Persistent Database Connection Error

  • errorslayer

    (@errorslayer)


    7 years, 5 months ago

    Hi,

    I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this so feel free to move!

    I’ve been getting a persistent ‘error establishing a database connection’ error. The error only occurs when I make changes to a page and then try to update it. It lasts for only a few seconds (maybe 30 max) and then stops and I can visit my site as normal. It also doesn’t occur every single time that I try to update a page; it only happens randomly and I’ve been unable to reliably replicate it.

    Here’s what I’ve tried to fix it:

    -Optimizing/repairing the database
    -Verifying login credentials in wp-config.php
    -Painstakingly testing each plugin one by one multiple times
    -Enabling the error log
    -Contacting my host multiple times

    The error log only showed 3 messages, all of which related to plugins. I tried disabling 2 of the plugins and the error persisted.

    The third error message was this:

    Notice: Undefined variable: parent_style in /home/x/public_html/wp-content/themes/NepalBuzz-Child/functions.php on line 13

    I used a child theme plugin to create my current theme so I’m not sure how I would even go about fixing this error. Still, I don’t believe that this error is causing the issue because I’ve been using this theme since the very beginning of my site and never had any problems up until now.

    When I contacted my hosting service they ultimately told me that the error was happening because we were using too much disk space and our site wasn’t optimized. I did a ton of work on our site analyzing pages using GMetrix to optimize them (I haven’t had a chance to do every single page yet since I’ve been busy working on other things, but I made a dent), installed a cache plugin that increased our site’s speed by a lot, and also deleted a bunch of unneeded files from cpanel. This seemed to help for a while, but the database connection error came back.

    Is my hosting service right? Is it possible that this error is because we’re using up too much space/our site isn’t optimized? What can I do to resolve this? I deleted as many unnecessary files as I could and I’m going to go back to work on optimizing more pages (unfortunately I can’t really delete any plugins because we need all the ones we’re currently using). It just seems strange that this would cause a database connection error, especially since I’ve Googled this issue multiple times and followed many guides trying to resolve this error, and none of them mentioned this as a possible cause. Then again, I’m not a developer so I could be wrong.

    Any help/advice on fixing this issue once and for all would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

    • This topic was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by errorslayer.
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  • Moderator Jan Dembowski

    (@jdembowski)

    Forum Moderator and Brute Squad

    7 years, 5 months ago

    I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this so feel free to move!

    Moved to Fixing WordPress, this is not an Everything else WordPress topic.

    When I contacted my hosting service they ultimately told me that the error was happening because we were using too much disk space and our site wasn’t optimized.

    I think you need a new host provider. The host plan that you’re using may be too lightweight. That error happening that frequently means the mysql database is coping badly with your load.

    You can try a caching plugin that’s based on creating static files for your unchanged content. WP Super Cache does that, there are others.

    https://ww.wp.xz.cn/plugins/search/cache/

    Essentially your WordPress site is trying to connect to your database server and it’s not picking up the phone. By adding a caching plugin that should keep the queries down and lessen the load to your DB.

    Thread Starter errorslayer

    (@errorslayer)

    7 years, 5 months ago

    Hi,

    Thank you! Unfortunately I’ve already been using WP Super Cache for a while now and although it’s definitely helped in some aspects, the error persists.

    I will definitely look into a new host provider. Thanks.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

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