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# View PHP errors in WordPress by enabling wp-debug mode

WordPress is a PHP based Content Management System (CMS). It's likely that at some point you'll need to fault-find a PHP error. The most common of these is the white-screen - where your site simply outputs a blank white screen.

There are a number of places to look for information that might help you pin-point what's causing the problem. This includes the [PHP and error_log files](/web-hosting/how-to-find-your-server-and-php-error-log-files).

WordPress also has a PHP debug option that can be set within your `wp-config.php` file - normally found in the web root directory of your site.

Edit `wp-config.php` and find the following line - it will normally be set to false and should never be set to true on a live site unless you are fixing an error - after which it should be set back to false again:

``` define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );```

To turn on PHP error display change this line to:

``` define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );```

Any PHP errors will now be displayed when you view the site.

If the `WP_DEBUG` line doesn't exist you can add it anywhere above the `/* That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */` line.

There are other options you can set to do things like turn debugging on - but write errors to a file instead of to the screen. In the following example setting `WP_DEBUG_LOG` to `true` causes the errors to be written to `wp-content/debug.log`.

``` define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', true );```

Additional options can be found in this WordPress.org article - [Debugging in WordPress (external link opens in a new window)](https://wordpress.org/support/article/debugging-in-wordpress/).

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