Newspaper Theme – Persistent Image Upload Issue Causing 503 Errors (With Evidenc

Dear TagDiv Support,

My website is the problem: https://teknobilimadami.com/

I am experiencing a critical issue on my WordPress site that is directly related to the Newspaper Theme. When attempting to upload media files, the system either stalls significantly or fails with a 503 Service Unavailable error, specifically affecting the async-upload.php process.

Sometimes I add an image and when I open and close the page, I see that the image with the error has been loaded.

But these happen in the Newspaper theme. When I switch to the 2025 wordpress theme, images are uploaded instantly from the Media – Add Media – Media Library section without any problems.

After thorough debugging over the past 48 hours, I have tested and ruled out all other possible causes. Below is a complete breakdown of actions I took:

1. Hosting and Configuration
– PHP: 8.1

– Hosting: LiteSpeed / Shared Hosting (GuzelHosting)

– Limits Increased to:

– max_execution_time = 300

– upload_max_filesize = 128M

– post_max_size = 128M

– memory_limit = 512M

– Cloudflare set to “Development Mode”, and later fully paused

– WP Rocket and cache tools disabled during tests

2. Steps Taken & Results

– Switching to Twenty Twenty-Five theme resolves the issue instantly. Image uploads are fast and reliable.

– Activating Newspaper theme causes:

– Slow or failed uploads

– DevTools shows async-upload.php requests returning 503 errors

– Hosting panel shows CPU limit exceeded only when Newspaper is active

– Plugins tested individually (only Rank Math, SMTP, and Converter for Media were active; Converter later disabled)

3. Functions.php and Theme Code Review

– Output buffer using ob_start(“sanitize_output”) was temporarily removed.

– Theme update filters (pre_site_transient_update_themes) commented out.

– Admin-side JS injection via admin_head tested and removed.

These changes made little to no difference — the core issue seems to lie deeper in Newspaper’s admin/AJAX logic.
4. Attached Visual Evidence (8+ screenshots)

Please find attached:

1. DevTools console error (503 on async-upload.php) : https://prnt.sc/qHY-ahJWeCbr

2. CPanel CPU usage exceeded panel : https://prnt.sc/V4Wcb6RWVm8O

3. Functions.php sample (Attachments)

4. Theme switched: Twenty Twenty-Five (success) : https://prnt.sc/XsbBJDqxrBK_

5. Theme active: Newspaper (failure) : https://prnt.sc/3ORZ-qt9OwHj

6. WordPress debug.log output (Attachments)

7. Network panel XHR timing chart : https://prnt.sc/T1_rYdno5uaL

8. Cloudflare paused, issue persists : https://prnt.sc/CKQqSZ2OlLc-

I attach all other detailed screen photos to the e-mail. (20 attach picture screenshot)

Final Note & Request

I believe this issue can only be resolved from the theme side, not via hosting or plugin tweaks. I kindly request:

– Review of internal AJAX handling within the Newspaper theme

– Guidance on patching or disabling blocks that might interfere with admin upload requests

– Confirmation if this is a known issue, and whether an update will address it

I truly want this resolved. I have done my part as much as possible. Now I believe your team can take over and fix this properly.
I sent you contact@tagdiv.com e-mail in more detail. I would like to ask for your help in solving the problem.