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This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
After updating WooCommerce, your webshop started crashing, displaying an 'Internal Server Error'. Disabling the WPML Multilanguage CMS plugin temporarily resolves the issue.
Solution:
1. First, try to re-save the Permalinks from the Settings >> Permalinks page by pressing the Save Changes button.
2. If the problem persists, back up your site and add the suggested code in the functions.php file of your active theme. You can find the necessary code and instructions here: WPML FAQ. After adding the code, re-save the permalinks.
3. If the issue continues, enable error reporting by modifying your 'wp-config.php' file. Replace 'define('WP_DEBUG', false);' with the following code:

// Enable WP_DEBUG mode<br />define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );<br /><br />// Enable Debug logging to the /wp-content/debug.log file<br />define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );<br /><br />// Disable display of errors and warnings<br />define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );<br />@ini_set( 'display_errors', 0 );<br /><br />define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', true );

After making these changes, access your site again to see if a debug.log file is created in the /wp-content/ directory, and share its contents if available.

If these steps do not resolve the issue or if it reoccurs, it might be due to outdated solutions or a different underlying problem. We highly recommend checking related known issues at WPML Known Issues, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If the problem persists, please open a new support ticket.

This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.

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This topic contains 4 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by kingsleyN 2 days, 8 hours ago.

Assisted by: Noman.

Author Posts
August 16, 2025 at 9:03 pm #17325028

kingsleyN

<b>Background of the issue: </b>
I was developing my webshop for a few months, and everything was working fine with WooCommerce and WPML plugins installed. However, after updating WooCommerce a few days ago, the site started crashing. The issue can be seen at this link: hidden link. Disabling the WPML Multilanguage CMS plugin solves the issue.

<b>Symptoms: </b>
The site crashes and displays an 'Internal Server Error' after updating WooCommerce.

<b>Questions: </b>
What could be causing the site to crash after updating WooCommerce?
How can I resolve the 'Internal Server Error'?

August 17, 2025 at 3:27 pm #17325534

Noman
WPML Supporter since 06/2016

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Karachi (GMT+05:00)

Hi,

Thank you for contacting WPML Support. Could you please try to follow the below steps and see if this resolves the issue:

1. Re-save the Permalinks from the Settings >> Permalinks page by pressing the Save Changes button and see if this resolves the issue.

2. If the issue persists, take a backup of your site and add the suggested code in functions.php file of active theme: https://wpml.org/faq/why-is-htaccess-getting-overwritten-with-the-language-folder-on-my-wpml-website/, re-save permalinks again from the Settings >> Permalinks page, and see if this resolves the issue.

3. If the issue still persists, please enable error reporting so I can check the error logs and understand what's causing the blank page. To do that, open your ‘wp-config.php’ file and look for ‘define(‘WP_DEBUG’, false);’. Change it to:

// Enable WP_DEBUG mode
define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
 
// Enable Debug logging to the /wp-content/debug.log file
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
 
// Disable display of errors and warnings
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );
@ini_set( 'display_errors', 0 );
 
define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', true );

Once you’ve done that, try accessing the frontend/backend again. If a debug.log file is created in the /wp-content/ directory, please send me its contents.

Please let me know the results,
Thank you

August 17, 2025 at 6:49 pm #17325662

kingsleyN

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. updating the permalink structure fixed the issue. Could you explain why this happened so I understand better the circumstances.

Best Regards
Kingsley

August 17, 2025 at 11:20 pm #17325823

kingsleyN

Hi,

Some additional updates. The fix you suggested updating the new permalinks worked. However as soon as start installing some plugins and changing some settings the 500 internal server error comes back. When applying the permalink fix again it works again.

I have had this happen 3 times now. Disabeling wpml or applying the permalink fix, fixes it. But its not realy workable that i have to do this every 15 minutes.

I will try implementing the second suggestion

August 18, 2025 at 7:11 am #17326249

Noman
WPML Supporter since 06/2016

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Karachi (GMT+05:00)

I’m glad re-saving the permalinks helped. This usually happens because after WooCommerce or other plugins update, the rewrite rules in WordPress can get corrupted or overwritten. Re-saving permalinks refreshes those rules, which is why the issue is temporarily fixed.

Since the error keeps coming back, applying the code from our FAQ (step 2) should help make the fix permanent. Please give that a try, and if the issue still occurs, kindly share the debug log so I can check the exact error.

Thank you for your cooperation

August 19, 2025 at 7:39 pm #17332682

kingsleyN

Adding the code to my functions.php resolved the issue, thanks