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Troubleshooting Page Builder by SiteOrigin: Common Issues and Solutions

38 threads Sep 10, 2025 Plugin → Page builder by siteorigin

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Page Builder by SiteOrigin is a powerful tool for creating custom WordPress layouts, but like any complex plugin, users can occasionally run into problems. Based on community reports, here are some of the most frequent issues and the recommended steps to resolve them.

Common Problems and Their Fixes

1. Layout or Content Disappears After an Update

This is a widely reported issue where pages appear blank, content is missing, or the design looks "weird and wonky" after updating the plugin.

Why it happens: An update may contain a bug that conflicts with your specific theme or other plugins. The 'Page Builder by SiteOrigin' team is generally quick to address these issues with subsequent patches.

Solution:

  • Roll back the plugin: The easiest method is to use the WP Rollback plugin to revert to the previous, stable version of Page Builder.
  • Manual rollback: You can manually download a previous version from the WordPress plugin advanced page (scroll down to "Previous Versions") and install it by uploading the ZIP file via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
  • Update again: After the development team releases a fix (e.g., version 2.20.3 fixed a problem introduced in 2.20.2), update the plugin again to the latest version.

2. Changes Won't Save

Users click the save or publish button, but nothing happens, leaving them stuck in the editor.

Why it happens: This is almost always caused by a conflict with another plugin or, less commonly, your theme.

Solution: Perform a conflict test. This is the most critical troubleshooting step for many Page Builder issues.

  1. Deactivate all plugins except for Page Builder by SiteOrigin.
  2. Test if the problem is resolved. If it is, reactivate your plugins one by one, testing after each, to identify the conflicting plugin.
  3. If the issue persists with all other plugins deactivated, temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-One. If this fixes the problem, the conflict is with your theme, and you should contact your theme's support for guidance.

3. Problems After Site Migration

After moving a site to a new host or domain, Page Builder layouts break, CSS is missing, or pages return 404 errors.

Why it happens: Page Builder stores layout data in a serialized format in the database. Standard search-and-replace operations during migration can corrupt this serialized data if the string length is not properly handled.

Solution: Use a migration tool or search-and-replace plugin that handles serialized data correctly. Plugins like Better Search Replace are designed for this task. Run it to ensure all URLs and file paths have been updated properly for the new environment.

4. CSS and Styling Issues (Fonts, Icons, Layout)

This encompasses a range of visual problems: italic fonts not rendering, widget icons not displaying, or margins and spacing suddenly looking wrong.

Why it happens: These issues can stem from a theme update that overrides styles, a plugin conflict that breaks CSS loading, or a browser loading cached files.

Solution:

  • Clear all caches: Clear your browser cache, any server-side caching (like Varnish), and your WordPress caching plugin (e.g., WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache).
  • Check for CSS conflicts: Use your browser's inspector tool to see if your theme's CSS is overriding Page Builder's styles. You may need to add custom CSS to reinforce your styles. For example, to ensure italic tags work, you could add em { font-style: italic; } to Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS.
  • Conflict test: As described above, deactivate other plugins to see if one is preventing CSS or icon fonts from loading correctly.

General Troubleshooting Tips

  • Always have a backup: Before updating any plugin, especially your page builder, ensure you have a recent full backup of your site.
  • Check the error log: Enable WordPress debugging to see if PHP errors are being generated, which can provide crucial clues.
  • Check PHP requirements: Ensure your server meets the minimum PHP requirements for WordPress and your plugins. A memory shortage can cause many interface problems.

By methodically working through these steps—starting with a conflict test—you can isolate and resolve the majority of issues encountered with the Page Builder by SiteOrigin plugin.

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