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Troubleshooting Common Fatal Errors After Updating The Events Calendar

26 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → The events calendar

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Updating a core plugin like The Events Calendar is essential for security and access to new features. However, these updates can sometimes introduce unexpected conflicts or errors that break your site's admin area or front end. Based on common issues reported by the community, this guide will help you diagnose and resolve the most frequent fatal errors that occur after an update.

Common Post-Update Fatal Errors

The error messages can vary, but they often point to a few core issues:

  • Call to undefined function (e.g., tribe_events_views_v2_is_enabled(), tribe_get_city(), get_current_screen())
  • Class not found (e.g., Container, Not_Bound_Exception)
  • TypeError: Argument must be of type (e.g., array, string, null given)
  • White screen of death (WSOD) in the WordPress admin.

Why These Errors Happen

These errors are typically not bugs in the plugin itself, but rather symptoms of an incomplete or conflicted update process. The main causes are:

  1. Plugin or Theme Conflicts: Your current theme or another plugin may be using outdated functions or classes that were changed or removed in the new TEC version.
  2. Incomplete Update: The plugin files may not have all been copied correctly during the update, often due to file permission issues or a lack of server disk space.
  3. Dependency Mismatch: The Events Calendar and its add-ons (like Event Tickets or Events Calendar Pro) share common libraries. If they are not all updated to their latest compatible versions, fatal errors can occur.
  4. Cached Code: Persistent object caching (e.g., Redis) or opcode caching (e.g., OPCache) might be serving old, stale code from a previous version.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

Step 1: Regain Access (If Locked Out)

If you cannot access your WordPress admin dashboard (/wp-admin), you must first disable the plugin.

  1. Via FTP/SFTP/File Manager: Connect to your site's server. Navigate to wp-content/plugins and rename the the-events-calendar folder to something like the-events-calendar.deactivated. This will disable the plugin and should restore access to your admin area.
  2. WordPress Recovery Mode: If you see a recovery mode message, you can use it to disable the problematic plugin.

Step 2: Perform a Clean Reinstall

An incomplete update is a common culprit. Instead of updating through the admin, perform a manual update:

  1. Download the latest version of The Events Calendar from the WordPress plugin repository.
  2. Using FTP/SFTP, delete the existing wp-content/plugins/the-events-calendar folder. Note: Your event data is stored in the database, so this is safe.
  3. Upload the new, unzipped the-events-calendar folder from the download to your wp-content/plugins directory.
  4. Reactivate the plugin in your WordPress dashboard.

Step 3: Check for Dependency Conflicts

Ensure all related plugins are updated to their latest versions. This is crucial. An update to The Events Calendar often requires a simultaneous update to:

  • Events Calendar Pro
  • Event Tickets
  • Other TEC add-ons

Community reports indicate that updating Event Tickets resolved a fatal error (Cannot make non static method... static) after updating TEC to version 6.11.0.1.

Step 4: Test for a Theme or Plugin Conflict

Conflicts are a leading cause of post-update errors.

  1. Switch Themes Temporarily: Activate a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four. Does the error persist? If not, the issue is with your theme. Contact your theme's developer for support, informing them of the error.
  2. Deactivate Other Plugins: Deactivate all plugins except The Events Calendar. If the error is gone, reactivate your plugins one-by-one to identify the one causing the conflict. Pay special attention to third-party plugins that integrate with or modify events.

Important: Always perform conflict tests on a staging site first. If you don't have one, use a maintenance mode plugin to hide these tests from your visitors.

Step 5: Clear All Caches

Clear every cache on your site and server:

  • WordPress caching plugins (e.g., W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket)
  • Server-level / Object Caches (e.g., Redis, Memcached)
  • Opcode Caches (e.g., OPCache) – You may need your hosting provider to clear this.
  • CDN Caches (e.g., Cloudflare)
  • Your browser cache

When to Seek Further Help

If you have followed all these steps and the error persists, the specific error message is your best clue for further research. Search for the exact error online or in the WordPress.org support forums for The Events Calendar. When asking for help, always provide:

  • The complete error message from your debug log.
  • Your WordPress, PHP, and TEC version numbers.
  • The themes and plugins you have active.
  • The steps you have already taken to try and resolve the issue.

By methodically working through these steps, you can usually identify and resolve the conflict causing a fatal error after an update.

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