[Carrie]

Hi, I have been using Connections for a while and had added several entries with no issue. Yesterday, I went to add another entry and got 500 internal server error. I’m not sure if it was related to the image that was uploaded (it was 196 kb) or something else on the back end.

Now, the directory is not displaying at all, and if I try to manage any of the entries in the database, it is generating that internal server error.
http://themodernmomsociety.com/expert-directory/

Based on similar forum posts, I thought it may be related to WordPress memory limit. I called HostGator in regards to the issue and they stated that the php memory limit is 256 MB, which should be adequate, no? If not, they are unable to raise it due to being on a shared server. I should add that I had upped my php from 5.4 to 5.6 maybe a week prior to this issue starting; I lowered it back to 5.4 after this issue popped up and the error persists.

Is there anything else I could do to correct this issue?

[Steven Zahm]

@ Carrie

RE: the php memory limit is 256 MB, which should be adequate, no?

Yes, in most conditions, more than enough.

RE: I had upped my php from 5.4 to 5.6 maybe a week prior to this issue starting; I lowered it back to 5.4 after this issue popped up and the error persists.

I would suggest the version that WordPress recommends which is PHP version 7.1. It is far more faster at running WP while being much more resource efficient.

RE: Is there anything else I could do to correct this issue?

Can you look in the PHP error log to see if there are any messages that may help shed light on the issue?

Can you please create a temp admin account using the following plugin so I can take a closer look?

https://wordpress.org/plugins/temporary-login-without-password/

[Carrie]

I updated my php to 7.1, hopefully that will help.

I’m not sure I’m looking in the right spot for the php error log; I went to ‘Errors’ on my cpanel dashboard and the page is blank? I use Hostgator. Should I be looking anywhere else?

I will provide the temp login under separate private reply below.

Thanks for your help!
Carrie

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[Carrie]

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[Steven Zahm]

@ Carrie

RE: I updated my php to 7.1, hopefully that will help.

Can you please confirm the setting? It is still reporting PHP version 5.6.

RE: I went to ‘Errors’ on my cpanel dashboard and the page is blank?

You may have to enable PHP error logging in order for anything to show. Hostgator should be able to help with that.

RE: I will provide the temp login under separate private reply below.

I took a look and this is almost certainly due to PHP running out of memory. Even on pages unrelated to Connections I would run into out of memory errors. It seems Hostgator might be “hard limiting” the max memory to about 170MB even though PHP reports 256MB.

Running PHP version 7.1 would reduce memory usage to around only 25% and run the site faster to boot.

I would also recommend setting the PHP max execution to 300. If the server is slow due to being overloaded at the time of the request, it is possible PHP will simply stop running, not even able to log errors.

[Carrie]

Well, this is frustrating. According to my php settings it’s 7.1, see attached screenshot. How much of this is a Hostgator specific thing versus just a setting problem?

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[Steven Zahm]

@ Carrie

Hmmm… well, it is possible that the setting is correct but is being overridden by the .htaccess file… assuming Hostgator permits setting the PHP version in that file. Or, and I’ve seen this before… The setting is not actually doing anything due to a misconfiguration of cPanel. Unfortunately it is impossible for me to know which. You’ll have to contact them to correct it. Sometimes these types of issues crop up when a server is upgraded by the web host.

You can see the PHP version, memory and execution time I’m seeing by navigating to the Connections : Tools admin page and clicking the System Info tab. Scroll down to the Webserver Configuration section.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Carrie

Following up up to see if you were able to make any progress?

[Carrie]

Just got off the phone with Hostgator and the issue was that the change the the php setting didn’t flow down to all of the different domains; my site was still running the default. It’s running 7.1 now, and the connections database is back up. Hooray!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Carrie

Great to hear!!!

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