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Fatal Error Notify

By Jack Arturo

Site Administration & Utilities / Site Health & Diagnostics

Fatal Error Notify Review - In-Depth Analysis

Receive email notifications for fatal errors on your WordPress site. Stay informed about issues as they occur.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.84/10

User Rating

4.8/5 (based on 18+ reviews)

Active Installations

6,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin sends you an email notification whenever a fatal error or other error level, configurably, is detected on your site.

Unlike traditional uptime monitoring services, which will only notify you if your entire site is down, this plugin can notify you when an error is detected on any page or process on your site.

Automatic plugin and theme updates often introduce problems that you aren't aware of until they are reported by your visitors. Fatal Error Notify lets you address these issues as they occur and before they cause significant problems.

Comparing to Alternatives

Fatal Error Notify stands out by providing detailed notifications about fatal errors in WordPress, a feature lacking in the core platform. Compared to other plugins, it focuses specifically on pinpointing error locations to aid troubleshooting.

Top alternatives

Fatal Error Notify

Strengths

Provides detailed error location information for easier troubleshooting.
User-friendly interface that simplifies error notifications.
Helps improve support interactions by supplying error stack traces.

Weaknesses

No official pro version with extended features.
Limited customization options for notifications.
Some users report errors caused by the plugin itself.

User Sentiment Analysis

User comments highlight the plugin's effectiveness in error detection and its user-friendly nature, though some issues have been noted.

Positive highlights

"This plugin will let you know WHERE the fatal error occurred, which is vital when troubleshooting." - Steve
"This is an amazing plugin that will save you so much time." - Dale Reardon
"Fast responses and does what it should." - Miikka
"Pretty much all great. Thank you. It’s really useful." - tufty

Common complaints

Plugin sometimes throws errors itself.
Lack of ability to disable certain notifications without paying.
Concerns about forced features in newer versions.

Weaknesses

No official pro version to access premium features.
Some users experience plugin conflicts or errors.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Developers and site administrators who need precise and timely notifications about fatal errors to quickly diagnose and fix issues on their WordPress sites.

Not ideal for

Users looking for a fully featured error notification system with premium support or those who prefer plugins with extensive customization and official pro versions.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers essential fatal error notifications with detailed error location information, providing significant value for troubleshooting without any cost.

Final Verdict

Fatal Error Notify fills a crucial gap in WordPress by delivering detailed fatal error notifications that aid in swift troubleshooting. Its straightforward and user-friendly approach makes it a valuable tool for developers and site admins.

However, the absence of a clearly promoted pro version and occasional plugin errors may limit its appeal for users seeking advanced features or guaranteed stability. Overall, it is a helpful and efficient plugin for basic fatal error monitoring.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Fatal Error Notify plugin.

fatal error

error notification

site monitoring

Screenshots

FAQ

Fatal Error Notify hooks into PHP’s “shutdown” function to send notifications right before the page stops loading. Even the dreaded “500 – Internal Server Error” still triggers PHP’s shutdown actions. Even if your site is completely offline, in most cases this plugin will be able to detect the error and notify you.

Yes, you can use the filter fen_ignore_error, like so:

function fen_ignore_error( $ignore, $error ) {      if( $error['file'] == '/home/username/public_html/wp-includes/class-phpass.php' ) {         $ignore = true;     }      return $ignore;  }  add_filter( 'fen_ignore_error', 'fen_ignore_error', 10, 2 );

The $error variable is an array containing:

$error['type']: (int) The PHP error code
$error['message']: (string) The error message
$error['file']: (string) The path to the file that triggered the error
$error['line']: (int) The line number that triggered the error

Yup, you bet! You can update the plugin settings using WP CLI, for example to set a default list of error levels, or a notification email address.

The two methods are get_option and update_option. For example:

wp fatal-error-notify get_option slack_notifications

Will tell you if Slack notifications are enabled on the site.

wp fatal-error-notify update_option notification_email [email protected]

Will update the notification email for the site.

You can also update options on multiple sites using xargs:

wp site list --field=url | xargs -n1 -I {} sh -c 'wp --url={} fatal-error-notify update_option notification_email [email protected]'

If you are updating options that are stored as arrays (for example levels or plugins) you can use JSON-formatted values. For an example, use get_option first on the field you are trying to update.