Most problems with a grid come from one of a few causes: the grid has no items, another plugin or the theme gets in the way, or the server stops a long task. This chapter goes through the common cases in the order to check them.
A grid does not show on the page
- The shortcode: open the grid’s Embed and compare its shortcode with the one on the page. The alias must match the grid’s shortcode name exactly (Put a grid on a page).
- The items: open the grid in the grid editor. If the preview is empty, the grid has no items: check the post types and categories under Content › Which posts, and the Limit (Posts, pages and custom post types).
- Caches: clear your caching plugin’s cache, your host’s cache and a CDN’s, then reload the page. With the Grid cache of Global Settings › Performance on, click Clear grid cache too (Loading and performance).
- Optimising plugins: a plugin that combines, delays or defers scripts can stop a grid from starting. Exclude Essential Grid’s scripts from it, or turn the option off to test.
- “Request not verified”: if Load more, filters or search answer with this message on a cached page, turn off Verify requests in Global Settings › Performance › Troubleshooting.
- The theme: if a theme or another plugin breaks the grid’s HTML, set Output protection in the same place to Compressed output first, which prints the grid’s HTML in one line. Printed directly (echo) can help too, but it may move the grid to the top or bottom of the page.
Test for a conflict
When a grid works with a default theme and no other plugins, something on your site is in the way. To find it without changing your live site, use a staging copy, or the Troubleshooting mode of the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin, which changes the site for you only:
- Switch to a default theme, such as Twenty Twenty-Five, and check the grid.
- Deactivate every plugin except Essential Grid (and WooCommerce, for a product grid), and check again.
- Activate the plugins one by one, checking the grid each time. The one after which the grid breaks is the conflict.
Tell the plugin’s or theme’s authors, and send the details to our support.
A template import stops
Installing a template from the template library (Install Grid) imports it in steps: the template, its images, its grids, skins and styles. The import dialog shows the step it is on.
- When a step does not finish, the dialog names the reason and offers Retry, which continues where the import stopped.
- Close keeps what has been imported. The next Install Grid of the same template continues the import, and images that are already in your media library are not added twice.
- If it stops again at the same step, your server’s time limit may be too short for the template’s images. Ask your host to raise PHP’s time limit, or try again at a quieter time.
“Destination folder already exists”
WordPress says this when you upload Essential Grid’s zip while a folder named essential-grid is already in wp-content/plugins. Recent WordPress versions then offer Replace current with uploaded: choose it. Your grids, skins and settings are stored in the database and stay. More on updating by hand: Can I update Essential Grid by hand?
Good to know
- What Essential Grid needs from the server and the browser: What does Essential Grid need?
- Still stuck? Where do I get help?