Why is my web Site Home Page is Blank—no source code

Running MODx 2.2.8 with friendly urls enabled on a shared server running PHP 5.3.24
Site built and running fine just under a year ago. 2 months ago, my client called to say the site was down. GoDaddy was having some kind of an issue, so I chalked it up to that. Today my client called again, and the site is down. Home page loads with no source code. If I navigate to a specific page in the site, that page loads fine. However, clicking the home page, which directs back to the index.php page loads a blank page with no source code.

I am able to login to the manager.

Very upset at this point. There is a chance that the site has not been loading for months. I've looked at all files and file dates on the server and none have been updated since around July 2013.

Anyone else having this issue or know what might be causing it?

I had a few packages that had updates available (MIGx, If, googleSiteMap, GetResources and Captcha). I went ahead and updated them even though I'm only using the MIGx and googleSiteMap.
Coincidentally, the home page now loads fine. Is this a MODx issue, Database issue, is goDaddy pulling my leg? Why would all other pages in the site work, but the home page load with no source code.

[ed. note: mmcgee last edited this post 12 years, 7 months ago.]

So at this point. I have no way of knowing:

• How Long the site has been down
• What caused it to go down
• Or what make the home page actually load again

Leaves me with an anxious feeling.

We had a client who insisted on staying with GoDaddy, despite this problem. There are numerous posts about on the forum, including this one:

https://forums.modx.com/thread/85749/blank-white-screen-on-homepage---even-after-trying-all-known-fixes

I had our programmer write a cron job to delete the files in the core/cache folder at midnight every night on the GoDaddy server (http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/3548/accessing-your-cron-job-manager-with-shared-hosting) to avoid the corruption.

I don't have a copy of the cron unfortunately, and I don't now how to write crons.

Thanks. I'll review the article. Typically I've been very happy with goDaddy and their tech support. But this is driving me crazy. It's like it just started working again after I called. Last time it was while I was on hold.

The thing that I can't figure out though and is so alarming is what made it start working again, and how long has it been down? This unknown is most frightening.

That guy went to great lengths. Holy crumb. And, it is odd. I have other another MODx site there as well. Maybe it's as simple as just jumping the site up to 2.2.12 – and even that is no easy task for me. I may seriously have to reconsider them for hosting, and as well, whether this is actually what I want to do. Today.... baking bread sounds more appealing.:)

There is no rhyme or reason. We would just manually delete the core/cache files to make it come back, hence the cron job. It only happens with GoDaddy for us and we refuse to host on them because of it.

It's odd though. I have another site there that is MODx and it's never gone down. It's on their Deluxe plan. This current site I'd have to check. Maybe it has to do with servers. With the learning curve I am on lately, this is not really what I had in mind. I do appreciate your quick feedback. Maybe the MODx cloud is the way to go.

A MODX-friendly host can go a long way toward eliminating that kind of mystery problem. There's a short list here:

http://bobsguides.com/modx-friendly-hosts.html

I am certainly beginning to understand and accept that realization. I had read your list and will revisit. Thank you for the reminder.

Here's my question. Is there a way for me to determine when this issue is occurring or how long the site has been out of commission? The length of time is the most unsettling aspect. It could have been weeks or months. Guess I am checking that site everyday from here on out until I figure out how to package up and transport a MODx site.