Chykalophia Docs
Troubleshooting

My site looks broken

What to do when your website layout is wrong, styles are missing, or something looks completely off.

Difficulty
Beginner
TroubleshootingWordPressMaintenance

Don't panic — a "broken" look is usually a display problem, not data loss. Your content is almost certainly still there. This guide helps you figure out what happened and what to do next.

Quick summary

Start with a hard refresh and check in a different browser. If the problem persists, think about what changed recently. A plugin update, a theme change, or a caching issue causes most "broken layout" problems. Note what looks wrong and contact us with a screenshot.

Step 1 — Hard refresh your browser

Before anything else, clear what your browser has stored and reload the page fresh.

Press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows / Linux) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac). Chrome lists this as "reload the current page, ignoring cached content", so the browser fetches the page again instead of reusing what it stored.

Try a different browser. Open Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge — whichever one you don't normally use — and load your site there.

Try on your phone. A phone on mobile data rules out any network or computer-specific issue.

If it looks fine in another browser, the issue is your browser's cache. Follow that guide to fully clear it.

Step 2 — Describe exactly what looks wrong

Before you contact us, write down what you see. This saves back-and-forth.

  • Which page(s) are affected? Just one, or the whole site?
  • What looks wrong? (Missing images, jumbled text, buttons out of place, no styling at all, content overlapping)
  • Is it wrong on mobile, desktop, or both?
  • When did it start?

Take a screenshot now

A screenshot captures the exact problem and is the fastest way to show us what you're seeing. See how to take a screenshot.

Step 3 — Think about recent changes

Most broken layouts happen right after a change. Ask yourself:

  • Did a plugin or theme update run recently?
  • Did you (or a team member) edit anything in the site editor, Elementor, or page builder?
  • Did your host recently migrate the server or push an update?
  • Did you change any CSS (stylesheet) or add custom code?

If a plugin or theme update is the likely cause, contact us — we can roll back the change.

Step 4 — Check for a caching problem

Caching (the speed layer that keeps ready-made copies of your pages, usually from a plugin or your host) sometimes serves an old, broken copy.

Log in to your WordPress dashboard (or your site's admin panel).

Find the caching plugin or setting. Common caching plugins include WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, and LiteSpeed Cache. Your host may also have a built-in cache option in its dashboard.

Clear / purge the cache. Look for a "Clear cache" or "Purge all" button. Click it, then reload your site.

Did clearing the cache fix it?

If yes, great. It was a stale cached file. Let us know — we may need to adjust your cache settings to prevent a recurrence.

Step 5 — Check if a plugin is the cause

A broken plugin can strip out all styling or collapse the layout.

Add a query string the cache hasn't seen to the end of your URL (e.g., https://www.yoursite.com/?v=1234), changing the number each time you try. Many caches treat an unfamiliar query string as a separate page, so you get a fresh copy rather than a stored one.

Do not deactivate plugins yourself unless you are comfortable with WordPress. Deactivating the wrong plugin can make things worse. Contact us and we'll diagnose safely.

What to send us

  1. Your site URL
  2. Screenshots of the broken pages
  3. Which browser and device you're using
  4. When it started
  5. Any recent changes you're aware of

If the whole site is down or shows a blank white page

See My website is down. A blank white page, or the message "There has been a critical error on this website", usually means a PHP or database error stopped WordPress from running — a different problem from a broken layout.

Common questions

The styling has completely disappeared — no colors, no fonts, just plain text.

This usually means the CSS stylesheet (the file that controls how the site looks) failed to load. It could be a caching issue, a plugin conflict, or a file permission error. Clear the cache first, then contact us if the issue persists.

Everything looks fine on my computer but wrong on my phone.

This is a responsive design issue — the site may be showing correctly on large screens but not adapting properly to small ones. Take a screenshot on your phone and send it to us.

One section of one page looks wrong, but everything else is fine.

This is usually a page builder element (a block, widget, or section) that lost its settings. Log in and check if that section has any obvious error messages. Contact us with a screenshot and we'll fix it.

My site looks broken but I didn't change anything.

Something still changed — it may have been an automatic plugin update, a scheduled server task, or a theme auto-update. We can check the logs to find out.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

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On this page

Step 1 — Hard refresh your browserStep 2 — Describe exactly what looks wrongStep 3 — Think about recent changesStep 4 — Check for a caching problemStep 5 — Check if a plugin is the causeWhat to send usCommon questionsThe styling has completely disappeared — no colors, no fonts, just plain text.Everything looks fine on my computer but wrong on my phone.One section of one page looks wrong, but everything else is fine.My site looks broken but I didn't change anything.Related guides