When a Snippet Goes Wrong
What to do when a snippet misbehaves, including getting back into a locked admin.
Snippets are built on the assumption that code sometimes breaks. Kalium has several layers of protection, and knowing them means you never have to panic about a bad snippet.
Start here: in almost every case, the fix is to open Kalium -> Template Parts -> Snippets and set the offending snippet to Disabled. Nothing is deleted and your site returns to normal immediately.
The protection you get
You don't have to do anything to get these. They're always on.
A syntax error is caught when you save. The save is refused, the error names the line, and your code stays in the editor. Nothing reaches your site.
Publishing is tested first. Publishing a PHP snippet (or updating a published one, or enabling one from the list) loads a page of your site in the background with the code active. If it fails, the snippet stays off and you're shown the error.
A failure switches the snippet off. If a snippet fails while your site is running, Kalium disables it there and then. The page finishes loading, the list shows an Error status, and a notice appears in your admin. Hover the Error for the message and line number.
Even the worst failures are handled. For the rare kind PHP cannot recover from (running out of memory, for instance) visitors see a brief "please reload" page once, and the snippet is disabled the same way.
Snippets Safe Mode
Sometimes a snippet doesn't crash the site but breaks something in a way you need to investigate, and you'd rather stop all snippets while you work out which one it is.
Kalium -> Settings -> Template Parts -> Snippets Safe Mode stops every snippet from running, without disabling any of them. Your snippets stay exactly as they are; they simply don't run while it's on.
A yellow notice appears on the Template Parts screens to remind you.
Turn it on, confirm the problem goes away, then re-enable your snippets one at a time until it returns. The last one you enabled is the culprit.
If you can't reach your admin at all
This is the situation people worry about, so here is the way out. It needs access to your site's files, through your hosting file manager or FTP.
Open the file
wp-config.phpin your site's main folderAdd this line above the line that says
/* That's all, stop editing! */:
Save the file
Every snippet stops running and your admin is reachable again. Fix or disable the snippet that caused it, then remove the line to bring your other snippets back.
While that line is in wp-config.php, the Safe Mode switch in Kalium -> Settings cannot turn snippets back on, the file wins. Remember to take the line out once you're done.
Working through a problem
A snippet switched itself to Disabled
It failed while running. Hover the Error status in the list for the message and the line number, fix the code, and publish again.
Publishing is refused
Read the message. It tells you which of two things happened. Either your code has a syntax error on the line named, or the safe activation check found your site doesn't load with the code active. Both point at the code.
A PHP snippet does nothing
Work down this list:
Is it Published, and not showing Error?
Is Snippets Safe Mode off?
Check Execution Scope, a Frontend snippet never runs in the admin, and an Admin one never runs on your public site.
If it has a Placement, try removing it. Locations that fire very early in the page never run snippets.
A CSS or JavaScript snippet does nothing
Almost always Placement. Styles and scripts need one. Set it to Enqueue Scripts from the Head group. An empty placement means the code is never attached to the page.
The snippet runs twice
Two placements are firing on the same page. Turn on Run Once under Snippet Settings.
A path or address in my snippet is wrong after moving the site
Check whether the address is written out in full in your code. Placeholders like {{HOME_URL}} are filled in each time the snippet's code is written out, so they follow the site on their own; a hard-coded address does not. Replace it with the matching placeholder.
I don't see Enqueue as File
Snippet Files is off, or the folder wp-content/uploads/kalium-snippets/ isn't writable. Kalium -> Settings -> Template Parts shows which, the line under the setting reports whether the folder can be written to. Snippets still work either way; they just run from the database.
I can't choose PHP or JavaScript
Those require an administrator account. Users who can edit Template Parts but aren't administrators can write CSS snippets only.
Good habits
Add one snippet at a time and check your site after each. Then you always know what changed.
Use the Duplicate action before experimenting. The copy is created Disabled with all its settings, so you can edit freely and keep the original as a fallback.
Name snippets by what they do. When you're disabling things to find a problem, useful names save real time.
Disable rather than delete. A disabled snippet costs nothing and can be turned back on.
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