WordPress fixes reproduced in a disposable install, verified end to end. 2026-11-09T00:00:00-07:00 https://siterepairmanual.com/ https://siterepairmanual.com/guides/database-connection-error/ 2026-11-09T00:00:00-07:00

Tell a wrong database password from a dead database server, then fix the right one. Reproduced in a disposable WordPress 7.1.4 install: wrong password returned HTTP 500 with “Error establishing a database connection”; restoring the password returned HTTP 200.

https://siterepairmanual.com/guides/white-screen-of-death/ 2026-11-09T00:00:00-07:00

Turn on WP_DEBUG, read the fatal error out of debug.log, and deactivate the plugin that caused it. Reproduced in a disposable WordPress 7.1.4 install: a bad plugin update took the homepage from HTTP 200 to HTTP 500, and deactivating the plugin brought it back.