Woocommerce cart 503 error

Support
#1

Hi,

I have a development site on Cloudways (Vultr) using the Pro theme and WooCommerce. when I load the checkout page I get the following error (see screenshot).

I have spoken to Cloudways Support and so far they suggested it was a plugin conflict (I proved that with only the woocommerce plugin active, I still have the issue). Then they suggested it was the theme (pro) that was causing the issue.

Can you take a look please as I am not confident the Cloudways support is investigating the issue (and I thought there was closer links between Themeco & Cloudways now)

ProVersion: 1.2.7
WooCommerce Version 3.2.6

#2

Hello @scotbaston,

Thanks for asking. Looks like you are using latest version of WooCommerce 3.2.6. As of now the supported version of WooCommerce is 3.1.1. Please downgrade WooCommerce to version 3.1.1 and see how it goes. You can refer our version compatibility guide for more information:

Thanks.

#3

I am using Pro & WooCommerce version 3.2.6 on a few other sites and on the same host without a problem. Why would it be a problem now?

#4

Hello There,

There could be a fatal error in the check out page. We have tried logging in to your ftp and it seems that the credentials is not working.

Could you please enable the debug mode? You can do this by opening wp-config.php and adding

define('WP_DEBUG', true);

/* That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */

When you revisit the page, you should have some error output describing the issue in more detail.

Please let us know how it goes.

#5

I did provide FTP access details above… but sure, I’ll log in and show you what it says

#6

I added the debug = true code and it didn’t show any changes other than the original error shown in the screenshot.

to show the error, an item needs to be in the basket and then go to checkout (shows the error shown in the original screenshot)

on another note, when installing WooCommerce from the Pro/Overview page in wp-admin, it installs 3.2.6 rather than the ‘approved’ 3.1.1

Oh, and I logged in to the ftp using the exact details provided, so I have no idea why that didn’t work for you

#7

Hello There,

I was able to logged in and set the debug mode and other error logging settings. I can see the 503 error in the check out page as well. Nothing is appearing in the error logs as well. I did a little research more about 503 errors and it may have came from your server. Please check this out: https://www.lifewire.com/503-service-unavailable-explained-2622940

I would recommend that you contact your hosting provider as well. I am sure they can easily tell why the server keeps on resulting to an error 503 in your check out page.

Please let us know how it goes.

#8

I have already been speaking to the host before I logged the call to you.

All I have received from Cloudways is that it appears to be related to the theme (which doesn’t makes sense as I have exactly the same set up on other websites on the same server)

the 503 only happens on the checkout page, not on any other so it does not appear to be a resources issues

#9

Hello There,

We have tested WooCommerce and the theme in our local tester servers. None of the testing servers is returning the error 503. We have several hundreds of theme users running WooCommerce as well yet this is the only case we have seen that a 503 error. Could you please create a staging site so that we can test for a different environment?

To know how to create a staging area, please check out these articles:


Thank you in advance.

#10

Hi,

The version you have access to is a staging area, I have a duplicate which I continue to develop on (which also shows the same problem.

a few updates:
I deleted and reinstalled woocommerce plugin, problem still exists
I deleted and reinstalled the Pro theme, problem still exists
the hosting company support tell me it is a theme issue as the problem doesn’t exist when using a different theme

feel free to make whatever changes you require to the site linked in this post as I have a duplicate version of this install

Thank you for your help

Scot

#11

Hi there,

If you check Admin > Woocommerce > Status, you’ll find this line

MySQL version: 5.5.58 - We recommend a minimum MySQL version of 5.6. See: WordPress requirements

Please make sure you followed the recommended versions first.

I also enabled debug logging and looks like it’s not generated, perhaps your host disabled it? It’s the only way we could see what’s happening internally. Plus, this issue could be due to the combination of 3, host, theme, and Woocoomerce. When the checkout shortcode is added to a different page, it works okay, assigning it triggers the same issue. Could you try contacting them why it’s not generating a debug log?

define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );

Thanks!

#12

Thank you Rad,

for me to upgrade MySQL it would require updating the server with over 20 wordpress (x & pro themes) on it. All of the other sites are working perfectly (on the same server and on the same versions)

I am all for updating the 5.6, but not just before the holidays! plus all the other sites suggest that the issue is not the MySQL version

#13

Update:

Turning off the Terms & Conditions page in WooCommerce Checkout Settings, removes the 503 crash

the Terms & conditions page is a standard pro/cornerstone page with a header & text. any ideas why this would cause the issue?

1 Like
#14

Further update:

if the Terms & Conditions page referenced in the WooCommerce Checkout settings is a Cornerstone or Pro pagebuilder page, it crashes with a 503 error.

if the Terms & Conditions page is a standard wordpress page, it all works wonderfully

is this fixable? as I would like to use the pagebuilder for the terms & conditions

#15

Hi there,

I see, thanks for sharing. But what was the terms & condition page? Please note that editing Woocommerce pages in the cornerstone, or adding cornerstone content within Woocommerce shortcodes (woocommerce checkout is a shortcode) could cause internal error and loops.

Thanks!

#16

Hi Rad, not sure if you saw the very latest update (as they pretty much happened at the same time)

the Terms & Conditions page I had had a V2 headline and a text element with about 20 lorem ipsum paragraphs

nothing complicated and no shortcodes

#17

Hi there,

They are all shortcodes, the checkout uses [woocommerce_checkout], the v2 elements uses shortcodes too. They are just automatically generated once you build your page. Plus, v2 elements are only available from where it’s created, embedding it on another page will not work so please use classic element. And the woocommerce shortcodes has complex process in it.

Thanks!

1 Like
#18

Good to know that V2 elements will not work on an embedded page. I will try recreating the page with classic elements.

By ‘no shortcodes’, I meant none that I had added manually but I take your point that shortcodes are everywhere

Thank you for your help

#19

Hi there,

Yes, you didn’t add them. Wordpress created them and the builder too. Hence, don’t mix the two :slight_smile:

Thanks!

1 Like
#20

There are a bunch of problems with WooCommerce 3.2.x and this theme. It’s been ongoing for 3 months now. I asked support to update the templates back when 3.2.0 came out and was told you guys like to wait a little bit (3 months now). We’re 6 release since then and I’m still running 3.1 with the Pro theme. I can’t believe you’re selling a theme that installs WooCommerce 3.2.6 by default but not supporting the new woo commerce templates in the latest point release. Email notifications and downloads are all messed up.