Reference guide · website-errors · Published 2026-08-15 · 3 min read
Website error and symptom reference
Website error meaning reference that maps messages to causes and fixes for loading, connection, DNS, HTTP status, blank page and cache errors.
- ·The map
- ·Message class
- ·Next step
How to use this reference
Search your exact symptom in the tables below. The first column is the message in the browser or the log, the second is what it really means, the third is the likeliest cause, and the last links to the article that fixes it. If your site never loads at all, start with website-not-loading; if it loads blank, start with site-loads-blank-page.
Not loading and connection messages
| Symptom | Meaning | First cause | Fix article |
|---|---|---|---|
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED | DNS has no answer | DNS failed, domain off | dns-server-not-responding |
ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT | No answer from server | Firewall, host down | connection-timed-out |
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED | Server said no | Web server off | website-not-loading |
| "Connection timed out" | The whole wait | Route or server slow | connection-timed-out |
| "The connection has timed out" | Page fetch failed | Origin hung | connection-timed-out |
| Site loads for some, not others | Region or DNS differs | Geo rule, TTL | site-unreachable-other-region |
| Site was fine, now gone everywhere | Domain expired | DNS NXDOMAIN | domain-expired-site-down |
ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS | Redirect loop | Loop in rule | err-too-many-redirects |
HTTP statuses
| Symptom | Meaning | First | Fix article |
|---|---|---|---|
| 403 | Forbidden | Permission | http-403-forbidden |
| 404 | Not found | Bad URL | http-404-not-found |
| 500 | Server bug | Error log | http-500-internal-server-error |
| 502 | Bad gateway | Upstream | http-502-bad-gateway |
| 503 | Unavailable | Maintenance, load | http-503-service-unavailable |
| 522 | Origin connection | Origin down | cloudflare-522-origin-connection |
| 429 | Too many | Rate limit | http-429-too-many-requests |
Page renders wrong
| Symptom | Meaning | Likely | Fix article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blank white page | 200, empty output | WP fatal / render | site-loads-blank-page |
| Blank page on WordPress | Same as 200 | Theme, plugin | wordpress-white-screen-of-death |
| Old content survives | Cache layers | Headers, TTL | browser-cache-old-content |
| Error page says database | DB down | Host, config | database-connection-error |
| Certificate warning | TLS fail | Expiry, chain | ssl-tls-certificate-errors |
| Site slow, loaded | Weight or origin | Perf | core-web-vitals-explained |
The unknown "X000" error
Odd statuses like 5400, 524, or 530 are usually regional codes from a specific server or CDN, not an HTTP standard. Check the developer docs of your host, the CDN status page, and the watcher's raw response before blaming your code:
- Cloudflare publishes explanations for 5xx codes at the origin.
- Site builders draw their own codes (e.g.
530in some hosts means origin unreachable). - Browser errors start with
ERR_, so5400is most likely server-produced.
The fast path
In any outage, read the error in the Network tab, match it to a short scope, then open the fix article. Keep the four layers in order: DNS, connection, HTTP status, then the code. website-not-loading describes the order. Nine times out of ten an error message is a pointer, not the whole answer; the log of the exact moment holds the last clue.