SOS Documentation
Understanding that distinction helps explain what SOS does, what WordPress continues to do and what an administrator or developer may still need to investigate.
SOS looks after the visitor experience. WordPress looks after the error.
What is WordPress Recovery Mode?
WordPress includes its own mechanisms for responding to certain fatal errors.
When WordPress detects a supported fatal error, its error-handling system can help protect the site and provide administrators with a route for investigating the problem.
Recovery Mode is part of WordPress Core. It is not provided by SOS.
SOS is deliberately designed to preserve that responsibility rather than replace it with its own recovery system.
What does SOS do?
SOS concentrates on the experience received by the website visitor.
When the supported WordPress fatal-error path invokes the available Critical Error Page drop-in, SOS can provide the visitor with a prepared emergency experience containing useful information such as:
- the website or business name;
- a clear status message;
- a visitor-friendly explanation;
- simple branding and presentation;
- useful visitor actions; and
- contact information where configured.
The visitor does not need to understand the technical cause of the problem in order to know what is happening or what they can do next.
What does WordPress continue to do?
WordPress remains responsible for the underlying fatal-error handling available through WordPress Core.
SOS does not attempt to take ownership of that process.
This means SOS does not:
- replace WordPress Recovery Mode;
- repair the plugin, theme or code that caused the fatal error;
- decide which WordPress component should be deactivated;
- replace administrator-facing recovery tools; or
- prevent WordPress from performing its normal fatal-error handling.
SOS adds a visitor-facing layer to the supported error path rather than creating a competing recovery system.
Why keep the responsibilities separate?
A visitor and a website administrator need very different things when a website encounters a fatal error.
The visitor needs
- confirmation that they have reached the correct website;
- a calm explanation that there is a temporary problem;
- a useful action they can take next; and
- an experience that does not expose unnecessary technical information.
The administrator or developer needs
- information that helps identify the underlying problem;
- access to WordPress and hosting recovery tools;
- logs and technical evidence where available; and
- the ability to repair, deactivate, update or replace the component responsible.
What happens during a supported fatal error?
At a high level, the responsibilities can be understood like this:
- WordPress encounters a supported fatal-error condition.
- WordPress Core remains responsible for detecting and handling the underlying error.
- The supported error path can invoke the available
php-error.phpCritical Error Page drop-in. - SOS provides its prepared visitor-facing Critical Error Page.
- The administrator or developer can investigate the underlying problem separately.
SOS does not need to repair the error before it can provide useful information to the visitor.
Does SOS disable Recovery Mode?
No.
SOS is designed to preserve WordPress Recovery Mode.
In SOS Developer Tools, the Recovery Mode status can confirm that WordPress remains responsible for its normal recovery behaviour.
Does SOS send the error to Geneva?
The core SOS Critical Error Page does not require Geneva.
A Geneva connection is optional and is not required for WordPress Recovery Mode or for the SOS Critical Error Page to operate.
Routine Geneva communication is separate from the visitor-facing fatal-error experience.
Connecting SOS to Geneva does not transfer responsibility for repairing the underlying WordPress error to Geneva.
Does SOS diagnose the cause of the error?
SOS 1.0 is focused on the visitor-facing Critical Error Page rather than automated diagnosis of the underlying fault.
Technical investigation should use the appropriate WordPress, hosting and development tools available for the website.
Depending on the situation, useful evidence may include:
- WordPress Recovery Mode information;
- PHP error logs;
- hosting logs;
- plugin or theme logs;
- recent software updates or configuration changes; and
- developer investigation.
What should visitors see?
Visitors generally do not need to see:
- PHP errors;
- stack traces;
- filesystem paths;
- plugin filenames;
- database information; or
- technical recovery instructions intended for administrators.
The SOS Critical Error Page is deliberately designed to separate the visitor experience from that technical investigation.
A visitor should instead receive a simple explanation and an appropriate next action.
The machinery may fail. The experience should remain professional.
What should I do if a real fatal error occurs?
If your website encounters a genuine fatal error and SOS displays the Critical Error Page, treat the visitor experience and technical investigation as two separate tasks.
For visitors
Confirm that the SOS Critical Error Page is displaying correctly and providing the information you intended.
For the website
Investigate the underlying problem using the normal WordPress, hosting and development tools available to you.
Do not assume that the appearance of the SOS page identifies the cause of the error. It confirms that the supported fatal-error path has reached the prepared visitor experience.
What happens after the problem is fixed?
SOS does not put the entire website into a permanent maintenance state.
Once the underlying fatal condition is no longer affecting a normal request, visitors should receive the normal website again.
The SOS Critical Error Page remains prepared in the background for a future supported fatal condition.
Can I test this without breaking my website?
Yes.
SOS includes a controlled fatal test designed specifically for validating the visitor-facing experience.
You should use that test rather than deliberately modifying WordPress, plugins or themes to create a real fault.
The simple version
If you remember only one thing from this guide, remember this: