StretchWP FAQ and Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a new WordPress site?

Use the starter-site request flow from the Sites launcher: pick a professional name, confirm it's available under sites.stretchmedia.ca, and submit the request with your email. The Stretch team reviews every request before a site is provisioned. See Requesting your starter WordPress site for the full walkthrough. You'll get a confirmation email when your request is received.

Why don't I see any sites on the Sites page?

Your workspace only shows sites attached to your account by owner email or organization. If Sites is empty, either no site has been created for your workspace yet, or your site is attached under a different email. Request a starter site to get started, or contact the Stretch team to attach an existing site to your workspace.

My starter-site name was rejected. Why?

Names must be 3–48 characters, lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only, and can't be a reserved word (like admin, www, mail, staging, support, wp, or wordpress) or contain blocked/abuse terms. Spaces and symbols such as & are converted automatically (Bright & Co becomes bright-and-co). Try one of the professional suggestions StretchWP offers, or pick a different business name.

How do I use my own domain?

Open the site's Domains tab, add your domain, publish the _stretchwp ownership TXT record at your DNS provider, click Verify, then point your apex A record and www CNAME at StretchWP. SSL is issued automatically once the cutover completes. See Connecting your custom domain for the step-by-step.

The "Log in" button says the site isn't paired. What does that mean?

One-click login requires the StretchWP dashboard plugin to be connected (paired) to your site so it can mint a secure login link. If you see "This StretchWP site is not paired with the hub plugin," pairing hasn't completed yet. Use the WP admin URL on the Credentials tab with your WordPress account in the meantime, and contact the Stretch team if the site should already be paired.

Clicking "Log in" opened wp-admin but asked for a password. Is that normal?

Yes — that's the fallback. When a one-click login link can't be issued (usually because the site isn't paired or is temporarily unreachable), StretchWP opens your site's standard WordPress admin URL instead so you can sign in with your WordPress credentials.

I got a "Too many login URL requests" message.

Login-link issuance is rate-limited (about six requests per minute per site) to protect your site. Wait a minute and try Log in again. If you keep hitting the limit, you likely have multiple tabs or people requesting logins for the same site at once.

A tab shows "No inventory / No backups / No health probe yet."

These are normal empty states, not errors. Plugin inventory, backups, and health data appear only after the dashboard plugin sends its next heartbeat. Give a newly paired or newly provisioned site a few minutes and refresh; the tabs fill in automatically.

Who updates my plugins?

StretchWP updates its managed plugin suite for you through signed packages delivered by the platform — you don't press Update. The Plugins tab reflects versions and the Plugin updates tile counts anything pending. See Managed plugin updates and the StretchWP plugin suite.

How are backups handled, and can I restore?

Managed snapshots run on a schedule and appear on the Backups tab. To roll back, identify the snapshot on that tab and ask the Stretch team to restore it. See Backups and restore.

Can I test a big change before it goes live?

Yes — ask the Stretch team for a staging copy, make and verify your changes there, then have them sync it to live. See Staging and safe changes.

How do I remove or cancel a site I no longer need?

Open the site and submit a removal request from its control panel. StretchWP verifies you own the site (by email or organization) and routes an archive request to the Stretch team — sites aren't deleted instantly. If a site is already archived, no further removal request is needed. See Archiving or removing a site.

Troubleshooting checklist

1. A tab looks empty → wait for the next heartbeat and refresh; the dashboard plugin hasn't reported that data yet.
2. Health shows a non-200 HTTP status or TLS error → note the exact status and response time from the Health tab and contact the Stretch team with those details.
3. Plugin update stuck as pending → confirm it on the Plugins tab, then flag the plugin name and site to support; managed updates are delivered as signed packages by the platform.
4. Custom domain won't go live → confirm the _stretchwp TXT record verified, then check that your apex A record and www CNAME point at StretchWP and have propagated.
5. SSL shows not issued → SSL is issued after the domain cutover completes; confirm your DNS points at StretchWP, then contact the team if it persists.
6. Can't reach one-click login → check the header status pills; if the site status is suspended or archived, login and actions are intentionally blocked until the Stretch team restores it.

Tip: When you contact support, include the site name, its status pills (Site/Domain/SSL), and the latest Health reading. That context lets the Stretch team diagnose most issues without a back-and-forth.