Locating and Disabling a Conflicting WordPress Plugin via Error Logs

Identifying Plugin Conflicts

When two plugins redefine the same hook or class, WordPress throws a fatal error or warning. The conflict is recorded in debug.log.

Steps

1. Enable WP_DEBUG_LOG.
2. Reproduce the error.
3. Open wp-content/debug.log.
4. Search the stack trace for wp-content/plugins/ paths — the path that appears deepest in the trace is usually the offender.

Disabling Safely

Rather than deleting, rename the folder:

mv wp-content/plugins/bad-plugin wp-content/plugins/bad-plugin.disabled

This deactivates it without losing data. Confirm the error is gone, then search for an alternative plugin.

Speeding Up the Process

The FormatHub WordPress Parser auto-detects stack traces and isolates the failing file path so you don't scan a wall of text manually.