Troubleshooting Creating or Updating Datetimes & Tickets Because Webhost Blocking GraphQL

Symptom

After installing or upgrading Event Espresso and entering a valid license:

• Tickets or related features behave inconsistently (e.g., tickets appear expired or “weird” despite valid dates).
• Attempts to adjust dates or ticket settings may fail or throw errors.
• The rest of the site appears generally functional.

In Brittany’s case, the suspicion was that the hosting provider was blocking the site’s GraphQL endpoint, which Event Espresso relies on for some operations.

Quick Check: Is GraphQL Blocked?

1. Open a browser (in a private/incognito window if possible).
2. Visit your site’s GraphQL endpoint:
   • Example: ‎⁠https://yourwebsiteaddresshere.com/graphql⁠
   • Replace ‎⁠yourwebsiteaddresshere.com⁠ with your own domain.
3. Look at the response:
   • If you see a 403 Forbidden (or similar access-denied response), your host is likely blocking the ‎⁠/graphql⁠ path.
   • If you see a normal GraphQL introspection or JSON error (e.g., “Must provide query string”), that usually means the endpoint is reachable, which is good.

A 403 or other access-denied response is not something Event Espresso can fix from within WordPress; it indicates a security or rule set at the hosting layer.

What to Ask Your Host

If ‎⁠/graphql  ⁠ returns 403 Forbidden or another access-denied error:

Contact your hosting provider’s support with something like:

We’re using Event Espresso on our WordPress site, and it needs access to the ‎⁠/graphql⁠ endpoint. Right now, ‎⁠https://<your-domain>/graphql⁠ returns 403 Forbidden, which is preventing some features from working correctly.

Please add an exception or rule to allow requests to ‎⁠/graphql⁠ on this site. This needs to be allowed at the server/firewall/WAF level; it’s not something we can unblock from inside WordPress.

Key points:

• This is a host-level rule (e.g., firewall, WAF, security plugin at the server level), not a plugin setting.
• Event Espresso cannot override or bypass a blocked ‎⁠/graphql⁠ route on its own.
• Once the host unblocks ‎⁠/graphql⁠, retry the problematic action in Event Espresso (e.g., editing tickets, updating dates, or loading the affected screens).

After the Host Unblocks ‎⁠/graphql⁠

Once your host confirms the exception is in place:

1. Re-test the GraphQL URL in a browser:
   • ‎⁠https://your-domain/graphql⁠
   • Confirm you no longer see 403 Forbidden.
2. Return to WordPress:
   • Re-open the affected event/ticket screens in Event Espresso.
   • Re-save or re-try the actions that were failing (for example, adjusting ticket dates that were stuck as expired).

If problems persist after ‎⁠/graphql⁠ is accessible, document:

• Exact error messages on the WordPress side.
• Screenshots of the Event Espresso screens and the new GraphQL response.