exist on the server at that URL.
  • Check for typos in the URL.
  • Ensure the file/page actually exists in the correct location.
  • Permalink issues (for CMS like WordPress, try resaving permalinks).
• White Screen of Death (WSOD - common in WordPress):
  • Often caused by PHP errors or memory limit issues. Enable WP_DEBUG in WordPress or check server error logs.
  • Plugin or theme conflicts are a common cause.

3. Email Issues (Not Sending/Receiving)

• Check MX Records: Ensure your domain's MX records are correctly pointing to your mail server (NG Domain's mail server if using our email, or your third-party provider's).
• Email Client Configuration: Double-check your incoming (IMAP/POP3) and outgoing (SMTP) server settings, ports, username (full email address), and password in your email client.
• Webmail Test: Try sending/receiving email via Webmail (accessible through cPanel). If Webmail works, the issue is likely with your email client setup.
• Mailbox Full: Check if your email account has exceeded its storage quota.
• Spam Filters: Check your spam/junk folder. Also, ensure your emails aren't being incorrectly flagged by the recipient's spam filters (check SPF, DKIM, DMARC records).
• IP Blacklisting: If your server's IP address gets blacklisted, it can affect email delivery.

4. Slow Website

• Test Your Internet Speed: Rule out issues with your local connection.
• Optimize Images: Large, unoptimized images are a common cause of slow load times.
• Browser Caching: Leverage browser caching for static assets.
• Minify CSS/JS: Reduce the size of your code files.
• Content Delivery Network (CDN): Consider using a CDN to serve static content from servers closer to your visitors.
• Check Plugins/Themes (CMS): Poorly coded or too many plugins/themes can slow down your site.
• Server Resources: If you're on shared hosting and consistently experience slowness, you might be outgrowing your plan. Consider upgrading to VPS.
• Use Online Speed Test Tools: Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix can provide detailed performance reports and recommendations.

If you've tried these basic troubleshooting steps and are still experiencing issues, please contact NG Domain support with as much detail as possible about the problem and any steps you've already taken.