502 Bad Gateway Error in WordPress
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A common HTTP error code that you might stumble upon is the 502 bad gateway error. The thing with the HTTP codes is that if you can’t see them then all should be okay. However, once the codes starting with 4** and 5** start popping up then this is a good signal that somewhere along with the network there are issues. This is the way that the server is notifying the client that something has gone wrong.
The errors from the 5 group usually mean that the request was accepted but the server did not carry out the request. In the case of the 502 error “indicates that the server, while acting as a gateway or proxy, received an invalid response from an inbound server it accessed while attempting to fulfill the request.” as stated by the RFC on the matter.
WHAT CAN CAUSE THESE TYPES OF ERRORS?
Inaccessible Server
The endpoint of the request might be down. From time to time the server might be inaccessible for several reasons. These may include power outage or loss of internet connectivity or a system overloading.
Heavy Network Traffic
All networks can only accommodate a certain amount of traffic at a time. If the network, and by extension the DNS servers that constitute it are overwhelmed with signals, the result may be a breakdown in communication. This, in turn, leads to the HTTP 502 error.
Unstable Site
Not that rarely this can be caused by compromised websites. The malware that exists on the site can modify the behavior of the website in various ways and it can also cause this.
Gateway Issues
Lastly, internet gateways may also sustain some issues from time to time. If for instance, it is incapable of pulling the contents from the original web servers, this may compromise the flow of signals and data. This is yet another ground for the emergence of this error.
FIXES AND CHECKS FOR THE 502 ERROR:
Try Reloading the Page
Probably the first thing to do is to wait for a minute or two and then try to load the page again. Commonly, these types of errors are only temporary and often they are resolved within a short period. So you might want to double-check in a couple of minutes.
Clear the Cache
You may try to clear your browser cache, your OS cache, and your DNS cache. As all of these three can sometimes cause these types of error.
Clear the Cookies
Similar to the cache, the cookies also allow websites to be easily revisited. However, the stored data may contribute to the appearance of the pointed error. This is why you should consider clearing them and then you can refresh the page again and check the site.
Disabling Plug-ins
In some cases, you can test and check if disabling plugins will solve this if the above does not help. It is possible that some plugin (or plugins) are not behaving as they should and thus causing the website to behave
Disable CDN or firewall if you use one
If you are using CDN services such as Cloudflare try disabling them for a while clear the cache and then test again. You can also disable any firewall if you have one.
Contact the host
And finally, once you have tried all the above you can get in touch with your host as it will be highly possible that the issue is true with them. Most hosts have status pages so you might want to double-check if there are any outages or if there are any notices sent to the customers for any server issues.
Most of the times these kinds of errors are implying an issue with the host, however, the above fixes and checks might also prove helpful if you happen to get one.
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