A Comprehensive Troubleshooting Guide on How to Fix Emojis Not Saving in WordPress

Emojis have become an integral part of digital communication, adding personality and emotion to online content. However, WordPress users sometimes encounter frustrating issues where emojis fail to save or display correctly. This technical guide will walk you through several methods to resolve emoji-related problems in your WordPress website.

Understanding the Common Causes

Before diving into solutions, it’s crucial to identify potential reasons why emojis might not be saving:

1. Character Encoding Issues: Incompatible database or site character encoding can prevent emoji storage.
2. Database Configuration: Older MySQL or MariaDB configurations may not support UTF-8 mb4 character set.
3. Plugin Conflicts: Some plugins might interfere with emoji rendering and saving.
4. WordPress Configuration: Outdated settings or misconfigured constants can cause emoji problems.

Solution 1: Update Database Character Set

Step-by-Step Database Modification

1. Access your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin or a similar database management tool.
2. Run the following SQL commands to convert your database to UTF-8 mb4:

ALTER DATABASE your_database_name CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

-- Update tables
ALTER TABLE wp_posts CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
ALTER TABLE wp_postmeta CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Replace your_database_name with your actual database name.

Solution 2: WordPress Configuration Modification

Edit your wp-config.php file to ensure proper emoji support:

define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');
define('DB_COLLATE', 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci');

Solution 3: Plugin and Theme Compatibility Check

1. Deactivate all plugins temporarily
2. Switch to a default WordPress theme
3. Test emoji saving
4. Reactivate plugins one by one to identify potential conflicts

Solution 4: Server-Level Configuration

For advanced users, verify your server’s PHP and MySQL configurations:

• Ensure PHP version is 7.0 or higher
• Confirm MySQL/MariaDB supports UTF-8 mb4
• Check server-side character encoding settings

Solution 5: WordPress Core Files Update

1. Always keep WordPress core, themes, and plugins updated
2. Use the one-click update feature in the WordPress dashboard
3. Maintain recent backups before performing updates

Troubleshooting Tips

• Clear Browser Cache: Sometimes, browser-cached data can interfere with emoji display
• Disable Caching Plugins: Temporarily disable caching to rule out plugin-related issues
• Check Browser Compatibility: Test across different browsers and devices

When to Seek Professional Help

If none of these solutions resolve your emoji saving problem, consider:

• Consulting your web hosting provider
• Hiring a WordPress developer
• Seeking support in WordPress community forums

Preventive Measures

• Regular WordPress maintenance
• Periodic database optimization
• Keeping all components updated
• Using reputable themes and plugins

Conclusion

Emoji issues on WordPress are typically resolvable through systematic troubleshooting. By methodically applying these solutions, you can restore emoji functionality and enhance your website’s user experience.

Remember, always make several backups of your website before making significant changes to databases or configuration files.

Alternative Solution 🧘🏻‍♀️

Edit your functions.php file to add proper emoji support:

add_filter( 'wp_insert_post_data', function( $data, $postarr ) {
if ( ! empty( $data['post_content'] ) ) {
    $data['post_content'] = wp_encode_emoji( $data['post_content'] );
}
return $data;
}, 99, 2 );

Also, this code to add proper emoji support in titles:

$data['post_title'] = wp_encode_emoji( $data['post_title'] );

Reference: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/63100373/wordpress-unable-to-save-or-update-posts-with-emoji

What Really Worked For Me 💪

If you’re using PhpMyAdmin, you can now:

• Select the database.
• Click the Operations tab.
• Under Collation section, select the desired collation.
• Click the Change all tables collations checkbox.
• A new Change all tables columns collations checkbox will appear.
• Click the Change all tables columns collations checkbox.
• Click the Go button.

Once you do this, all tables in your database will support emojis. Top, this is the way on How to Fix Emojis Not Saving in WordPress.

Reference: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10859966/how-to-convert-all-tables-in-database-to-one-collation