Headers and footer not shown anymore

Support
#1

My headers and footer not showing in the frontend, please help!
Also pages are not showing up after update…

If I restore a backup, it’s working again but if I update Pro again, it’s messed up again

#3

Can you please help? As soon as I edit something in Cornerstone, header and footer don’t show up anymore on the frontend en pages are corrupt. For example: https://roccocoronel.com/event/2026/f4-spanish-championship-round-3.

I tried to disable plugins, delete Pro and Child and reinstall but still the problem.

If I restore a backup, everything is okay until I edit with Cornerstone again. Maybe a error in the database? I don’t know but please help!

The frontend looks okay now because I just restored a backup but please update Pro and edit something in Cornerstone and see!

#4

Hey @cvdw,

I checked your server settings and here’s what I think is causing the issue:

1. Opcode Cache Interned String Buffer is 100% Full (Highly Likely)

  • What the settings show:
    • Opcode cache internal string usage: 100.00% of 8 MB (24 B free)
  • Why it causes corruption:
    OPcache stores compiled PHP code and shared string literals (like class names, function names, and constants) in memory to make your site fast. Your interned strings buffer is completely full (only 24 bytes free).
    When you update the Pro theme, it introduces new PHP classes and code strings. Since the buffer is full, PHP cannot cache these new strings properly. When you try to edit and save with Cornerstone, this cache saturation can cause PHP to misbehave, fail to serialize the data correctly, or load outdated cached classes. This corrupts the data written to the database.
  • How to fix it:
    You or your hosting provider should increase the buffer size in the server’s php.ini file:
    1. Look for opcache.interned_strings_buffer in your php.ini or opcache.ini file.
    2. Change its value from the default 8 to 16 or 32 (or even 64 since you have plenty of memory):
      opcache.interned_strings_buffer=32
    3. Restart your web server/PHP process for it to take effect.

2. FastCGI (cgi-fcgi) Stale Cache Mismatch

  • What the settings show:
    • PHP SAPI: cgi-fcgi
  • Why it causes corruption:
    FastCGI keeps PHP processes alive in the background. When you overwrite the theme files during an update, the active FastCGI processes often continue using the old compiled code cached in OPcache.
    If you open Cornerstone and save, the server processes the request using a mismatch of old memory-cached code and new theme files on disk. This mismatch frequently results in corrupted database entries (broken serialization).
  • How to fix it:
    • Always clear/flush the OPcache immediately after updating the theme. You can do this using a plugin like WP OPcache, or by asking your host to reload/restart the PHP-FPM / FastCGI service.
    • Alternatively, temporarily disable the OPcache or put your site in development mode on your hosting panel before performing the update and first edit.

3. Custom .htaccess Rules Block/Interference

  • What the settings show:
    • Custom rules have been added to your .htaccess file
  • Why it causes corruption:
    Cornerstone communicates back and forth with your server using WordPress REST API endpoints (e.g., /wp-json/themeco/...). Custom security, redirect, or caching rules in your .htaccess file can sometimes intercept, block, or strip payload headers from these REST requests. When Cornerstone tries to write the updated layout to the database, it receives an incomplete payload and saves a corrupted/blank structure.
  • How to fix it:
    • Temporarily rename your .htaccess file to .htaccess_backup, go to Settings > Permalinks and click Save Changes (to generate a clean, default WordPress .htaccess file).
    • Try updating and editing in Cornerstone. If it works, a custom rule in your original .htaccess was blocking the saving mechanism.

If none of that still fixes the issue, we need to deactivate ALL third party plugins before updating Pro. I believe that is not good to do in your live site so please create a copy of your live site and provide us the staging/copy URL.

Thanks.

#5

Hi,

We tried everything you mentioned but still the same problem as soon as I edit something with Cornerstone. The support of the hosting investigated and replied this:

[29-Jul-2026 10:55:05 UTC] WordPress database error Not unique table/alias: 'FhaQfA_postmeta' for query SELECT  DISTINCT FhaQfA_posts.ID

FROM FhaQfA_posts  LEFT JOIN FhaQfA_postmeta ON ( FhaQfA_posts.ID = FhaQfA_postmeta.post_id AND FhaQfA_postmeta.meta_key = '_ptt_hide_recent_posts' ) LEFT JOIN FhaQfA_postmeta ON FhaQfA_postmeta.post_id = FhaQfA_posts.ID 

WHERE 1=1  AND ( 

  FhaQfA_postmeta.post_id IS NULL

) AND FhaQfA_posts.post_type = 'cs_header' AND ((FhaQfA_posts.post_status = 'tco-data')) AND (FhaQfA_posts.post_type LIKE 'cs%' OR FhaQfA_postmeta.meta_key = '_cornerstone_settings') 

GROUP BY FhaQfA_posts.ID

ORDER BY FhaQfA_posts.post_title ASC

LIMIT 0, 100 made by require('wp-blog-header.php'), require_once('wp-includes/template-loader.php'), apply_filters('template_include'), WP_Hook->apply_filters, Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\FrontEnd->setup_after_template_include, do_action('cs_late_template_redirect'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\Resolver->setup_header, Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\Assignments->get_active_header, Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\Assignments->getFirstMatch, Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\Assignments->getCachedRules, Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\Assignments->get_rules, Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\Locator->find_posts, get_posts, WP_Query->query, WP_Query->get_posts

This error message indicates that, at the time the page is being processed, a duplicate LEFT JOIN is being executed on the same database table. The second FhaQfA_postmeta reference should either use an alias or refer to a different table. However, the same table name is used twice, causing the database to be unable to interpret the query correctly.

The query is executed by Themeco\Cornerstone\Services\FrontEnd , although this does not necessarily mean that the issue is caused by a bug in Cornerstone itself. It is also possible that the problem originates from a standard WordPress function or another plugin that affects the page layout.

A WordPress post or page—such as the page that currently displays a blank screen—is ultimately stored and processed through the database. If the generated query contains instructions that the database cannot interpret correctly, this could result in unstable behavior and cause page updates or publishing operations to fail.

Unfortunately, we are not sufficiently familiar with Cornerstone or your specific setup to determine with certainty what is causing this behavior, where the issue originates, or whether this is indeed the root cause of the problems you are experiencing.

To determine whether this is the cause (or one of the possible causes), I recommend submitting this error message to the Themeco/Cornerstone support team for further investigation. I also recommend temporarily disabling your other WordPress plugins via the WordPress admin area and then trying to publish the page again. If that does not help, you could create and publish a new test page to see whether the issue can be reproduced there as well.

At this stage, we cannot completely rule out the possibility that the Opcode Cache Interned String Buffer plays a role in the issue you are experiencing. However, we currently have very little evidence to support that theory. If the Cornerstone support team has logs, error messages, or other diagnostic information indicating otherwise, I would be happy to review that information and continue our investigation based on their findings.

If you have any questions regarding this message, please feel free to let me know.

I tried also with all plugins disabled but still the same problem.

Please help to get this site up and running as soon as possible.

#6

Hey @cvdw,

The error log provided by your hosting support is the exact root cause of why your headers, footers, and pages disappear or corrupt when you edit or update the theme.

Here is a clear explanation of what is happening.

What is the error?

Your database reports this SQL error:
WordPress database error Not unique table/alias: 'FhaQfA_postmeta'

This occurs when WordPress tries to run a query to fetch your Cornerstone headers/footers (post_type = 'cs_header'), but two different pieces of code are trying to join the postmeta table at the same time:

  1. Cornerstone’s internal query tries to join the postmeta table to find templates using the standard table name.
  2. Another custom function/filter on your site is trying to join the postmeta table to filter out posts based on the custom meta key _ptt_hide_recent_posts.

Because both codes join the postmeta table directly (without using a unique alias like pm1 or pm2), the database gets confused by the duplicate table name and crashes. As a result, the query returns 0 headers and 0 footers, making them disappear on your frontend.

Where is _ptt_hide_recent_posts coming from?

A thorough scan of Pro theme files shows that this term is not written inside the files of the parent Pro theme.

It is highly likely stored in your WordPress Database inside the Code Snippets plugin (wp_snippets table) or dynamically generated by a setting. Even if you tried deactivating plugins, the log entry was recorded at a specific time when that custom query filter was active (or cached in memory).

Regretfully, we cannot continue the investigation without the staging website. Please provide the staging URL.

#7

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