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Visual Composer is unresponsive

Hi guys,

When we try and edit the homepage with visual composer, https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin, Chrome crashes and becomes unresponsive. In fact, we have now tried to edit our other network sites homepages (this a multisite) and they are crashing too.

We’ve have tried normal troubleshooting – plugin deactivation, updating, etc. – so not sure how to fix.

My host says it’s not a server-side issue.

the Firefox browser prompts for unresponsive script when editing the page, according to its debug console it should be:

n.cssHooks.get@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=0&load[]=jquery-core,jquery-migrate,utils,plupload,farbtastic&ver=4.6.1:3:31183

.css@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=0&load[]=jquery-core,jquery-migrate,utils,plupload,farbtastic&ver=4.6.1:3:30864

n.fn[d]/<@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=0&load[]=jquery-core,jquery-migrate,utils,plupload,farbtastic&ver=4.6.1:5:401

Y@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=0&load[]=jquery-core,jquery-migrate,utils,plupload,farbtastic&ver=4.6.1:3:4660

n.fn[d]@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=0&load[]=jquery-core,jquery-migrate,utils,plupload,farbtastic&ver=4.6.1:5:174

vc.shortcode_view<.changed@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-content/plugins/js_composer/assets/js/dist/frontend-editor.min.js?ver=4.12:7:7419

b/<@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=0&load[]=jquery-ui-core,jquery-ui-widget,jquery-ui-mouse,jquery-ui-resizable,jquery-ui-draggable,jquery-ui-button,jquery-ui-position,jque&load[]=ry-ui-dialog,wpdialogs,thickbox,hoverIntent,common,admin-bar,underscore,backbone,wp-util,wp-backbone,media-models,wp-plupload,jq&load[]=uery-ui-sortable,mediaelement,wp-mediaelement,media-views,shortcode,media-editor,wp-pointer,media-audiovideo,mce-view,jquery-ui-&load[]=slider,jquery-touch-punch,iris,wp-color-picker,jquery-ui-droppable,jquery-ui-accordion,jquery-ui-menu,wp-a11y,jquery-ui-autocomp&load[]=lete,jquery-ui-tabs,imgareaselect,image-edit,svg-painter,wp-ajax-response,suggest,jquery-color,wp-lists,postbox,tags-box,word-co&load[]=unt,post,editor,quicktags,wplink,media-upload,wp-embed&ver=4.6.1:436:1504

m.forEach@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=0&load[]=jquery-ui-core,jquery-ui-widget,jquery-ui-mouse,jquery-ui-resizable,jquery-ui-draggable,jquery-ui-button,jquery-ui-position,jque&load[]=ry-ui-dialog,wpdialogs,thickbox,hoverIntent,common,admin-bar,underscore,backbone,wp-util,wp-backbone,media-models,wp-plupload,jq&load[]=uery-ui-sortable,mediaelement,wp-mediaelement,media-views,shortcode,media-editor,wp-pointer,media-audiovideo,mce-view,jquery-ui-&load[]=slider,jquery-touch-punch,iris,wp-color-picker,jquery-ui-droppable,jquery-ui-accordion,jquery-ui-menu,wp-a11y,jquery-ui-autocomp&load[]=lete,jquery-ui-tabs,imgareaselect,image-edit,svg-painter,wp-ajax-response,suggest,jquery-color,wp-lists,postbox,tags-box,word-co&load[]=unt,post,editor,quicktags,wplink,media-upload,wp-embed&ver=4.6.1:436:2349

vc.ShortcodesBuilder.prototype.buildFromContent@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-content/plugins/js_composer/assets/js/dist/frontend-editor.min.js?ver=4.12:3:29183

(anonymous)@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-content/plugins/js_composer/assets/js/dist/page_editable.min.js?ver=4.12:1:9027

n.Callbacks/i@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.12.4:2:27443

n.Callbacks/j.fireWith@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.12.4:2:28212

.ready@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.12.4:2:30003

K@https://restd2.razorgulf.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.12.4:2:30365

————————————

Other than that there are no related errors in the Apache or PHP error logs.

Please let me know if you need anymore detail!

Thanks so much!

Derek

Thu, 8 Sep 2016 22:01:40
  • Sajid
    • DEV MAN’s Sidekick

    Hi Derek,

    Hope you are doing good today!

    I am sorry but that console log does not reveal much information about why exactly it went unresponsive.

    I could not check it myself because it requires login to launch the customizer.

    Did you tried troubleshooting steps mentioned in their official knowledge base here ?

    Also, can you replicate this issue on an other website ? Possibly on a different host or on localhost.

    Take care and have a nice day.

    Best Regards,

    Sajid

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Sajid,

    Thanks for the quick reply and the knowledge base link. I went through each step just to be safe but still no go.

    I think it’s the Ultimate VC Addon that’s breaking it. Everything else is updated and running smoothly. The weird thing is I can replicate it on the network sites except the primary one (which works well). So basically a large script is causing the backend editor of VC to crash either after an element edit or when you hit any editor buttons (preview changes, update, etc.).

    Would you mind taking a quick look for me if I got you credentials? Just let me know where to send them if you’re cool with that.

    Really can’t thank you enough for the help. Thanks man,

    Derek

  • Adam Czajczyk
    • Support Gorilla

    Hello Derek!

    I reviewed and checked the site and also run some experiments on it. I can see no difference in loading speed with Ultimate VC enabled and disabled. I think the issue here is the Mixed Content that’s “breaking” Visual Composer.

    I was able to load Visual Composer on “restd2” sub-site multiple times but each time it took a lot of time. Visual Composer was trying to load some assets over http but wasn’t able to.

    I can see that there’s an Insecure Content Fixer plugin installed and it seems to be working fine when it comes to the front-end but doesn’t affect Visual Composer. I think there are either some resources that are “hard coded” in your theme’s or Visual Composer’s files that are loaded via https or there are some resources that are stored in the database with a http:// prefix.

    I think reviewing database tables would be a good starting point. I also strongly suggest getting in touch with VC developers. It’s a premium plugin and as a paid user you are fully entitled for their support.

    Best regards,

    Adam

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Adam,

    Thanks for taking the time to diagnose. All very helpful.

    So if VC is trying to load strictly by http:// it has to be hard-coded right? – most of our image files (in the media library) are saved https://

    So you do recommend hitting the data tables first and changing to https://?

    I’ll contact VC and see what they say (although, it was pre- packaged with my theme so no premium support I believe).

    Thanks again for your help. You’re the man!

    Derek

  • Predrag Dubajic
    • Support

    Hi Derek,

    It would be strange that VC has http hardcoded, it’s really popular and well maintained plugin so something like this couldn’t get past their developers so my suggestion is to check DB first.

    Main issue seems to be when it loads chef1.jpg and dish.jpg images, it loads it as http and then tries to load it again and again, causing an endless loop that eventually “kills” chrome.

    Can you try re-adding those images by using VC in back end and see if that makes any difference?

    Best regards,

    Predrag

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Pedrag,

    Thanks for your help.

    I was able to just remove those image you mentioned that were getting mixed content errors – they were all in fact backgrounds of VC elements (as opposed to reg HTML pic elements). Then the problem went away (no console errors) and VC was able to load. The problem is now when we try and upload any image to the BACKGROUND of the VC element (in this case an inner row), it freezes again. When we just ad an image element separately instead of BG pic, it works only temporarily but it has been freezing periodically.

    It might be worth mentioning, any other windows open with other WP admin pages for this site end up freezing as well.

    I’m really not sure what to do at this point. All the mixed content images are gone but still VC is working so slow it’s not feasible.

    We do still get this “failed to load resource” console error …./sites/27/2016/07/the7-new-fav1.gif

    The funny part about this is, it’s the same URL path as the mixed content error images we saw before, yet we can’t find them anywhere in our directory i.e. sites/27 doesn’t exist. Something is going on with the multisite setup I imagine.

    I’m not familiar with finding images in the DB itself. I wouldn’t know where to look for the images or their paths.

    So, I know that doesn’t leave you with much, but please me know your thoughts when you get a chance.

    Best,

    Derek

  • Dimitris Kalliris
    • Support Team Lead

    Hey there Derek,

    hope you’re having a beautiful day and don’t mind jumping in! :slight_smile:

    There’s a popular plugin called Better Search Replace which can be used to scan DB tables. It also provides a handy “dry run” to see how many fields will be updated (if any).

    As we should be able to narrow this down somehow, could you please try a theme/plugin conflict test as described in a nice flow chart here? https://wpmudev.com/manuals/using-wpmu-dev/getting-support/

    If this isn’t something that you can run in your live site, please consider creating a staging environment. https://wpmudev.com/blog/set-up-staging-site-cloner/

    Finally, as this VC instance comes through a premium theme, feel free to contact their support, just in case they have some experience with this issue from other users too. :wink:

    Warm regards,

    Dimitris

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Thanks Dimitris!

    Really good stuff. Thank you very much.

    Dumb question for you – downloaded the Better Search Replace plugin. I ran a dry run replacing http://the7.dream-demo.com/demo/restaurant/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/07/dish.jpg?id=84 with the https:// version (one of the mixed content error images). Are these the right parameters? There are 67 cells to be updated. It just seems a little excess and don’t want to break site. I backed up the DB of course.

    Appreciate the help,

    Derek

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Sorry for the delay Predrag – was travelling :slight_smile:

    We tried removing all images that were backgrounds in inner column elements, and the page still freezes.

    We were able to remove major console errors. Still freezes.

    We deactivated all plugins (except for VC), still doesn’t work. Changed themes, freezes still, so normal troubleshooting doesn’t fix.

    Error logs from cpanel are empty.

    Chrome is updated to latest version, deactivated all extensions/addons.

    The theme devs are working on it but they are close to being stumped too.

    Chrome just keeps running in an infinite loop. We’ve never had a problem with this theme on any of the single wp install sites we’ve done. Since this is a multisite with Siteground I wonder if server resources are to blame here. Again, Siteground said it was not a server issue however. But since we’ve always never had a problem like this before it’s hard not to think it has nothing to do with multisite (we do have to create sym links via putty/ssh to create subsites with them or else SSL doesn’t work with wildcard domains. If that matters).

    We are really just stumped at this point, so any thoughts would be really helpful!

    Best,

    Derek

  • Milan
    • WordPress Wizard

    Hello Derek ,

    Hope you are doing well today and won’t mind me chiming here. :slight_smile:

    Let’s see if we can fine something in debug log ? To enable debug mode on your site, first open wp-config.php file and replace this line,

    define ( "WP_DEBUG", false );

    with these ones,

    define ( "WP_DEBUG", true );
    
define ( "WP_DEBUG_LOG", true );
    
define ( "WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY", false );

    Save the file and then try to replicate issue. See how it goes and then navigate to /wp-content/ folder and fine file named debug.log there. Download it locally. After that, change its extension from .log to .txt and upload it here in your very next post/reply. :slight_smile:

    Looking forward to hearing back. :slight_smile:

    Best Regards,

    Milan

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Milan,

    Thanks for your help!

    Here is the only line from the debug.log:

    [19-Sep-2016 18:15:57 UTC] PHP Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in /home/razorgul/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hustle/inc/opt-in-model.php on line 248

    I also had my host hand over the php error log. 2 lines of interest:

    [09-Sep-2016 16:18:53 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Cannot use object of type stdClass as array in /home/razorgul/public_html/wp-content/plugins/Ultimate_VC_Addons/admin/bsf-core/auto-update/updater.php on line 187

    [09-Sep-2016 18:37:13 UTC] PHP Warning: Division by zero in /home/razorgul/public_html/wp-content/themes/dt-the7/inc/extensions/core-functions.php on line 225

    I passed this along to the theme devs too. Any suggestions on how to move forward with these errors? :slight_smile:

    Thanks again!

    Derek

  • Milan
    • WordPress Wizard

    Hello Derek,

    Thanks for your updates. :slight_smile:

    I think we should wait here for theme developer’s update.

    And for this one,

    [09-Sep-2016 16:18:53 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Cannot use object of type stdClass as array in /home/razorgul/public_html/wp-content/plugins/Ultimate_VC_Addons/admin/bsf-core/auto-update/updater.php on line 187

    Try to disable Ultimate Addons for Visual Composer plugin and check what it reveals. !

    Kind Regards,

    Milan

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Milan,

    If you or anyone can solve this problem, I’ll give you ALL of my hero points. Not kidding. I just need this fixed at this point. It’s been weeks.

    Deactivating Ultimate Addons didn’t help.

    We were able to replicate the problem on a standard theme (2014) actually, which rules out a theme issue (there are a few theme related errors in the attached log though I believe).

    Please see the log. I deactivated the three plugins you see most throughout (hustle, pricing, uber login) and still the problem persists. You’ll also see on there a DB error the theme devs got when trying to access the site for some reason (this is new).

    So, at this point, here’s what we know:

    – Chrome still loops when we try and just edit a VC element on the homepage. Freezes, then goes unresponsive.

    -Problem persists on different themes.

    -Deactivating plugins didn’t resolve.

    -Deactivating all browser extensions didn’t resolve.

    -Problem is on all subsites, not primary site.

    -I want to throw my computer out the window.

    I really think it has to do with the multisite subdomain configuration (wildcard) or something on that end. Again, we can’t add sites through the dashboard, but rather through ssh/putty with siteground. Siteground says it’s nothing on their end, yada, yada, yada…

    Any help would be much appreciated. I’m giving Hero points away like candy at this point.

    Thanks so much,

    Derek

  • Dimitris Kalliris
    • Support Team Lead

    Hey there Derek, I trust you’re well today!

    Deactivating Ultimate Addons didn’t help.

    We were able to replicate the problem on a standard theme (2014) actually, which rules out a theme issue (there are a few theme related errors in the attached log though I believe).

    Please see the log. I deactivated the three plugins you see most throughout (hustle, pricing, uber login) and still the problem persists. You’ll also see on there a DB error the theme devs got when trying to access the site for some reason (this is new).

    Previous error log you’ve sent to us was indicating your theme and VC Ultimate Addons plugin. Narrowing this down, make us think of even less possible sources for this misbehaviour. :thinking:

    It now seems to me more like server related or a “corrupted” DB/file structure one.

    I can propose for you to try to clone a minimum required installation in another folder/domain in your Siteground account see if this is continues.

    On my end I could try to replicate it in my sandbox test site hosted at Cloudways. For this I should be provided with some credentials. Please keep in mind this is a public forum so don’t post any sensitive information. You must send your details through our safe contact form https://wpmudev.com/contact/ using this template:

    Subject: “Attn: Dimitris“

    – WordPress admin username

    – WordPress admin password

    – WordPress login url

    – FTP credentials (host/username/password)

    – cPanel credentials (host/username/password)

    – link back to this thread for reference

    – any other relevant urls

    Select “I have a different question” for your topic – this and the subject line ensure that it gets assigned to me.

    I could also inspect the multisite configuration you suspect. :slight_smile:

    I really think it has to do with the multisite subdomain configuration (wildcard) or something on that end. Again, we can’t add sites through the dashboard, but rather through ssh/putty with siteground. Siteground says it’s nothing on their end, yada, yada, yada…

    If you or anyone can solve this problem, I’ll give you ALL of my hero points. Not kidding. I just need this fixed at this point. It’s been weeks.

    Excuse us, but as long as your issue is un-reproducible we can’t provide much feedback.

    Please manage your points wisely though, as they’re going to have some actual value sometime soon! Not kidding. :wink:

    Kind regards,

    Dimitris

  • Dimitris Kalliris
    • Support Team Lead

    Hey there Derek,

    hope you’re doing good today and thanks for sending us the requested credentials! :slight_smile:

    I just went ahead and used your theme, Visual Composer and VC Ultimate Addons plugin in my multisite testing environment hosted in Cloudways and everything is working as should be!

    I also took a look in wp-config.php and .htaccess files to inspect the multisite settings and all look in place. :thinking:

    I’m more than sure that this is happening either due to the specific installation either due to the server settings, even though I have used Siteground (shared and VPS) with some premium themes (embedding the Visual Composer plugin) and never address a similar issue.

    Did you manage to proceed with the site duplication I proposed you?

    You should try to create a fresh multisite install only with your theme, VC and VC addon and test this, to eliminate the possibility that this is specific related, most probably through the DB tables of original site.

    Warm regards,

    Dimitris

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Dimitris,

    Thanks for all your help, yet again, and going through all the troubleshooting here. I know it’s in the middle of the night there, so sorry for the time difference :slight_smile:

    I think you’re right the problem lies in the installation (even though we thought we did it correctly with wildcard subdomains, followed usual instructions, etc.). We did have problems just adding a site through the network admin interface bc of the wildcard ssl. Here are responses from host:

    “you are using multi-site installation with an Wildcard SSL in order for the sub-sites to work you need to create a symlink for the given sub-site to point to the public_html(where the multi-site is) in order for the SSL to work for that multi-site.”

    “The problem comes from the way the Wildcard SSL actually works. It is setup to work with a standard subdomain configuration, however in this case this is Multisite network where the subdomain is not acting like a regular subdomain but loading from the network. Long story short, the vhosts get messed up and have to be regenerated.”

    and this is the last message from them:

    “We have reviewed your case further. After debugging your issue we have concluded that it does not seem to be caused by a server side problem or limitation, but it seems to be caused by something broken in your website’s theme or plugins.”

    As you suggested, I added a new Wp install with theme, VC, etc. on another subdomain/folder, however I stopped the network install when I got this message:

    “Please complete the configuration steps. To create a new network, you will need to empty or remove the network database tables.”

    I just didn’t want to mess up all our existing work.

    So at this stage I’m once again stuck. This is just killing our time, and as you can imagine, terribly frustrating. It just doesn’t make sense that some people run into the VC error, other support staff (from host) say they do, others don’t, etc. etc. Clearly they don’t know where the error lies.

    Should we just start over with our original primary site? I really don’t know what else to do.

    Thanks,

    Derek

  • Milan
    • WordPress Wizard

    Hello Derek ,

    Hope you are well today and won’t mind me chiming here. :slight_smile:

    I would address your questions in bottom to top order. Hope you won’t mind. :slight_smile:

    Should we just start over with our original primary site? I really don’t know what else to do.

    No you should not. There is potential risk of damaging site if you do something wrong with network installation. So its good for us that we proceed with replicated site.

    As you suggested, I added a new Wp install with theme, VC, etc. on another subdomain/folder, however I stopped the network install when I got this message:

    “Please complete the configuration steps. To create a new network, you will need to empty or remove the network database tables.”

    There are few network tables which I think you should delete in order to establish new network. Those are,

    wp_site
    
wp_sitemeta
    
wp_blogs
    
wp_blog_versions
    
wp_signups
    
wp_registration_log

    Please delete those tables and then proceed. Let me know how it goes after this.

    Looking forward to hearing back. :slight_smile:

    Best Regards,

    Milan

  • Dimitris Kalliris
    • Support Team Lead

    Hey there Derek,

    hope you’re doing good today!

    I’m kind of confused here… how did you try to create the new installation and when did this “Please complete the configuration steps…..” come up? :thinking:

    Deleting the tables that Milan stated would help you to revert your DB to a single installation instead of a multisite one. https://wpmudev.com/blog/uninstall-multisite/

    As I remember, you’re on Siteground which offers a cPanel environment. I think that in there you can find an auto-installer, Softaculous which should help you create the new installation (new folder path, new DB) in just few clicks/steps. Could you please proceed with that? Or as I still have those credentials, I can do that, just create a new addon domain (which will ask you to setup the new folder path like /public_html/my-new-domain.com/) so that you can test it locally by editing your hosts file. :wink:

    Warm regards,

    Dimitris

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Dimitris!

    I’m sorry for the confusion here, we must have messed up. I apologize.

    We got that error under Network Setup after we created a subdomain (for new install) and added code to wp-config file (we have since deleted that subdomain).

    Now we are a tad confused, I think just because we are jumping back and forth b/t you and Milan. You guys have been great but would you mind going ahead and executing your suggestions? I know you’ve already done so much, we just want to make sure we’re doing what you’re asking to properly troubleshoot. I know it’s easy through cpanel but I know you can do it quicker since you know exactly what you’re looking for.

    If you can’t, just let me know, and we’ll jump back in.

    Thanks so much as always,

    Derek

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Hi Dimitris,

    Thanks again for your help. I gifted you some hero points :slight_smile:

    So I uploaded the theme, VC, VC Addons…and the Content plugin (from theme devs) to replicate the demo homepage we’ve been using.

    Unfortunately, chrome freezes again when trying to edit homepage in VC (it works initially but after a few edits it becomes unresponsive again).

    Alright, so here’s where we’re at – a fresh multisite install does not solve the problem, nor does switching themes, nor does deactivating plugins. Switching browsers does (eg. IE).

    What are you thinking? server issue?

    Thanks again,

    Derek

  • Dimitris Kalliris
    • Support Team Lead

    Hey there Derek,

    hope you’re really good today! :slight_smile:

    I think that we finally narrowed this down to your server instance and your theme which includes Visual Composer. I’d propose to contact the theme developers on this one more time. You can provide them with credentials of the new fresh install and should be able to further debug it (no extra plugins now for conflicts either a live site). Most probably, they’ll ask for some fine tuning from your hosting provider though.

    As for us, the support staff, further debugging this would surpass the scope of this forum as it would require extensive testings for products that we haven’t developed, which would require even more time most probably. I really hope that makes sense! :slight_smile:

    Kind regards,

    Dimitris

  • Derek
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Well ok, thanks Dimitris. I think my theme devs have ruled out any further help as they are convinced it’s not a theme issue.

    I did find a couple other people who had similar issues with this on Siteground. I’ll continue to do research.

    Thanks again for all your help. You went above and beyond.

    Best,

    Derek