The best way to troubleshoot a website problem

It's a very rare and lucky person who never has to tear out chunks of hair in response to a website malfunction.

At some point during the life of your website, it is likely something will go wrong - it may be with your server configuration, it may be the database, configuration information, network or whatever. If, as and when something does decide to go all HAL on you, it's important that you have a sound methodology for solving the problem.

1. Isolate the problem

I know - easier said than done. If you're going to stand any chance of getting to the root of the problem then you have to make sure your website has good error reporting facilities. Obviously, for a live website, errors should not be reported to the screen; rather they should all be logged, ready for inspection by an administrator. Error and server logs are a window into how a website functions, so make sure you have these available.

2. Analyze

Find out everything you can about the error. See if you can replicate the problem at will - it's often the case that a visitor or user reports an error, in which case you need to recreate the conditions and see how the system reacts.

3. Research

Try to find any and all information you can about the error. A good place to start is in the documentation - this will often discuss compatibility issue, amongst other things. If you're using a good web platform with community support then it's likely that there may be information on known issues online in bug reports. Other people may have experienced the same problem and have already solved it in forums.

4. Attempt to repair

By this stage you should have some idea of what the cause of the problem may be. If this is the case, go ahead and try to rectify the problem. Remember, you should always make a backup of the section of the site you are working. For example, if it is a database issue, make sure the entire database is backed up before you begin work.

Make sure you can restore the site to its orginal state - otherwise you might unwittingly introduce further errors that can muddy the water somewhat.

5. Request help

In the event your repair was unsuccesful, or you were unable to find any information about it during the course of your research then it's most likely time to ask for help. At the very least you will know more about the problem now than you did at the start of the process and are therefore more likely to be be able to accurately explain the problem. Get onto forums first and see if anyone has any good suggestions. Failing which, seek professional help - there are paid online troubleshooting services available.