Health and troubleshooting
4 min read
Mass Custom Fields is designed so that a failure inside the plugin never takes your site down. When part of the plugin throws an error, that part is skipped, the error is recorded, you are told, and the page keeps loading.
What the plugin does when something fails
- The failing piece (a shortcode, a block, an integration, a REST call) returns a safe empty result, so visitors see the page without that piece.
- The error is logged under a module name (for example "Field shortcode" or "Elementor integration").
- Administrators are told in four places: a notice in wp-admin, a notice on the dashboard, Settings › Health and WordPress's own Tools › Site Health.
- If an integration with another plugin (Yoast SEO, Rank Math, Elementor, WPML, a form plugin and so on) fails 5 times within 10 minutes, the plugin switches that integration off to protect your site, until you turn it on again.
Core work such as saving field values is never switched off, because that could lose data without you noticing. It is only reported.
REST requests that fail return the message "Something went wrong on the server. The error was logged in WPM Fields › Settings › Health." If saving field values fails you see a message pointing to the same place.
Where you are told
Place | What you see |
|---|---|
wp-admin notice (administrators, any admin page) | "Mass Custom Fields caught N errors. Your site keeps working; the failing parts were skipped." and, for switched-off integrations, " |
Dashboard | The notice "Some parts of the plugin need attention" with a View details link |
Tools › Site Health | A test "Mass Custom Fields health": good (no errors in the last 24 hours), recommended (errors in the last 24 hours) or critical (an integration is switched off) |
WPM Fields › Settings › Health | The full list, below |
Dismiss and opening the Health tab both mark the current errors as "seen", which clears the notice until a new error happens.
Settings › Health
Open WPM Fields › Settings › Health.
Switched-off integrations (only shown when there are any). Each row shows the integration's name and "Off since <date and time>: <the error message>". Click Turn on after you updated or fixed the plugin it connects to. If it keeps failing, it is switched off again after 5 more failures.
Caught errors. A list, newest first, of up to 50 distinct errors. Each entry shows:
- the module name (for example "Elementor dynamic tags"),
- a New badge if it happened since you last opened the tab,
- "N times, last
<date and time>", - the error message (up to 500 characters),
- the file and line, and the PHP error type, for example
…/plugins/other-plugin/file.php:120 (RuntimeException).
Clear log empties the list. With no errors you see "No errors recorded. Everything has been running smoothly."
An error in another plugin's file usually means that plugin needs an update. The tab reminds you to include the file and line when you contact support.
Raising the detail level
If WP_DEBUG_LOG is on in wp-config.php, every caught error is also written to your PHP error log as [wpmcf:module] message in file:line. Developers can make the plugin re-throw errors while testing with the WPMCF_GUARD_RETHROW constant; do not use it on a live site.
Common problems
Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
Admin screens load but stay blank or spin | REST API blocked, or a script error from another plugin | Open your browser's developer console. Test with other plugins off. Check Health. |
A page builder tag prints nothing | The integration was switched off | Settings › Health › Turn on; update the builder |
"Table not found" errors right after an update | The database upgrade was running in another request | Reload; if it persists, deactivate and reactivate the plugin (data is kept) |
Field values do not save | A caught error, a blocked REST route, or a validation rule on the field | Read the message on the edit screen, then Health |
Saved values are not visible on the site | A page cache is serving the old page | Enable Clear page caches after changes under Settings › General, or clear your cache |
Map shows no tiles | Browser or firewall blocks OpenStreetMap or Google | See Settings › General › Maps |
Site is slow after importing many rows | Imports and Pro tasks run in the background in batches | Wait for them to finish; see the background tasks area of the relevant feature |
Before you ask for help
Collect:
- Plugin version (Plugins screen), WordPress version, PHP version, and database version (Tools › Site Health › Info).
- Free or Pro, and your plan (Settings › Plan & license).
- The entries from Settings › Health (copy the module, message, file and line).
- What you did, what you expected and what happened. Screenshots help.
- Whether it still happens with only Mass Custom Fields active and a default theme.
Where to ask:
- Free: the plugin's support forum on WordPress.org.
- Pro: email support. Use the Contact option of the plugin's account menu or wpmass.com.
Never post license keys, API keys or passwords in a public forum.
Still stuck? Contact support