Google Tag Manager installation can expose an underlying WordPress resource problem when a theme’s settings panel is already struggling to load. In one support case, the site team could not add new GTM code because Avada Theme Options was throwing errors.
The developer found that the site was running with a 256 MB WordPress memory limit, which was not enough for the Avada setup in use, particularly with custom code stored in the theme options. Increasing the limit to 512 MB restored the Theme Options panel. The new Google Tag Manager snippets were then added successfully, an older GTM implementation was identified, and the obsolete code was removed after confirming it was no longer needed.
Issue background
The site needed a new Google Tag Manager container installed with the standard two-part implementation:
- The GTM script as high in the
<head>as possible. - The GTM
<noscript>iframe immediately after the opening<body>tag.
However, the site’s Avada Theme Options interface was not functioning correctly, which prevented the team from using the intended theme-level code fields.
Adding another plugin solely to inject the GTM snippets was considered undesirable because the site was already showing signs of resource pressure.
Diagnosis
The developer inspected the site and found that the WordPress memory limit was set to 256 MB.
Avada itself was using a relatively large amount of memory, and the site also contained custom code in the theme options. The developer concluded that the existing 256 MB limit was not sufficient for this particular configuration.
Several recent theme, WordPress core, and caching-plugin updates were noted during initial triage as possible factors, but the completed task does not document any of those updates as the confirmed root cause.
Likewise, the source does not document a full plugin cleanup or proof of a persistent memory leak. The confirmed change was simply that increasing the available WordPress memory allowed Avada Theme Options to work normally again.
Resolution steps
The documented fix was:
- Inspect the WordPress memory limit. The site was running with a 256 MB limit.
- Increase the available memory to 512 MB. After the change, the developer reported that Avada Theme Options was working correctly.
- Retest the theme settings interface. The team confirmed that the Theme Options panel was usable again.
- Add the new Google Tag Manager implementation. The requested GTM script and noscript snippets were added through the restored theme settings workflow.
- Check for existing GTM code before finalizing. During implementation, the team found an older Google Tag Manager setup already present on the site.
- Confirm which implementation should remain. The new GTM container was kept as the intended configuration.
- Remove the obsolete GTM code. Once the old implementation was confirmed unnecessary, its existing snippets were removed to avoid loading multiple GTM containers unintentionally.
- Verify the final setup. The team confirmed that the new configuration was working as intended before closing the task.
The original GTM container IDs are intentionally omitted here because they were specific to the site. When following this process on another WordPress installation, use the container ID assigned to that property.
Final outcome
Increasing the WordPress memory limit from 256 MB to 512 MB restored the Avada Theme Options interface and allowed the new Google Tag Manager code to be added successfully.
The team also discovered an older GTM implementation and removed it after confirming that only the new container should remain.
The task does not support a claim that unnecessary plugins were removed or that a broader memory leak was fully diagnosed. The completed fix was the memory-limit increase, followed by the GTM update and removal of obsolete tracking code.
The broader lesson is to fix the underlying admin-interface problem before adding another code-injection plugin. If Avada Theme Options fails under a low memory limit, increasing the available WordPress memory may restore the interface and let you add tracking code through the existing theme workflow. It is also important to audit existing GTM snippets before adding a new container so duplicate implementations do not run at the same time.
If Avada Theme Options is failing or you need help adding Google Tag Manager without creating duplicate tracking, contact Freshy. Our WordPress team can diagnose the theme environment, restore the settings workflow, and implement GTM cleanly.
