Test SOS Safely

Before you run the test

Before testing SOS, make sure you have:

• installed and activated SOS;
• configured your Critical Error Page;
• saved your latest SOS settings; and
• confirmed that SOS is not reporting a configuration problem that needs attention.

If you have recently changed the wording, colours, visitor actions or other Critical Error Page settings, save those changes before running the test.

Set Up Your Critical Error Page →

Open Developer Tools

From your WordPress administration area, go to SOS → Developer Tools.

Developer Tools provides operational information about the current SOS installation and includes the controlled fatal test used during validation.

Check the SOS status first

Before deliberately testing the fatal-error experience, take a moment to review the SOS status shown in Developer Tools.

On a healthy installation, you should expect the relevant SOS components to report that they are available and ready.

Developer Tools can provide information such as:

• the current SOS version;
• the fatal-error handler;
• the SOS php-error.php drop-in status;
• the compiled resilience profile;
• Recovery Mode status;
• whether the emergency experience requires the database, theme or a remote API;
• the current WordPress and PHP versions; and
• Geneva connection information where applicable.

Learn more about Developer Tools →

Run the controlled fatal test

Use the controlled fatal test provided in SOS Developer Tools.

SOS will deliberately trigger the supported fatal-error path for the test request.

This is intentional.

The purpose of the test is to confirm that, when WordPress encounters the simulated fatal condition, the visitor-facing request is handed to the Critical Error Page prepared by SOS.

What you should see

If SOS is configured correctly, the controlled test should display your Critical Error Page.

Check that the page contains the information and presentation you expect, including:

• the correct website or business name;
• your status message;
• the main heading;
• the visitor-facing explanation;
• your chosen colours and typography;
• the available visitor actions; and
• any contact information you have chosen to provide.

The Critical Error Page should be understandable without requiring the visitor to know anything about WordPress, PHP or the underlying technical problem.

Try the visitor actions

Where your Critical Error Page provides visitor actions, check that they behave as expected.

Try again

Try again allows the visitor to attempt the request again.

In a genuine incident, this can be useful when the underlying problem is temporary or has already been resolved.

Go to homepage

Go to homepage gives the visitor a simple route back to your main website.

During the controlled test, your normal website should remain available outside the deliberately triggered test request.

The emergency page is not intended to trap the visitor in the test.

Return to WordPress

After viewing the controlled Critical Error Page, return to your normal WordPress administration area.

Your administration area and normal website should continue to operate as expected after the controlled test.

The test is not intended to leave the website in a failed state.

What the controlled test confirms

A successful controlled test provides useful evidence that the SOS emergency visitor experience is ready on the current installation.

It can confirm that:

• WordPress can invoke the supported fatal-error path used by the test;
• the SOS Critical Error Page is available;
• the prepared visitor-facing information can be rendered;
• the page appears as configured; and
• the website can return to normal operation after the controlled request.

What the test does not prove

No controlled test can reproduce every possible way in which a WordPress website might fail.

The SOS test does not prove that every server failure, hosting outage, network problem, database failure or possible PHP condition will result in the Critical Error Page being displayed.

SOS operates within the supported WordPress fatal-error path for which it is designed.

SOS improves the visitor experience when its supported fatal-error path is available. It is not a replacement for website monitoring, hosting resilience, backups or disaster recovery.

Learn more about how SOS works →