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Introduction
WordPress is arguably the top-most content management system of this era. Many webmasters are using it for hosting their websites. This makes their lives much easier and they can focus on the real business.
The WordPress team is doing its best in order to make the best customer experience possible. There is a deluge of themes and gallery plugins available which you can use to further modify and personalize your content.
However, nothing is perfect, and this amazing website management platform also comes with its problems. The important thing remains that you deal with these problems in an efficient and timely manner so that things can run smoothly.
Many users are frequently receiving the WordPress updating failed error and WordPress publishing failed errors. Noticing the frequency of online users frustrated with this issue, BionicWP decided to take it upon itself to make things easier for its users.
In this article, we will dig deep into the above stated problems and propose the best method to fix it. We will analyze what the problem actually is so that it becomes easier to resolve it. If you are getting these errors whilst trying to make any change in your website, it’s not a good sign.
The ‘updating failed’ and ‘publishing failed’ error is problematic for both the owners and the users. You are lucky that we have found a few causes of this error and their solution. Just some time is taken to troubleshoot, and you will be good to go. Let’s start without any further ado!
Reasons for failing WordPress to update or publish content
Let us analyze some common reasons for WordPress causing these errors. The WordPress block editor is nothing new for the users and the feedback for this feature of WordPress is a bit confusing. Some people are positive about it while others dislike it.
The WordPress publishing failed error is one of them. It is one of the errors that WordPress users can face because of the block editor and pops out often while using it.
It typically happens when you press the publish button on the layout when you want to broadcast your content. The WordPress updating failed error is another variant of the error. This can pop up when you try to edit any post or page on your website.
This problem can be very frustrating and it is a nightmare for bloggers as they have to publish new content daily as well as to update the previous content. WordPress publishing failed error has many causes. However, there is a particular one linked with the block editor feature.
The current WordPress editing feature relies on REST API for publishing, creating or saving any posts. For the case that some bug or error is stopping this feature from performing in your WordPress site, you will not be able to publish any content.
For a newcomer or a normal less technical-oriented user, REST API might sound frightening. But for our case, there is no need to be anxious.
You only need an understanding of what is the role of REST API in WordPress. In lay man’s terms, It is a communication bridge between block editor and the WordPress.
When this bridge is broken or disrupted, you get the WordPress publishing failed error as the block editor’s functioning is compromised. For this reason of the error, you will need to get the REST API up and running again to resolve the problem.
4 main steps of how to fix the WordPress errors (Updating and Publishing)
Realizing the problem is crucial to resolve it and the process becomes much easier once you are sure what the problem actually is. Take a look at the four steps for solving the WordPress updating failure error:
- Find out if the REST API is blocked
- If REST API is causing the problem, try re-enabling it to solve the issue
- Another important step is to allow debugging mode for finding any possible error sources
- Install and activate the class editor plugin as a temporary solution
- 1. Determining if REST API is the culprit
We have already established the fact that a common cause of the “publish failed” error in WordPress is the REST API getting disrupted. This dysfunctionality causes irregularity in the content transition from offline to online.
If you want your content to get published smoothly, you need to get rid of this issue. In this condition, it’s best if you start the troubleshooting with the REST API to see if it’s working properly or not.
Doing this is an easy task. You just need to access the SITE Health tool. For getting there, follow the path Tools> Site Health.
Now, you will notice the list of any current issues with your installation compiled directly by WordPress. You should see something like this:
You should also notice a particular error indicated by the Site Health Tool which will cause an “unexpected result”. It can also be the “404 not authorized” response which means that there is an operation time out. You could also get a “403 Cookie Nonce is Invalid” error as well.
The next step will depend upon the specific error you have encountered. If you have found the source of your error and what the error actually is, you’re ready for the next step.
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- 2. Get the REST API up and running again by dealing with the error
In ideal cases, the Site Health Tool will tell you how to deal with the specific error you are encountering. This will enable you to get the REST API working again. These solutions will be like this:
- Find out if the Cloudflare is disrupting the REST API. It could be the firewall established by the Cloudflare which is blocking the REST API. For this, you will need to go into Cloudflare interface and check for the rules. If the rules state that REST API is blocked, uncheck that box to solve the error.
- Another culprit could be the plugin you are using. Some plugins do this strange thing to block the REST API. For troubleshooting this, you will need to disable your plugins one at a time. In this way, you will find out which plugin is the source of the error and you will be able to make the necessary changes. You can either replace or change the settings of the culprit plugin. Security and performance optimization settings can also be the source sometimes so check them too.
- Use your .htaccess file to authenticate the WordPress site with the REST API. It is among the requirements of the REST API that the site needs to be authenticated before functioning. In case that it does not happen, you will need to make some changes in your .htaccess file to cater for this problem.
- The issue could also be related to the server you are using. Reports show that some WordPress users encountered this problem while using the Windows server. For fixing this issue, you will have to make changes to your web. config file.
For most of the cases, the culprits are a plugin or your firewall. Use your wits and start the search from the most probable causes of the error.
There is a great chance that you will find the tool that is causing the WordPress publishing failed error and make the necessary amendments to deal with the issue.
- 3. Enabling the Debugging Mode
Consider you were not able to solve the problem using the methods discussed above. Then you need to do something different. In this case, try enabling the debugging mode of WordPress for a better troubleshoot. It is possible that you find your solution here.
When you activate it, the debugging module will basically compile all the PHP responses in the file named as debug.log in your site’s wp-content directory.
You will need to look into this file for any possible errors that could be causing the communication gap between REST API and WordPress rendering to interruption in post to publish and update.
Add this code to your wp-config.php to enable the debug mode:
You will need to add this code after the line having “/* That’s all, stop editing! happy blogging. */”.
Once you have resolved the error, make sure to remove the code from there. It is for the reason that it is not part of the original code and is an unnecessary addition. You don’t want your WordPress site to behave abnormally in normal situations because of this.
By now, you should have dealt with your error by identifying it. However, if that’s not the case, don’t lose hope. We still have got a special solution which will be a temporary one. Read further to know about it!
- 4. Install and Activate the Classic Editor Plugin
It is very unlikely that the above solutions do not help you with your problem. If you have tried all of them and still can not get rid of the WordPress updating Failure error, you’ll need to seek professional help. For this, you can contact the support from the WordPress team using any of the following methods:
- If you have a notion that the issue is your server related, try contacting your hosting provider. You can only do this if your host provides you with WordPress support.
- If you think that a third-party tool linked with your WordPress site is causing the issue, contact the support team of that tool. This is the case when this software is causing the problem and you cannot deal with it yourself. So, you will need help from the external sources.
- If you want further guidance into the matter, try contacting the WordPress Support Forums. You can do this for problems such as a free plugin that does not provide user support.
While you are contacting the hosting provider, you might also want to consider installing the classic editor plugin to resolve the issue:
As the TinyMCE editor does not require using the REST API to publish or update any post, you should be able to make the necessary changes to your content with it.
Although, you should keep in mind that this is only a temporary solution and not a permanent resort. You’ll need to find the root cause in the block editor to deal with the problem in the real and the best sense.
Keep your hopes high and get working as tech-solutions are not an easy go. You will need to go about it very patiently.
Summary and Conclusion
If you are not able to publish or update any content on your WordPress website, it can cause very serious problems. As a webmaster, you’d never want any interruption in the content flow or any compromise on the quality of the content.
You are in good luck that there are some natural causes of the problem and you can quickly troubleshoot the error. If you are getting the WordPress updating failure error or the WordPress publishing failure error, you can try any of the four methods we discussed above.
As a last resort, we also proposed a temporary solution to the problem to at least manage the flow disruption for the time being which is installing and activating the classic editor plugin. This will enable you to deal with the problem in an effective way as this plugin does not require any connection with the REST API to access the site.
At BionicWP, we try our best to make our customers’ lives easier by taking the effort upon ourselves. We try the best to find the top-most solutions to your technical problems and communicate them to you in an effective way.
By doing this, we are ensuring a strong bond of trust between us and our users. Our team of WordPress engineers solve complex problems like the one discussed in this article and many more on an ongoing basis for our growing number of users. If you are someone looking to get your WordPress powered website managed by a professional company feel free to check out our platform.
We hope that you found this article helpful and that you are done with error as of now. Remember, the main goal of the troubleshooting is to understand the problem first and then go for its solution.
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