If your website shows a blank white page, a partially loaded page, or a generic error with no details, turning on PHP error display can show you the exact cause. This is a temporary debugging step, not something to leave switched on permanently.
Why Turn On Error Display
By default, most hosting accounts hide PHP errors from visitors for security reasons. Instead of showing the error, the page simply fails silently or shows a blank screen. Enabling error display makes PHP print the warning or fatal error directly on the page, so you can see exactly what broke and where.
Only enable this on a site you're actively debugging, and switch it back off once you've fixed the issue. Displayed errors can reveal your file paths and other technical details you don't want visible to the public.
How to Enable It
In cPanel
- Log in to cPanel and go to the Software section.
- Click MultiPHP INI Editor.
- Under Basic Mode, select your domain from the drop-down list.
- Find display_errors in the list of options and switch it to On.
- Click Apply to save the change.
If you also want a full breakdown of warnings and notices, not just fatal errors, set error_reporting to E_ALL on the same screen, or switch to Editor Mode to edit the PHP directives directly.
In DirectAdmin
- Log in to DirectAdmin and open Select PHP Version under Extra Features (or Account Manager, depending on your panel's layout).
- Switch to the PHP Settings tab.
- Find display_errors and set it to On.
- Click Save to apply the change to your domain.
If your version of DirectAdmin doesn't show this option under PHP Settings, you can get the same result by creating or editing a php.ini file in your site's root folder using File Manager, and adding the lines display_errors = On and error_reporting = E_ALL.
After You're Done
Once you've found and fixed the problem, repeat the same steps and switch display_errors back to Off. Leaving it on exposes technical details about your site to anyone who triggers an error on the page, which isn't something you want visitors or bots to see.
If turning on error display doesn't show enough detail, or you'd rather review errors without changing what visitors see, check your website's error logs instead. They record PHP errors in the background without displaying them on the page.