OJS White Screen or Blank Page: What’s Wrong & How to Fix It

Your OJS journal suddenly shows nothing—just a white screen. No error message, no content, nothing. This "White Screen of Death" is OJS's way of hiding a critical PHP error from public view. While that's good for security, it makes troubleshooting incredibly frustrating when you don't know what went wrong.

What This Error Means #

A white/blank page in OJS means PHP encountered a fatal error and crashed before generating any output. OJS intentionally hides error details to prevent hackers from exploiting the information. The actual error is logged on the server—but you can't see it without server access.

Common Causes #

• PHP version incompatible with your OJS version
• Missing PHP extensions (xml, intl, gd, mbstring)
• Corrupted cache files after update or plugin change
• Faulty plugin breaking the entire system
• Syntax error in config.inc.php
• File permission issues
• Memory limit exceeded during page load
• Hosting provider upgraded PHP without notice

Quick Check #

The safest first step is clearing the OJS cache. Delete all files inside these folders (not the folders themselves):

cache/t_cache/
cache/t_config/
cache/t_compile/
cache/_db/

If you have FTP access, navigate to these folders and empty them. Reload your site—if it was a cache issue, OJS should work now.

If the white screen persists, the problem is deeper—PHP compatibility, database issues, or corrupted files that require server-level diagnosis.

Why This Error Is Risky #

The white screen hides the real problem. Without checking server error logs, you're guessing—and wrong guesses can make things worse. Common mistakes include:

• Randomly changing PHP versions (can corrupt data)
• Deleting files that look "suspicious" (often critical system files)
• Re-uploading OJS files over existing installation (overwrites config)
• Restoring old backups without proper procedure (data loss)

Our Approach #

We access your server logs to find the exact PHP error, then fix it properly—whether it's a PHP version mismatch, missing extension, broken plugin, or corrupted installation. No guessing, no collateral damage.

Altechmind Technologies provides professional OJS troubleshooting and emergency support. View all OJS services →