Go Live Update Urls –Troubleshooting

Note: The PRO version includes URL testing which catches common errors before running. 

Not all urls are updating

Sometimes urls will get stored in the database with an inconsistent scheme or without the trailing / at the end of a URL. These types of inconsistencies may easily be resolved by running the plugin without the scheme nor trailing slash.

For example if you were changes http://test.com to http://newdomain.com you would enter the following settings when running the plugin:

• Old URL = test.com
• New URL = newdomain.com

That will clear up and dangling urls which did not update.

Server configuration

The most common issue when going live is caused by the server or domain’s DNS not being setup to handle the new domain. If you enter the new domain in your browser, and do not reach your website, this is most likely the issue.

The following is required for any domain on any server (not just WordPress sites):

1. The server must be configured to support the domain.
2. The server must be configured to point the domain to the directory containing the site’s files.
3. The DNS for the domain must be pointed to the server.

URL typos

If a typo occurs, you may restore the site by reverting the database using the backup you made before running the plugin. If the site is still accessible, you may be able to fix the database by running this plugin again, with this time entering the typo as the Old URL and the correct URL as the New URL.

Common typos include:

1. Adding a / to the end of the Old URL and not the New URL.
2. Adding a / to the beginning of the New URL and not the Old URL.
3. Adding an http:// to the beginning of the new url and not the old url.

The PRO version includes URL testing which detects and fixes most common typos before they happen.

Theme or Plugin Caches

Some plugins or themes have their own cache built in. While the Go Live plugin is aware of many of these caches and will clear them automatically, there is chance the site is using a plugin or theme which must be cleared manually.

Look for a “cache” setting of any plugin or theme used to build pages, sites or styles and clear the cache if applicable.

If you find a cache which is not handled automatically by the Go Live plugin, please let us know so we can support it.

Homepage Redirect Loop

If after running the plugin, you find your homepage is stuck in a redirect loop and your browser gives you and error like this, the most likely culprit is a 301 redirect plugin.

The <domain> page isn’t working,

<domain> redirected you too many times.
Try clearing your cookies.

The issue can occur if the 301 redirect plugin had a redirect from the old domain to the new domain. When the old domain is replaced with the new domain in the database, the redirect was also updated. A redirect now exists to redirect the new domain to the new domain.

Deleting the redirect from 301 redirect plugin will resolve the issue.

Script debug mode

If you are having issues with the admin area breaking or not loading you may enable script debug mode which provides more robust error information on the screen and in the browser console.

You may enable script debug mode in the following ways:

1. Add a following line to your site’s wp-config.php file:
   1. define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', true );
2. Add the following parameter to the current URL of the Go Live tools page.
   1. &script-debug=true
   2. Example:
   3. wp-admin/tools.php?page=go-live-update-urls-settings&script-debug=true

If you have having issues, please enable script debug mode and submit a support request with the screen and console information.

Serialized data

Go Live Update Urls does fully supporting updating serialized data. However, some plugins or themes will store the result of full PHP classes in the database. While frowned upon, this will technically work as long as the PHP class remains available.

If the PHP class which is stored in the database and is later removed from the codebase, the corresponding serialized data cannot be updated. Rows containing this type of invalid data will be skipped during update and logged to the PHP error log or debug log if enabled.

If you see something like this in your error log:

Go Live skipped row <row id> in table <table> because it contains an unavailable PHP class named <name>.

Some rows are being skipped because a PHP class is missing. Restoring the missing PHP class will allow the data to be updated for the skipped rows. The skipping of rows may optionally be disabled using this filter.