Media, directory change, paths, and database

This makes me think that somewhere in the database is an incorrect absolute path setting.

If you moved things to a new directory, there are probably a lot of paths in the DB that are wrong. Probably if you were to “View source” on some of those pages you could find references to the old path.

Try using a plugin called Velvet Blues Update URLs. I’ve used it about a dozen times now without an issue.

Make sure you have a backup database first. ??

I’ll check out that plugin, but I should point out again that the URLs are all correct. Any URL specified for an image from within the media library will lead to that image. It’s just that WordPress itself doesn’t see the image or display thumbnails for it. That’s what makes me think there’s a discrepancy between absolute paths (incorrect?) and URLs (definitely already correct).

Is there a plugin that will allow me to update all absolute paths?

Any URL specified for an image from within the media library will lead to that image.

I’m not quite sure what you mean. Sure, if you hand craft an URL to the image it will work, but do the URLs that WordPress generates for them work?

That’s what makes me think there’s a discrepancy between absolute paths (incorrect?) and URLs (definitely already correct).

Well, you have file system paths which can be either absolute or relative, and you have URLs which can be either absolute or relative. I think what you mean is “absolute file system path” and there are some of those in the DB.

Is there a plugin that will allow me to update all absolute paths?

I suppose I have never specifically checked for whether it updates those file system paths but when I’ve used it to move sites it seemed to correct all of the image problems.

And you are dealing with a plugin, which adds some complexity and uncertainty to the mix.

Just make sure you have a backup so you can back up and try again.

I don’t mean handcrafting a URL, I mean that the URL reported by the WordPress Media Library is correct. If I click on one of the affected images and go to the “Edit Media” page for that particular image, at the bottom of the page is a field called “File URL.” The URL reported in that field is correct. The image is actually at that URL. If I copy it and paste it into the browser’s URL bar, the image pulls up without a problem.

But WordPress itself doesn’t see or display the image within the media library, despite knowing its correct URL.

Velvet Blues Update, by the way, found no URLs to update. They’re all already correct. It doesn’t seem to have an option for absolute server paths.

It seems to be a disconnect between the URL and the attachment_id database entry.

For example, on this page:

https://www.vintagefarmfurniture.com/wp-admin/media.php?attachment_id=1474&action=edit

The “File URL” field reports this URL:

https://www.vintagefarmfurniture.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_94441.jpg

There’s an image there, but the media library won’t display it. The crystal/default.png that’s displayed instead of the thumbnail of that image links to this address:

https://www.vintagefarmfurniture.com/?attachment_id=1474

Which pulls up basically a 404 error page.

So, what might cause a dysfunction between the image URL and the attachment_id field?

Here’s the meta_value field for that image in the database, in case this helps diagnose the problem:

a:6:{s:5:”width”;s:3:”426″;s:6:”height”;s:3:”640″;s:14:”hwstring_small”;s:22:”height=’96’ width=’63′”;s:4:”file”;s:21:”2012/06/IMG_94441.jpg”;s:5:”sizes”;a:4:{s:9:”thumbnail”;a:3:{s:4:”file”;s:21:”IMG_94441-150×150.jpg”;s:5:”width”;s:3:”150″;s:6:”height”;s:3:”150″;}s:6:”medium”;a:3:{s:4:”file”;s:21:”IMG_94441-199×300.jpg”;s:5:”width”;s:3:”199″;s:6:”height”;s:3:”300″;}s:14:”mini-thumbnail”;a:3:{s:4:”file”;s:19:”IMG_94441-75×75.jpg”;s:5:”width”;s:2:”75″;s:6:”height”;s:2:”75″;}s:15:”small-thumbnail”;a:3:{s:4:”file”;s:21:”IMG_94441-110×110.jpg”;s:5:”width”;s:3:”110″;s:6:”height”;s:3:”110″;}}s:10:”image_meta”;a:10:{s:8:”aperture”;s:1:”0″;s:6:”credit”;s:0:””;s:6:”camera”;s:0:””;s:7:”caption”;s:0:””;s:17:”created_timestamp”;s:1:”0″;s:9:”copyright”;s:0:””;s:12:”focal_length”;s:1:”0″;s:3:”iso”;s:1:”0″;s:13:”shutter_speed”;s:1:”0″;s:5:”title”;s:0:””;}}

Found this page, which seemed to describe a similar problem, but his solution did not work for me:

https://wordpressapi.com/2010/12/15/media-library-not-displaying-images-after-importing-posts/

What is the meta_key? “_wp_attachment_metadata”? If it is, then those don’t match what I am seeing locally. The part after “file” should be an absolute system file path starting at root– something like “/var/www/vhost/websitename/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_9441.jpg”

Yes, meta_key for that record is _wp_attachment_metadata.

Are you saying it should be an absolute path after every instance of “file”? Some instances designate a relative path, and others only a file name.

It’s worth noting, though, that the meta_value field for images that are currently working correctly on the site have this same structure — relative path and file name, but no absolute path. If that’s the problem, why would some images with that type of meta_value work and others not?

This seems applicable to my problem, because the affected Media Library images were created with the Auto Featured Image plugin:

https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/plugin-auto-featured-image-thumbnails-not-showing-after-upgrade-to-34?replies=7

I’ll see whether their solution works…

SOLVED:

OK, this did indeed fix the problem:

https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/plugin-auto-featured-image-thumbnails-not-showing-after-upgrade-to-34?replies=7

I had to delete nearly 700 images manually from the Media Library, then add a line of PHP code to the Auto Featured Images plugin, and regenerate the several hundred automatic featured images that had stopped working.

So, the cause of the problem was upgrading WordPress. I guess it was just a coincidence that this problem roughly coincided with changing the WordPress installation directory.

I never would have expected that a simple upgrade from WordPress 3.3.2 to WordPress 3.4 could destroy 98% of my Media Library. Live and learn.

Thanks again for your help, s_ha_dum!