Troubleshooting Font Awesome Icons Not Displaying in WordPress

If you've installed the Font Awesome plugin but your icons are still not showing up, you're not alone. This is a common issue often caused by conflicts with your theme or other plugins. This guide will walk you through the most effective steps to diagnose and resolve the problem.

Why This Happens

The most frequent cause of missing icons is a conflict where multiple versions of the Font Awesome library are being loaded on your site simultaneously. Your WordPress theme or another plugin might be bundling its own copy, which clashes with the one loaded by the official Font Awesome plugin. This can result in broken icons, empty circles, or squares where icons should be.

Common Solutions

1. Enable the "Remove Unregistered Clients" Option

This is often the fastest and most effective fix. The Font Awesome plugin includes a feature designed specifically to resolve these types of conflicts.

1. Navigate to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Go to Settings → Font Awesome.
3. Look for the option labeled "Remove unregistered clients" or similar.
4. Check the box to enable this setting.
5. Save your changes and clear any caching plugins you might be using.
6. Refresh your website to see if the icons now appear correctly.

This setting tells the plugin to attempt to prevent other scripts from loading their own versions of Font Awesome, allowing the plugin's version to work without interference.

2. Check for Incorrect CSS Classes

Sometimes, the issue isn't a conflict but incorrect code. If you or your page builder are using the wrong CSS classes, the icon will not render. This often manifests as an empty circle or square.

• Incorrect: <i class="tatsu-icon stroopwafel circle"></i>
• Correct: <i class="fas fa-stroopwafel"></i>

Ensure the HTML on your page uses the proper class syntax, which typically begins with fas, far, fal, or fab followed by fa-iconname.

3. Perform a Basic Conflict Test

If the first step doesn't work, a conflict test can help identify the source of the problem.

1. Temporarily switch your theme to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Three.
2. Deactivate all other plugins except for Font Awesome.
3. Check if the icons load correctly. If they do, you have confirmed a conflict exists.
4. Reactivate your plugins one by one, checking your site each time, to identify which one is causing the issue.
5. Finally, reactivate your original theme. If the problem returns, the conflict is likely with the theme itself.

Checking the Browser Console for Errors

For more technical users, the browser's JavaScript console can provide valuable clues.

1. Right-click on your webpage and select Inspect.
2. Click on the Console tab.
3. Look for any red error messages related to Font Awesome, failed resource loads (404 errors), or JavaScript conflicts. These messages can often point directly to the problematic script.

By methodically working through these steps, most users can successfully resolve issues with Font Awesome icons not displaying on their WordPress sites.