New Wordpress Website - 500 Internal Server Error

[mhannor]

Hello,
We just installed a new website. We are getting the exact same issue below. GoDaddy said, this theme is not compatiable with the PHP version. Can you all please check because we have the exact same error, we opened a ticket with you all before with this error and you all told us to do some of the same steps below and they did not work. If one person is having the issue, maybe its them but if multiple people are having the same issue, we can say its something within the theme. Can you please take a deeper dive. We will have to use another plugin until this is resolve. Thanks for the speedy reply.

Consistent cPanel 500 Internal Server Error when trying to access Menus within Pro

[Screen Shot 2026-08-21 at 11.18.39 AM] Overview I have a relatively new WordPress site that was built only several months ago using ThemeCo Pro. This is a small/simple site and has only six plugins installed . It is hosted on the same hosting account/environment where I have approximately six other WordPress sites, also running Pro without this problem. The site itself is working normally on the Visitor’s side (live), and I can access the WordPress admin and Pro/Cornerstone. Web site: https…

[ruenel]

Hey Marshae,

Thank you for reaching out, and I apologise for the trouble. That thread has since been resolved, and the steps below reflect what fixed it.

Regarding GoDaddy’s assessment: in that case, the error persisted on both PHP 8.3 and PHP 8.4, and disappeared without any PHP change. PHP version was not the cause there, so please do not stop at that explanation.

Quick Check

• Confirm PHP version is 8.1+.
• Confirm both Pro/X and Cornerstone are updated to the latest versions.
• Confirm where the error appears — front end, wp-admin generally, or only a specific admin screen such as Appearance > Menus. This distinction narrows the cause considerably.

Troubleshooting

1. Reset your permalinks – Go to Settings > Permalinks and click Save Changes without altering anything. This regenerates the rewrite rules and is the step that resolved the identical report in the linked thread. Please try this first.

2. Increase PHP max input variables – In cPanel, open MultiPHP INI Editor and set max_input_vars to 5000. The default of 1000 is frequently exceeded on the Menus screen, as Pro loads the Cornerstone admin assets and icon library there.

3. Test with a default theme – Temporarily activate Twenty Twenty-Five, confirm the affected screen loads, then reactivate Pro. This tells us whether the error survives the permalink reset and isolates the theme as a factor rather than an assumption.

We would be happy to double check your site if we can log in. You can create a secure note in your next reply with the following info:
– Link to your site
– WP login URL
– WP username
– WP password
– WP Administrator Role
– Confirmation that we can access and make changes to your site

To know how to create a secure note, please check this out: How The Forum Works

Best Regards.