Brand new WP error – Is its parent directory writable by the server?

Like the error message says, the user the web server is running as does not have write permission to the directory.

That’s also why you need provide FTP information. So no, it’s not a 3.4.1 flaw, it’s in the way the web server and file permissions are set up. Your hosts might be able to provide more details on exactly how the permissions are configured.

Understood fonglh, but I’m wondering if it’s more complicated than basic “file permissions” which I’m used to correcting. That’s a simple matter of using FTP to change permissions of necessary folders, and exactly what my host support recommended I do when I described the problem as above.

As I said earlier, once I did this, the arrangement and display of the thumbnails were still completely messed up. I’m wondering if this is something I need to correct in WHM/Cpanel instead of a file-by-file permissions basis.

be careful of capitals vs lowercase..

it might sound silly but ive had it happen to me when transferring from a localhost to a live server..

make sure you’re not trying to get to /Uploads/ or something in your Settings section.. similarly make sure the folder via FTP hasnt got a capital..

ive found that sometimes browsers will render it, sometimes PHP wont, sometimes the SQL will find the file, sometimes the dashboard wont.. if you’ve duplicated things.. might be worth just checking theres not something simple like that ??

Thanks, haxxxton. I’ll keep this in mind.

BTW – I’ve just logged into the Cpanel associated with this new account and all folder permissions are set at 755. Is this not how it should be for a brand new WordPress installation? I can try to change ALL permissions to 777, but my understanding is that such a config would turn this entire site into a hacker’s dreamland.

EDIT: Specifically – all folders (type: unix directory) including the cgi-bin are 755, while all php files in public_html are 644.

Thoughts? Opinions?

did you run a ‘one click install’ button from your cpanel? or did you manually FTP all the files over?

i have had this happen when i transfer a .zip file over and then use the file manager in cpanel to extract everything.. its a cpanel issue unfortunately :S

@haxxxton

I manually transferred all files via FTP. I never trust the job to script installers, because typically installing WP manually is an easy 3-5 min job… “typically” anyway, I’m sure doing a great job on this one, aren’t I? ??

755 for folders and 644 for php files is what you want it to be though.. curiouser and curiouser

Yeah I just installed a 3.4 WP about 5-6 weeks ago on a different Cpanel and it worked like a charm with the same permission settings, etc.

I’m starting to wonder if it’s related to server configuration defaults in the WebHost Manager (WHM). I’m not entirely sure how that would impact anything on the individual account level though.

So interesting… I just changed wp-content to 777 to see what would happen and now it will allow me to upload new themes BUT require all FTP info first. The images/thumbnails part is still all screwed up and utterly useless though. There has to be a better fix than this.

Yep… same old song and dance… when uploading a thumbnail, it just shows a blank box with the “Hello World” text (.. i.e. the title of the default 1st post in WP).. and the box is actually a link that will take you directly to the image file itself.. THEN it actually shows up just fine.

This has been a nightmare that makes about as much sense as green ketchup.

This still isn’t resolved. Would love to hear from others…

No need to change any file permissions. Leave them at the default of 755 for all wp-content folders.

Try doing this:

Login to your wp-admin at https://(yoursite.com)/wp-admin

go to settings – > media

ensure that the media upload path is set to the default of:

wp-content/uploads

If there is no option to change the media upload path, then it is already at the default, and this fix will not help you.