If your website started showing a blank white page, or the message "There has been a critical error on this website", right after WordPress updated to version 7.1, the most likely cause is a known bug in the WP Rocket caching plugin. It affected sites across the web, and it is not a problem with your content or your hosting. WP Rocket fixed the bug in version 3.23.2.2, released on August 20, 2026. Any older version, including 3.23.2.1, can crash a site running WordPress 7.1.
How to tell if this is your issue
Your site went down right after updating to WordPress 7.1. The update may have happened automatically.
The WordPress admin (wp-admin) is down too, so you cannot log in there to fix it.
Turning on WP_DEBUG appears to do nothing. The site fails before anything can display.
Your PHP error log shows this error on every request:
PHP Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: substr(): Argument #1 ($string) must be of type string, int given in .../wp-content/plugins/wp-rocket/inc/ThirdParty/Plugins/CDN/Cloudflare.php:562
You can view this log in the Console under WordPress → Debug, or ask us in the chat and we'll check for you. The bug triggers even if you don't use Cloudflare.
How to get back online in about a minute
Your wp-admin is down, but the Wordify Console can still manage your plugins.
Log in to the Wordify Console at console.wordify.com.
Open your site and go to WordPress → Plugins.
Find WP Rocket and switch its Status toggle to inactive.
Reload your website. It comes back immediately.
Your site stays fast with WP Rocket off: Wordify's server-side caching is separate from WP Rocket and keeps running.
Turning WP Rocket back on
It is safe to use WP Rocket again once it is updated to version 3.23.2.2 or later:
In the Console, go to WordPress → Plugins.
Update WP Rocket to the latest version.
Switch its Status toggle back to active.
Reload your website to confirm everything looks right.
If no update is showing for WP Rocket, don't reactivate the old version. Ask us in the chat and we'll update it for you safely.
Still down after deactivating WP Rocket?
Then something else is going on. Start a chat with us and we'll dig into your logs right away.