JavaScript errors can cause various issues on your website, from broken functionality to poor user experience. Identifying and fixing these errors is crucial for maintaining a smooth-running site.
In this article, we will guide you through the process of checking for JavaScript (JS) errors using the browser's console.
Note: The steps below can be used regardless of your browser.
Access the Console Tab
Open the page in your favorite browser
Right-click anywhere on the page and choose Inspect from the Contextual Menu
Click on the Console Tab
Additionally, you can open the browser's Dev Tools by using:
Control + Shift + J - if you are on Windows
Command + Option + J - if you are on Mac
Examples of errors that might appear in the Browser's Console Tab
JavaScript Errors:
Uncaught TypeError: jQuery(...).function_name is not a function
This type of error means that there is no such function named function_name, so the code can't run, and all other codes might not run either. If it's something that is related to custom code, then removing the code can restore the functionality of other functions on the page:
HTTP Status Codes
Another type of error is the HTTP error codes such as:
500 - Internal Server Error. The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
500 Internal Server Errorserver error response code indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request. You can check our guide to troubleshoot 500 Internal Server Errors.503 - Service Unavailable. The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
503 Service Unavailableserver error response code indicates that the server is not ready to handle the request.404 - Not Found. The HTTP
404 Not Foundresponse status code indicates that the server cannot find the requested resource. Links that lead to a 404 page are often called broken or dead links and can be subject to link rot.and 403 - Access Forbidden error. The HTTP
403 Forbiddenresponse status code indicates that the server understands the request but refuses to authorize it.
Note: For more information on different error codes and what they represent, check out the official documentation of the HTTP response status codes.