Debugging Errors in WordPress Website Development (Group Course-1)
Format options
- Workshop (live, interactive)
- Webinar (presentation with Q&A)
- Team meeting (shorter, focused)
Audience levels
- Beginners: understanding basics, safe debugging practices
- Intermediate: systematic workflows, identifying subtle bugs
- Advanced: deep dives into performance, security-focused debugging, multisite and CI
Agenda (90–120 minutes)
- Welcome and objectives (5 minutes)
- Why debugging matters in WordPress development
- What attendees will learn and leave with (checklist, resources)
- Debugging foundations (15 minutes)
- WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_LOG, WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY
- PHP errors vs. notices vs. warnings
- Reproducibility: creating reliable test cases
- Structured debugging workflow (20 minutes)
- Establishing test environments (local, staging, prod considerations)
- Minimal reproducible example (MRE)
- Debugging checklist template
- Version control practices during debugging
- Core vs. theme/plugin debugging (20 minutes)
- Reading error logs (PHP vs WP_DEBUG_LOG)
- Plugin conflicts: systematic disabling/enabling
- Theme vs. plugin isolation: switch theme, use default themes
- Tools: Query Monitor, Debug Bar, Health Check
- Front-end and performance debugging (15 minutes)
- Front-end vs back-end performance symptoms
- AJAX debugging, REST API endpoints
- Enqueuing scripts/styles correctly, avoiding conflicts
- Caching implications for debugging
- Security-conscious debugging (5 minutes)
- Safe logging practices (avoid exposing sensitive data)
- Debugging on production vs. staging
- Hiding debug details from end users
- Database and data integrity (10 minutes)
- WP_options, transients, and serialized data issues
- Data migrations and plugin compatibility checks
- Measuring queries and indexing considerations
- Error handling, monitoring, and alerts (5 minutes)
- Centralized logging strategies
- Monitoring tools: New Relic, Sentry, Uptime Robot
- Incident response basics and runbooks
- Testing and automation (10 minutes)
- PHPUnit and WordPress-specific tests
- Integration tests for themes/plugins
- Basic CI considerations for debugging feedback
- Real-world case studies (5 minutes)
- Short stories of common WordPress bugs and fixes
- Takeaways and prevention tips
- Q&A and wrap-up (5–10 minutes)
- Open floor for attendee questions
- Share resources: cheat sheets, sample MRE, debugging checklist
Sample discussion prompts (use as slides or breakout prompts)
- “Describe a reproducible scenario you’ve encountered. How would you isolate it with a minimal case?”
- “Which debugging tool gives you the quickest signal when a plugin conflicts?”
- “How do you ensure logs don’t leak sensitive data in a shared environment?”
- “What’s your go-to approach to verify a database-related bug isn’t caused by serialized data?”
Slide outline (suggested)
- Slide 1: Title and objectives
- Slide 2: Quick glossary (WP_DEBUG, logs, errors vs notices)
- Slide 3: Debugging workflow (step-by-step)
- Slide 4: Core vs. theme/plugin debugging (decision tree)
- Slide 5: Tools spotlight (Query Monitor, Health Check, Debug Bar)
- Slide 6: Front-end debugging checklist
- Slide 7: Performance and caching notes
- Slide 8: Security considerations
- Slide 9: Data integrity and database notes
- Slide 10: Monitoring and alerts
- Slide 11: Testing & CI basics
- Slide 12: Case studies
- Slide 13: Quick reference cheatsheet
- Slide 14: Q&A, resources, and next steps
Hands-on activities (optional, increases engagement)
- Activity A: Create a minimal reproducible bug in a local WordPress install and walk through reproducing, logging, and isolating the issue.
- Activity B: Plugin conflict exercise—disable plugins one by one to identify the culprit, then re-enable in a controlled order.
- Activity C: Debugging a broken REST API endpoint with a mocked response and WP_DEBUG_LOG.
Resources to share
- WP_DEBUG best practices guide
- Sample MRE template
- Debugging checklist handout
- List of recommended plugins: Query Monitor, Health Check, Debug Bar
- References for performance monitoring (New Relic, Sentry)
Deliverables attendees should walk away with
- A reproducible debugging checklist tailored to WordPress
- A basic error-handling/logging strategy aligned with their environment
- Confidence to isolate core vs. plugin/theme issues quickly
- Optional: a starter CI/process plan for automatic test runs