Maintain
Troubleshooting
Fixes for the problems that come up most often, grouped by where they show up.
Most problems fall into a handful of causes. Find the symptom below; if it is not here, see Getting support.
Try this first. Reload without the cache (⌘ Shift R, or Ctrl Shift R), and if you use a caching plugin, clear its cache. A surprising share of “my change did not apply” is a cached page.
Install problems #
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| “The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet.” | You uploaded the whole ThemeForest bundle. Unzip it and upload novaspark.zip instead. |
| “The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive.” | Your host’s upload limit is too low. Install over FTP instead. |
| A notice about PHP 8.1 | Switch PHP version in your host’s control panel. See Requirements. |
| A notice that ACF is required | ACF is installed but not activated. Plugins → activate it. |
| The child theme will not activate | The parent must be installed, and its folder must still be named novaspark. |
| A white screen after activating | Rename /wp-content/themes/novaspark/ over FTP to deactivate it, then ask your host for the error log. |
Import problems #
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Pages imported but look plain and unstyled | Elementor Designs was unticked, or Elementor is inactive. Re-import with it on. |
| Pages are completely blank | Elementor’s Atomic Widgets are off. See Requirements. |
| Images missing only on the live site | Imported over HTTP, then SSL was enabled. Run a search-and-replace on the database, or re-import with SSL already on. |
| The import stopped partway | The tab was closed or reloaded. Reopen the screen — it resumes. |
| Two of everything | Imported twice without Fresh Start. Re-import with Fresh Start on. |
| Colours and fonts are wrong | Theme Settings was unticked, or ACF is inactive. |
Layout and styling #
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| My header or footer is not showing | Work down the placement order: Section Type set correctly, no page-level override, conditions matching this page, block published not draft. See Assigning a block. |
| The wrong header shows on some pages | Two blocks match, and the more specific one wins. See When two blocks match. |
| A plain header appeared instead of mine | That is the fallback. No block is assigned, or none matches this page. |
| My colour change did nothing | The element has its own colour set in Elementor, which beats the global palette. Clear it there. |
| Custom CSS is not applying | Clear your cache. If it persists, your selector is probably less specific than the theme’s. |
| Dark mode looks wrong in one section | Something is using a fixed colour instead of a token. See Design tokens. |
| The header overlaps my content | Header Position is set to Floating. Switch it to Normal, or add top spacing to the first section. |
Elementor problems #
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| NS widgets are not in the panel | NovaKit Core is not active. Check Plugins. |
| Changes do not show on the live page | Clear your cache, then Elementor’s: Elementor → Tools → Regenerate CSS. |
| A post-element widget shows nothing | Those read from the current post, so they only work inside a Single Post/Page template. |
| A card or slide shows the same content repeatedly | Text was typed in rather than set with a Dynamic Tag. See Card. |
| A motion effect does nothing in the editor | Sticky and Timeline only run on the real page. Use Preview. |
| The editor will not load | Usually a memory limit. See Requirements. |
| An offcanvas never opens | Nothing is opening it. Add an NovaKit Trigger. |
Performance #
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Pages are slow | Work through the speed checklist. Start with images. |
| Something broke after a performance setting | Turn them back on one at a time. Defer jQuery is the usual culprit. |
| Fonts flash before settling | Turn on Preload fonts, and reduce how many weights you load. |
| Duplicate meta tags | NovaSpark’s SEO options are on alongside an SEO plugin. Turn NovaSpark’s off. |
Getting support #
Before contacting support, these three steps resolve most issues and answer the questions we would otherwise have to ask:
- Update everythingWordPress, NovaSpark, NovaKit Core, Elementor and ACF.
- Test with other plugins offDeactivate everything except NovaKit Core, Elementor and ACF. If the problem stops, reactivate one at a time to find the conflict.
- Run the System CheckNovaSpark → Dashboard, and note anything not passing.
Then get in touch through Support & Credits, including your WordPress and PHP versions, the System Check result, what you expected, what happened, and a link to an affected page.