Element failed to render = my site is impossible to edit

[simonmason123]

Hi there,

I’d like some support in finding a solution to a very frustrating problem please.

I am unable to edit any pages as since I performed the most recent update to Xtheme (8.1.3) I am seeing an ‘Element failed to render’ message on the back end, when attempting to edit in Cornerstone.

I have read the other topics discussing the options with conflicts and JSS etc but those topics may as well be written in Greek as my understanding of that kind of code stuff is very limited.

Can one of the support people guide me please ?

[tristup]

Hi Simon,

I have visited the listed site in your Themeco account but didn’t find any of the sites updated to the version you specified in your comment. Please note that a few hours ago we have released another version of the theme i.e 8.1.5 with some fixes, I would recommend you to update your theme to the latest one.
I would also suggest you follow the below steps while updating to the latest version of the theme.

1. Delete the Cornerstone
2. Update the X theme to the latest version on automatic updates
3. After the X theme is updated, use the link in the dashboard to automatically install the Cornerstone. It will be at the latest version

If that does not help, please provide login credentials for your site in a secure note to examine it further, including:

– WordPress Site URL & Login URL
– WordPress Admin username/password

To create a secure note, click the key icon underneath any of your posts.

Hope that helps.
Thanks

[alexander]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for sharing the login credentials. I’ve checked your page and found that you had a MailChimp embed code that loads another version of jQuery (different than what WordPress includes) and it caused the element’s to fail. If you recently update to WordPress 5.6 that could be related since they upgraded to jQuery v3 instead of using the v1 branch. I’ve actually tested your embed code on another site and it’s working fine, so I’m not sure what combination of conflicts is happening We’ll look into what can be done to prevent script errors from causing subsequent elements to fail instead of just the one that it is related to.

Meanwhile, I’ve fixed this on your site by moving the embed code into a Raw Content element and toggling the “disable preview” option. This will prevent the script from running in the preview at all and ensure you can continue editing the page. It will continue to function properly on the front end.

[simonmason123]

That’s excellent. Thank you very much.

I din’t really understand the part regarding the source of the issue but am happy with the outcome.

Is there something that I need to do, going forward, to ensure this doesn’t reoccur ?

[alexander]

You’re most welcome. I’m sorry it’s a bit unclear. As for avoiding it in the future, here’s how I would advise troubleshooting similar events. If you see the “Element Failed to Render” error again, try removing any custom scripts or embed codes in the vicinity of the broken element. You can find them by visiting the outline tab and expanding the section. To make things work again you’ll want to remove the embed code, save, then refresh the page. Next it can be repaired by dragging in the Raw Content element and using that to house your embeds or custom integrations.

Regardless, it’s usually something we can snuff out in support so feel free to reach out. I’m hoping in a future update we can find a better way to isolate these conflicts so they don’t make the whole section unusable.