Back to Community
Home / Community / General

Troubleshooting MetaSlider: Common Issues After an Update and How to Fix Them

28 threads Sep 16, 2025

Content

Updating the 'Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider' plugin is usually a smooth process, but sometimes a new version can introduce unexpected issues. Based on common community reports, this guide covers the most frequent post-update problems and their solutions.

1. Admin Area Stuck on "Loading Slideshows..."

The Problem: After an update, the MetaSlider admin area becomes unresponsive, displaying a perpetual "Loading slideshows..." message.

Why It Happens: This is often caused by a JavaScript conflict with another plugin or theme, or a server-side error preventing the plugin from fetching slideshow data.

How to Fix It:

  1. Check the Browser Console: Open your browser's developer tools (F12) and look for any red error messages in the "Console" tab. A common error is a "500 Internal Server Error" on a request to /wp-json/metaslider/v1/, which indicates a server configuration or conflict issue.
  2. Clear Caches: Clear your browser cache and any server-side or WordPress caching mechanisms you have active.
  3. Conflict Test: Temporarily deactivate all other plugins and switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-One). If the problem resolves, reactivate your plugins and theme one by one to identify the culprit.

2. Slider Disappears or Breaks on the Frontend

The Problem: Your slider vanishes from your website or displays incorrectly after an update, though it may still work in the backend.

Why It Happens: Changes to how CSS or JavaScript files are loaded can cause conflicts with your theme. Cached files from the previous version can also cause display issues.

How to Fix It:

  1. Purge All Caches: This is the most common fix. Clear your browser cache, your WordPress caching plugin's cache, and your Content Delivery Network (CDN) cache if you use one.
  2. Re-save Sliders: Simply editing and re-saving your slideshows can often force them to regenerate with the updated code.
  3. Check for Theme Conflicts: As above, test with a default theme to see if the issue is specific to your current theme.

3. Performance Drastically Decreases

The Problem: After an update, your site's load time increases significantly, especially on pages containing sliders.

Why It Happens: New features or changes in how assets are loaded can sometimes impact performance before optimizations are made in subsequent updates.

How to Fix It:

  1. Identify the Culprit: Use a speed testing tool like GTmetrix or Pingdom to identify what is slowing down your site—whether it's a specific script, CSS file, or render-blocking resource.
  2. Check for Updates: The 'Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider' team often releases follow-up patches. Ensure you are on the very latest version of the plugin.
  3. Revert to a Previous Version: If performance is critical and a new update causes severe slowdown, you can manually install a previous version of the plugin from the WordPress plugin repository while waiting for a fix.

4. HTML or Shortcodes in Captions Are Stripped

The Problem: Custom HTML, CSS classes, or shortcodes (like for Gravity Forms) that you had in your slide captions are removed or no longer work.

Why It Happens: Updates often include enhanced security measures. To prevent users with lower-level permissions from injecting malicious code, the plugin may strip out certain HTML elements and shortcodes by default.

How to Fix It: This typically requires a code-based solution. The 'Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider' documentation may have filters available to allow specific HTML tags or shortcode execution. Searching their documentation for "allow HTML" or "shortcode" is the best course of action.

5. CSS or JavaScript Files Are Not Found (404 Errors)

The Problem: The admin area looks broken or unstyled, and the browser console shows 404 errors for MetaSlider's .css or .js files.

Why It Happens: This is a less common but serious issue where the plugin's files are not being named or loaded correctly, often due to a problem during the update process itself.

How to Fix It:

  1. Reinstall the Plugin: Completely delete the plugin from your WordPress dashboard and install it fresh. This ensures all files are correctly placed and named.
  2. Check File Names: In rare cases, manually check the /wp-content/plugins/ml-slider/ directory to see if file names use hyphens (admin-3-17-4.js) when the plugin expects dots (admin-3.17.4.js). If so, a reinstall should fix it.

General Best Practices for Updates

  • Always Backup: Before updating any plugin, ensure you have a recent backup of your website's files and database.
  • Use a Staging Site: Test plugin updates on a staging or development copy of your site before applying them to your live site.
  • Read the Changelog: Before updating, check the plugin's changelog to see what has been changed, fixed, or added. This can give you advance warning of potential breaking changes.

If you continue to experience issues after trying these steps, searching for your specific error message on independent troubleshooting forums or the plugin's support area can often yield solutions from other users who have encountered the same problem.

Related Support Threads Support