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Troubleshooting Popup Maker: Why Your Popup Won't Open or Display Correctly

66 threads Sep 9, 2025

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Why Isn't My Popup Opening? A Guide to Common Issues

If you're using the 'Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popups Builder' plugin, you might occasionally run into a frustrating issue: your popup refuses to open, opens inconsistently, or doesn't display correctly. This is a common problem reported by many users, and it can be caused by a variety of factors, from plugin conflicts to incorrect settings.

Common Causes and Their Solutions

1. Plugin or Theme Conflicts

One of the most frequent causes of popup issues is a conflict with another plugin or your WordPress theme. This can manifest as popups not opening, closing immediately, or requiring multiple clicks to trigger.

How to Troubleshoot:

  • Temporarily Deactivate Other Plugins: Use a plugin like Health Check & Troubleshooting to safely deactivate all other plugins except for Popup Maker. Switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-One). If the popup works, reactivate your plugins and theme one by one to identify the culprit.
  • Check Specific Plugins: As seen in the sample threads, plugins like Preloader Plus can interfere with popup animations, and security plugins can sometimes block necessary scripts.

2. Incorrect Cookie or Trigger Settings

Popup Maker uses cookies to control how often a popup is shown to a user. If a popup opens once but never again, a cookie setting is likely the cause.

How to Troubleshoot:

  • Check the popup's trigger settings. If "Prevent popup from showing to visitor again using a cookie" is checked, the popup will set a cookie after the first view and won't open again until that cookie expires or is cleared.
  • For testing, clear your browser's cache and cookies, or use an incognito/private window.
  • Ensure the cookie event on your click trigger is configured correctly for your intended user experience.

3. JavaScript Errors or Conflicts

Third-party scripts, such as Google Tag Manager, can sometimes cause JavaScript errors that prevent Popup Maker's scripts from running correctly. This can result in clicks on triggers not opening the popup and instead following a fallback link.

How to Troubleshoot:

  • Open your browser's console (F12) and look for any red error messages. These can often point to the conflicting script.
  • Temporarily remove or disable third-party scripts to see if the popup functionality returns.

4. CSS Conflicts or Missing Styles

Sometimes, your theme's CSS or custom styles can interfere with the popup's display, causing issues like the close button not appearing, the overlay being missing, or the popup being hidden (display: none; opacity: 0;).

How to Troubleshoot:

  • Use your browser's inspector tool to examine the popup element and see if any CSS rules are overriding its display properties.
  • Try adding custom CSS to override conflicting styles. For example, to force a popup to display, you might use:
    .pum-overlay.pum-active, .pum-overlay.pum-active .popmake.active { opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important; }
  • For a missing close button, targeted CSS like this can help:
    .pum-theme-14258 .pum-content + .pum-close, .pum-theme-lightbox .pum-content + .pum-close { padding: 0px !important; }

5. Issues with Multiple Popups (Stacking)

If you are trying to open a second popup before closing the first one, you may encounter problems where the second popup doesn't open or all popup functionality breaks.

How to Troubleshoot:

  • By default, opening a new popup will close any active one. If you want multiple popups open simultaneously, you must enable the "Stackable" option in the Display settings for each popup.
  • To open a popup from a link inside another popup, use the correct CSS class (e.g., popmake-123) on the link or button, not a custom tag.

General Debugging Checklist

  1. Clear All Caches: Clear your browser cache, any WordPress caching plugins, server cache, and CDN cache.
  2. Test in Incognito Mode: Always test popup behavior in a private browser window to rule out browser extensions and old cookies.
  3. Check Popup Settings: Double-check your triggers, targeting conditions, and cookie settings. A popup set to load "Everywhere" will preload on all pages, which might not be the intended behavior.
  4. Review the Documentation: The Popup Maker team provides extensive documentation on topics like testing for conflicts and stacking popups.

Most popup display issues can be resolved by systematically working through these common causes. If you have tried all these steps and the problem persists, it may be helpful to seek further assistance from the wider WordPress community, detailing the steps you have already taken.

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