“Publishing failed. Failed to fetch” Error

Hi @marfmom! Do you mind checking your Site Health page? Sometimes a “Publishing failed” error indicates that the REST API portion of WordPress isn’t working properly. Here’s a guide that walks through checking it: How to Fix WordPress Updating Failed / Publishing Failed Error.

Are you able to publish any other posts beyond the one you’ve been working on, or is it just that draft?

I am not able to publish anything, apparently. I just created a new post as a test, and it won’t publish. I am going to read your guide now to see how to check the Site Health page.

It says my site health status is good. There are 4 recommended improvements (remove inactive plugins, remove inactive themes, update PHP version, and “comments break into multiple pages”). I can work on those now, but since the overall status is good, does that mean my problem is not a site health issue?

To rule out a conflict, try disabling all plugins and activating a stock WordPress theme (e.g. Twenty-Twenty).

* You can do this without affecting the website visitors by using the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin. Install, enter Troubleshooting mode and try and publish the post.

@pidengmor Sorry for the basic question, but how to do I disable plug ins and move to a stock theme via that plugin? I ran the plugin and it said the health is good (the page looks just like the site health page that @aetherunbound mentioned). I don’t see an option for disabling things without changing how the site looks. I’m worried in particular about changing my theme.

Actually I *think* I’ve figured out how to use the plug in. I clicked the troubleshooting mode and it says there are no notices to show. I tried to publish it from this version and it won’t let me. Any ideas where to go from here?

Great. That rules out a plugin or theme conflict.

Referring back to the WP Beginner troubleshooting guide recommended above, I would move on to Step 4: Check Website Firewall Service (check with the host if the site uses Cloudfare or another firewall service. If so, temporarily disable and see if you can now publish). And then Step 5: Enable and Review WordPress Debug Log (add the debug code to the wp-config.php file, reproduce the error, and then check the log. Post the errors/warnings/notices here). Note that for step 5, I advise that you save a backup of the file first before making any changes.

https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-wordpress-updating-failed-publishing-failed-error/

Thank you, everyone! I just spent an hour on tech support with my host. I had cleared the cache a couple of days ago and nothing changed, but after trying a few other things today tech support had me do it a second time and this time it fixed the site. I appreciate all of your help!

Bravo! Well done for fixing the issue. Now back to that post you were trying to publish … ??

Woohoo! Glad that was able to resolve it ??