wordshine

If it helps, I have also several times got a 502 Bad Gateway error.

Thanks to anybody considering a reply to this problem. Since the old server will be unavailable from midnight tomorrow I must press on in case of further delays.

I will remove the 3.1.3 WP installation and simply copy the old 3.0.2 to the new server. The upgrade can wait until later.

Mark,

Thank you very much! I asked my hosting provider to restart the MySQL server because I can’t access the shell. They were unable to do so because of an unrelated technical problem but when they did, all the categories and tags reappeared. I am immensely grateful I don’t have to re-enter them on 327 posts and pages!!

I’m also glad to record here the solution was as simple as restarting the SQL server. The three links which Mark passed on are invaluable.

I really need some help migrating to PHP5. This question is three days old and I’m waiting to change servers. How can I avoid this corruption when migrating to PHP5?

The reason for migrating is to upgrade to 2.9.1.

Thanks.

It’s useful to know that WP doesn’t alter its files.

I’ve (again) replaced the file I changed, wp-settings.php, and this time it solved the problem. But it wasn’t caused by my word processor: I used the plain-text editor NoteTab Pro. I had cleverly changed and uploaded a copy of the 2.9.1 version of the file!

I retrieved a fresh copy of the file, as you advised, and then I went to overwrite a copy in one of my working directories. But the file sizes were about 2K different so I had another look. Actually, a think. I remembered the local copy was probably from version 2.9.1, to which I’ve been trying to update WP. Which meant that the copy I had just placed on the server was from 2.9.1. When I replaced it everything went back to normal.

You’ve got a nice-looking web site, Mark; you’re a real adventurer (with a good-looking beard!). I’ll read more of your site presently.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks, songdogtech.

Deleting cookies and cache has not let me in. I have a backup, but what else might I try to restore things? I have a local copy of all the WP files.

Since the message does not mention the variable I changed – not even the file I changed – it seems WP might be altering its own files on the fly. Maybe I can put one back?

Anyway, I appreciate your help. Is there anything else I can try or is it restore time?

Thanks for the advice, I won’t do it again! I read that wp-config.php was the place to define WP-POST-REVISIONS but when I looked at the file it wasn’t there. I impetuously decided to find out where it was and changed it there. Silly me.

I cannot sign out, since I’m not “in” WordPress; I’m looking at an error message. So I closed down the browser, which usually signs me out of WordPress, but when I go back to my site I cannot get in. I get the same error about not redeclaring the variable.

What should I do?

My provider migrated my site to a newer server running PHP5 and MySQL5. But many of the WordPress files were corrupted in the process.

The corruption is similar to that which occurs moving a document from a Mac to a PC: extended ASCII characters get replaced by a small string of incorrect characters.

Could it be PHP5 that is doing this? Is there a fix? I can, if I want to, repeat the migration, as the original site still exists.

I don’t want to go through perhaps 200 files correcting the corrupted symbols.

One thought: the WordPress editor does a good job translating, for example, a dash surrounded by spaces into an em rule, or straight quotes into typographical quotes. However I enter many of these characters directly with the keyboard codes. Does this, perhaps, upset PHP5?

Thanks.

Cripes! I’ve just re-read your first response. I hope I can persuade my provider to install PHP 4.

Phew! Thanks again.

I’m back up with 2.8.6 and now I’ll migrate to the new server so I can complete the upgrade. Here’s hoping…

mercime,

Now why didn’t I find that earlier? Thanks. I’m on my way.

Is nobody able to help me?

There have been at least 90 posts and comments since this was posted. Is the solution posted elsewhere but I haven’t noticed?

I would be most grateful for your assistance, please.

I have a new server available, with a higher version of MySQL. Perhaps I can migrate the MySQL database to it without access to WP? Then, maybe I can complete the upgrade process when WP detects the correct version of MySQL?

Richard.

I’ve just upgraded manually (because the automatic upgrade fell over) to 2.9.1. However WordPress refuses to do an “upgrade” because it “requires” MySQL version 4.1.2 or higher and my provider is running “only” version 4.0.27!

I strongly suggest you mention this requirement on the download pages. Then one wouldn’t begin the process until it was provided. But without that essential piece of information I’ve now spent a long time on a manual install only to be worse off than I was before!

Brilliant product, chaps, but this is a teensy problem.

How do I put 2.8.6 back, when it’s not available on the download page? The last upgrade was an automatic one so I didn’t get the download.

Where will I find it or what should I do? I cannot write posts, approve comments or anything. Please help.

Thanks.

Richard Treadgold
https://www.climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz

iridiax:

Yes, I look forward to that!

After reinstalling, I did break the blog for several hours with redirection and I’d be interested in your comments, as I fixed it by accident.

I set the WordPress URL to [path]/wordpress and the blog URL to [path] so it was now the root, replacing the old static pages. Then I tried to set up redirection, because I wanted to respect requests from bookmarks set to the old blog address of [path]/blog.

I knew by now I didn’t want to upset search engines or lose any ranking we might have achieved so I was hoping to use an .htaccess technique.

I ended up with:

Redirect 301 /blog/ https://www.climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz/

placed in the file at my domain’s root, not the subdomain’s root. There’s another .htaccess file at the subdomain’s root containing all the mysterious WP code.

So I don’t know how it works but it works and I’ve tried hard to break it! It feels good.

Thanks again!
Richard.

iridiax:

I’ve got the new version installed now, with all the original content, and it’s all working. I’m confident there’s nothing wrong with the setup.

Thank you for your help!

Richard.