Archived topic
Error: Unable to communicate back with site
31 replies · Started by Maria on July 19, 2020
Unable to make any changes to functions.php through Appearance > Theme Editor. Error: Unable to communicate back with site to check for fatal errors, so the PHP change was reverted. You will need to upload your PHP file change by some other means, such as by using SFTP.
The only way to make changes is to make changes through File Manager in SiteGround Site Tools.
SiteGround says the trouble is with the theme. See screenshots.
I've deactivated and reactivated plugins, but the problem still persists.
Hi there,
the Theme wouldn't cause that - i have several Siteground installs that work just fine so something else must be conflicting.
First off can you test for plugin conflict, by temporarily disabling all other plugins. Let us know.
I had already deactivated and reactivated plugins. They're saying the issue appears to be with the functions.php file. Here's the file. Do you see anything wrong with it? The only changes I made were custom color palettes and changing Howdy to Hello.
https://www.screencast.com/t/vtYTaToQl
Try removing each function temporarily and see if the issue is solved.
I removed both functions through SiteGround's Site Tools. Went back to WordPress admin > Appearance > Theme Editor tried to add the replace howdy with hello function. Got the same error. I cleared caches. Tried again in Chrome incognito. Still got error. Even when I don't make any changes to the functions file if I just hit the Update File button I get the error.
So just to make sure, if you remove everything in that file, you get the same error?
If so then report this to Site Ground's support again.
Yes, that's correct. I'll report that to SiteGround's support and see what they say.
Just to clarify. I didn't remove everything as you indicated, just my 2 code snippets.
I see 3 snippets in there that's not included by default.
I'd recommend removing them all to test - that being said, I don't think the snippets are causing the issue.
But since Site Ground support thinks so, it would be good to prove to them it's not.
Hi Leo,
They still say the problem is with the theme. I guess I could make changes to the functions.php file by going through Site Tools, but doesn't seem very efficient. Oh well. For what it's worth, here's there response:
https://www.screencast.com/t/qatmU0ZxWk
Did you get the Child Theme from the link provided here:
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/using-child-theme/#installing-a-child-theme
Yes, I did.
We've seen lots of users with Site Ground with child themes without any issues so I'm not sure why they think it's a theme issue.
Are you able to test a child theme with a default twenty series theme and see if the same issue exist there as well?
I haven't tried that. How do I go about doing it? Activate the latest default theme and then what? Not quite sure how to go about getting another child theme since I always use GP's.
Maybe let's try with the parent theme first.
So go activate GP parent theme, go to the theme editor and the function.php file, click Update File without updating anything. Does the same issue occur?
