I say “incompetent”. That or, just not doing the work for whatever reason. I appreciate time is a factor with these things. That said, we pay a lot of money so I think expecting updates is fair.
The website is down.
The error is:
**Deprecated**: Function get\_theme\_data is **deprecated** since version 3.4.0! Use wp\_get\_theme() instead. in **/home1/RECACTED/public\_html/wp-includes/functions.php** on line **5413**
Now, because it says “deprecated” I’m wondering if they haven’t updated the theme and that’s why it’s gone down. I mean, according to [this]) version 3.4 is from 2012!
They said they don’t have domain access so need to fix the whole cpanel.
I’m pretty tech literate but haven’t worked with WP or Cpanel in years. It doesn’t smell right to me.
They manage other sites for us too which have been going down a lot. One of them got hacked and we ended up with thousands of japanese-looking search engine results.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
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Have a link to the actual domain? Feel free to send in DM
Deprecated won’t cause a crash. Look for a “fatal” error.
>we pay a lot of money so I think expecting updates is fair
What is fair is whatever you explicitly agreed on with the developer. Did you agree they would provide ongoing maintenance? Software updates? Hosting management? Uptime monitoring?
This looks like it’s probably an issue with something out of date, either the theme, plugins or core. If you aren’t paying for maintenance, then this isn’t the developer’s problem.
Old code, that should be a relatively easy fix. Are you paying for maintenance and a care plan?
I don’t understand the part about not having domain access so they need to fix the whole cpanel. What does that mean? They don’t need domain access to get into the back end and update the site. If you are paying them to manage, why don’t they have access to your site? Only you should control your domain name unless you have a relationship with the developer.
Some questions: do you have access to your domain and site? If so, log in and check the version of WordPress that is running. How old is the site? They don’t last forever and things change. If you are running an old theme from ten years ago, you are going to need to pay to get an updated one at some point. What is “a lot of money”? What is a lot to you, may not be enough for what needs to be done. What hosting provider are you using? Hosting matters and a lot of people try to sell substandard plans from Go Daddy and charge a premium. Crappy hosting usually equals a crappy site. Having an error could be as simple as the version of WP updated before a plug-in updated and errors themselves are not a cause for concern. Unless you specifically paid for a custom theme, the theme used to create your site may no longer be supported by the developer that created it. Not having a trusting relationship with your developer and not getting concrete answers is the concerning part. Having a site down without a plan to get it back up is the greatest concern.
Well obviously if your site is down and it’s the fault of your developer, they are failing at their job!
IMHO you should insist on a post mortem report for any outage. They need to explain 1) what happened, and more importantly 2) what they will do differently to ensure this same issue does not happen gain. That’s standard for anything in the cloud. Mistakes happen. But if nobody is learning from them and improving, it won’t get any better.
But if they aren’t performing to your satisfaction, personally I would be telling them I’m unhappy and on the side I would shopping around hard to find a replacement.
I had a client that couldn’t give me server access (long explanation) and it made it impossible to maintain well. It sounds like part of this may be that.
Are you by any chance on GoDaddy managed WordPress? Hacking and out of date make me wonder.
Ask your developer to add WordFence. Set up clear expectations for maintenance and security.
Give them access to do their job well.
And if it still has problems, find another developer.
I will say to look closely at what paying “a lot” entails. That has a lot of different definitions. If you’re paying for an hour a month, then they may not always be on top of updates. (Still shouldn’t be hacked and repeatedly crashing…)
I will also say that I’ve had clients refuse to leave obsolete plugins. Make sure they know security and uptime is a priority over all else for you.
If you’re paying for several hours a week at a reasonable wage, then… I’d expect better.
But again, make sure you aren’t asking for things that make their job hard or impossible.
Deprecated warnings shouldn’t be showing on the frontend and shouldn’t bring the website down.
It is a wordpress theme or plugin that is outdated and needs to be upgraded. Having said that, if you dont have a maintenance package with the developer, he wouldn’t necessarily provide ongoing updates.
Some themes or plugins reach end of life and cant be updated.
Some theme updates can break the entire site requiring substantial maintenence efforts.
All of this can be done in wordpress though, no need for domain or cpanel access (cpanel maybe for backups)
Getting hacked is common and while there are measures to protect your sites, it’s still possible to get in if plugins or themes are outdated.
Either way, the answer to your question is maybe?
That error message is from WP core. Maybe they meant a recent Cpanel/server update caused a conflict with an old plug-in or theme?
It will be better if you can share the link. Then only proper conclusion can be made.
Do you have an ongoing maintenance contract and if so, what are the terms?
Hey 👋 been working as a web dev 10+ years, working with WordPress over 7 years.
1. I’m very concerned the error is coming from wp include functions, which is a part of the core, any right minded WP devs won’t touch the core files.
2. You’re right, everything they said sounds a bit off to me, I’ve dealt with Cpanel but currently I run all my clients sites via FlyWheel, not sure they are also selling their own hostings, but it sounds like you’re not getting all the access you need in the first place.
DM me, I will provide you with my credential.
I can speak to your dev team as a your consultant so they don’t drop jargons with you
wp-includes/functions.php is a core WordPress file. And it’s a warning, not an error. If this is on a production site you need to configure PHP to not show warnings as they can allow attackers to see potential vulnerabilities in your code. You should only show warnings on a development site.
Also this does not tell us where the actual deprecated function is being called from. Are there any other messages in addition to this with file paths telling us where the function call is originating from?
Yes if your developer has show warnings enabled on the production site I would say they are incompetent with web server management, however not necessarily incompetent as a software engineer. I would say most web developers do not have much expertise with web server management. If you pay for hosting you might want to reach out to the hosting company for assistance.