Worpdress Upgrade/Installation failed while trying to upgrade this site to WordPress 3.3.1

Downloading update from http://wordpress.org/wordpress-3.3.1-no-content.zip…

Unpacking the update…

Verifying the unpacked files…

Installing the latest version…

Could not copy file.: /public_html/index.php

Installation Failed

Folder/File Permissions

Typical wordpress upgrade failure from within wordpress Automatic updates are related to file/folder permissions.

Reference Article – Changing File Permissions in WordPress

Problem

wp-content folder owner was set to nobody

wp-content/upload owner was set to the FTP User.

I believe all the folder and files needs to have same ownership.

Fatal Error Message while trying to delete WordPress Stats Plugin (after WordPress Jetpack is installed and Activated)

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare stats_get_options() (previously declared in /home/username/public_html/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/modules/stats.php:110) in /home/username/public_html/wp-content/plugins/stats/stats.php on line #

Solution

• Deactivate Jetpack Plugin
• Delete WordPress Stats Plugin
• Re-Activate Jetpack
• Connect Jetpack to WordPress.com

While trying to upgrade wordpress to 3.3.1 I got the following  Fatal Error

Fatal error: Call to undefined function is_rtl() in /home/username/public_html/wp-includes/general-template.php on line

While trying to visit dashboard (after the upgrade or trying to configure other plugins, above Fatal Error was displayed.

Fix – Popup Domination Plugin

If you have Popup Domination Plugin installed, then you are more likely to see the above  Fatal Error.

• FTP to your plugins folder
• Rename Popup Domination Plugin Folder Name
• Example popup-domination to popup-domination-deactivated
• Try visiting wordpress dashboard
• Everything should work as expected.

Find the config.inc.php file located in the phpmyadmin directory.

In my case it is located here:

• C:\xampp\phpmyadmin\config.inc.php

Find the line with $cfg['UploadDir'] on it and update it to:

• $cfg['UploadDir'] = ‘upload’;

If above line doesn’t exist, then copy it from config.sample.inc.php

Create a directory called ‘upload’ within the phpmyadmin directory.

• C:\xampp\apps\phpmyadmin\upload\

Then place the move the sql files into upload folder.

Now when you go to phpmyadmin import page you will see  a drop down with list of .sql files.

You can now select this and begin the import.

I’m using xampp for Windows 7.

I have been using  CloudFlare to protect one of my WordPress blog.

Recently I moved to new VPS hosting provider. To make the migration smooth, I disabled ClourFlare for few days.

Only after disabling the clouflare I realized how many hackers are trying to break into root account.

Time:     Mon Sep 12 22:54:27 2011 -0400
IP:       122.139.5.194 (CN/China/-)
Failures: 10 (ftpd)
Interval: 300 seconds
Blocked:  Permanent Block

Time:    Mon Sep 12 13:14:34 2011 -0400
IP:      216.52.192.58 (US/United States/-)
Hits:    11
Blocked: Temporary Block

Time:     Mon Sep 12 22:54:27 2011 -0400
IP:       122.139.5.194 (CN/China/-)
Failures: 10 (ftpd)
Interval: 300 seconds
Blocked:  Permanent Block

ClourFlare and DNS Entries

After updating the Name Servers, I went to edit the DNS Entries at ClourFlare.

I made a note of the DNS Zone entries from cpanel, opened DNS Settings at CloudFlare to update them.

I was suprized to see eventhough ClouFlare was deactivated, it was smart to detect the new DNS  entries. When I started typing the new IP, dropdown menu displayed new DNS entries – Awesome.

Worpdress Error - Is its parent directory writable by the server?  while trying to upload images in wordpress

Solution

Wordpress image upload failed

Check under Settings > Media for correct Store Uploads in the folder path.

It should look like wp-contents/uploads (not /wp-contents/uploads)

I had the same error while trying the upload the above image after moving to VPS.net cloud hosting.

If above solution fails, check the folder permission for uploads folder. It should be 775 or 777 (not safe)

]]> http://www.lifestrikes.com/wordpress-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server/feed/ 0 http://www.lifestrikes.com/wordpress-images-not-showing-up-after-upload/ http://www.lifestrikes.com/wordpress-images-not-showing-up-after-upload/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:40:46 +0000 Raghu http://www.lifestrikes.com/?p=404

Problem – After uploading the images, it is not visible (or showing up ) in the blog post.

Solution:

• Go to Settings > Media
• Check Store uploads in this folder – is set to wp-content/uploads
• Mine was set to full path /usr/name/public-html/wp-content/uploads
• After changing to default option, wordpress images problem was fixed.

I decided to use Intense Debate commenting system for WordPress for one of my blog. Seriously, I wasted most part of my day checking the import status. I don’t understand the team that write this really know how to develop software?

Problems with Intense Debate

• Poor interface within WordPress
• If Import is stuck, there is no way to know its stuck (unless you realize its stuck after waiting for several hours)
• No option to resume import from previous failed import.
• Clicking on Do clean import doesn’t ask for confirmation or warn that import will start all over again…more frustration to come

I wonder how Automattic is betting their brand name on such a frustrating plugin.

I tried using Intense Debate few months back and today was second time, nothing has changed.

It takes few seconds to create a SQL dump of MySql Database and takes over 16 hours just to get the comments imported.

• Attempt 1 – 4 hours (Stuck at 14%)
• Attempt 2 – 4 Hours (Stuck at 39%)
• Attempt 3 – 9 Hours (Stuck at 95%)
• Attempt 4 – Deactivate, Frustration and this post

I switched back to wordpress default comment system. Who has time to watch several hours just for the comments to be imported.

Problem - I tried to upgrade the plugins to the latest version within wordpress using automatic upgrade option. After clicking on upgrade, Maintenance mode is enabled, but there is no progress, and site just hangs.

Solution - When plugin upgrade hangs, it usually means there is problem with unpacking and installing the plugin files. Such problems come when permissions are not set right.

When I checked the folder permissions under public_html by (ls -l) all the files and folders had nobody username set. It shuld have looked like username username.

Change the owner recursively for all the folders within public_html using chown command.

Then verify ownership is set to username username, then perform the upgrade.

WP-DB-Backup plugin for wordpress failed after upgrading to version 2.2.3

I had automatic backup via email scheduled daily, which will go to gmail inbox archives. I noticed after 3 weeks, there are no backup files after upgrading to 2.2.3

Increasing the memory limits in VPS server didn’t help. After 5% progress, backup script just hangs.

Solution – While waiting for the Developer to come up with the fix, I moved back to version 2.2.2 and it works.