Can anyone help with WordPress?

27 replies
I'm trying to update wordpress to 3.0.5 I get the following error...

Could not create directory.: /public_html



What the hell does this mean? I'm new to WordPress so it's hard enough for me to understand anything..

Any help is appreciated,

Jeremy
#wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Jerryl
    It means it can't make a back-up copy of that file I believe, although I'm no expert. I get the same error too.
    Try asking at the wordpress forum here's the link:
    WordPress › Support » How-To and Troubleshooting
    Hope that helps
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  • Profile picture of the author Patrick
    Folder permission of wp-content/upgrade folder is not correct...It should be 777...If it is 777, then try this out..

    delete the folder, create a new folder named upgrade...change permissions to 777..

    Try upgrading now..

    Hope this helps..
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    • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
      Originally Posted by schwarzes View Post

      Folder permission of wp-content/upgrade folder is not correct...It should be 777...If it is 777, then try this out..

      delete the folder, create a new folder named upgrade...change permissions to 777..

      Try upgrading now..

      Hope this helps..
      Just to be clear, Im supposed to delete the upgrade folder in wp-content? How exactly do I create a new folder - sorry I'm new with SEO and Wordpress..

      also, now i've received this message..

      Could not copy file. /public_html/www.mydomain.com/wp-content/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/lang/sitemap-zh_CN.po

      What exactly does this mean..

      Thanks so much for the help though.
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      • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
        anyone?

        Any and ALL help is appreciated!

        Jeremy
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        • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
          I did some quick research for you and it seems schwarzes is right on regarding your first issue. As for your second issue, try googling the error code. You'll likely find an answer much quicker than waiting for someone here to answer you.

          I would also recommend going straight to the source for these types of questions. Post your question on the wordpress forum WordPress › Support -- that's where the WP experts hang out. Why not ask them?

          Regarding how to recreate the upgrade folder, either do so via FTP or through your hosting panel. Before you delete the file, make note of the file's location so you'll know where to recreate it.

          If you've never used an FTP program before, google "ftp tutorial." The first three or four tutes look promising. As far as specific programs go, I use Filezilla. Bonus? It's free.
          Signature

          Raising a child is akin to knowing you're getting fired in 18 years and having to train your replacement without actively sabotaging them.

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  • Profile picture of the author ONEWOLF
    also you can check with odesk for reasonable & reliable help.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Since WP 3 came out there have been a lot of problems with the automatic upgrader, especially if you used Fantastico or another automated installer to setup the site.

    It doesn't mean anything is wrong, it just means you'll have to do the upgrade manually.

    It's not as hard as it sounds. You can follow this guide and you should be all good: Updating WordPress « WordPress Codex
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    • Profile picture of the author David Hood
      I am a big fan of Lynda.com for tutorials. There is a monthly fee, but the quality of the tutorials are top notch. One monthly fee and you can access all of the tutorials, Wordpress, HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop and a whole lot more. Another good alternative is W3Schools.com, many good tutorials and they are free.
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  • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
    What version of wordpress are you currently on?

    I know you are trying to upgrade and there were issues with wordpress version 2.x going to version 3.x.

    I can talk you through the upgrade either way but need to know the starting point.
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    • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
      Originally Posted by imamrktr View Post

      What version of wordpress are you currently on?

      I know you are trying to upgrade and there were issues with wordpress version 2.x going to version 3.x.

      I can talk you through the upgrade either way but need to know the starting point.
      that would be amazing.. Im at 3.0.3 right now, and I'm trying to upgrade to 3.0.5.

      I've been sitting around all day for someone like you to come around haha thanks so much.
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      • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
        Ok lets get started...

        Going from version 3.x to current version should not be difficult...

        1. Log into your Dashboard and tell me if WordPress is displaying a message for you to automatically update to current version.

        Let me know if that is what you tried and if that what as failed.

        2. Before we do anything at all go to "tools" and "export" your data for all authors. That is a safety measure you should always do before you attempt to upgrade.

        Respond back with answers from 1. and when 2. is completed.
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        • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
          Yes it is displaying a message for me to upgrade, and when i try it says:

          Could not create directory.: /public_html

          For the second part I did what you said.
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      • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
        Your problem seems to be common from my quick research on the net.

        We have a couple of options...

        1. you can call your web hosting company and ask for a bit of help. Here is what they would need to do:

        a. go to your blog directory anf in the wp-content folder there will another folder called upgrade. If you ask them to delete that folder then recreate it that that might solve your issue. After they do that you would need to go back into your Dashboard and attempt to do the update again.

        Many times folks have very nice webmasters at their web hosting and they will help you.

        b. you could log into your cpanel access for your hosting account and then to Fantastico, then to wordpress. You will see a list of all wordpress installations there. Often there is a update to the right that you might try selecting. This fixed alot of the issues that were related to 2.x to 3.x upgrades. This might be of help to you now.

        c. the third option I will offer you is to PM me Cpanel access and I will go in and fix it for you or at least try. This however is danagerous since you don't know me. I am as honest as they come but you don't know that so I don't want you to get use to offering your info to folks as you might get burned by someone in the future that may not be quite so honest...:-(
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      • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
        I want you to try something really quick for me...
        Go into your Dashboard and deactivate all your plugins....
        then try the update again and see if that works.
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        • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
          Okay I was just posting back, i've tried the methods you said before except for you going into my cpanel but im not sure if i'd let you do that.

          Anyway, I'll deactive the plugins.
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          • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
            As I said I completely understand about not giving out your information. If you are not FTP friendly sort of person then I would give your web hosting company a quick phone call.

            PM if I can be of any further assistance to you.
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          • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
            I just now saw your note that you did delete the upgrade folder and it is still not working. I am wondering if your web master as a problem at their end.
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          • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
            There are times when I have had to back up my data then reinstall wordpress... only happened 1 I think and once for a client that I had. I am not crazy about doing that but I am not into wasting my time...
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      • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
        In my quick research it appears that the Upgrade folder which is a temp folder is the monster causing all the issues here.

        I know that it was suggested to you to delete the folder and recreate it with folder permissions of 777. Many hosting companies will not allow that. I have mine set to 755 and it works like a charm.
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        • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
          I've tried deleting the upgrade folder, recreating it and going to 777 and still doesn't work..

          I can't believe how hard a wordpress problem can be..I've wasted the FULL day on this. I planned on having 2 wordpress blogs created today and I didn't even get started on 1.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce Smith
    Try this:

    Through an FTP program, I deleted the directory, then just created a new one. There's usually an option to create a directory in whatever FTP client you're using.

    If you're only using a text-based FTP client, then the command is "mkdir"

    I hope that helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
      Originally Posted by Bruce Smith View Post

      Try this:

      Through an FTP program, I deleted the directory, then just created a new one. There's usually an option to create a directory in whatever FTP client you're using.

      If you're only using a text-based FTP client, then the command is "mkdir"

      I hope that helps!
      If you could explain that in a little bit more detail that would be amazing,
      Where would I find this FTP Program? I wish I knew what this all was but im new to WordPress.

      Thanks,

      Jeremy
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  • Profile picture of the author Brucew0617
    I remember I always get the same problem when I update Wordpress in my blogspot.
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    • Profile picture of the author HigherPrThanGod
      To the original poster, this was a response i found online. I guess changing his file size limit worked, or you could just completely remove the wordpress install and use an auto-installer (fantistico). I dunno tho.

      Hello all,
      Just an FYI, in case it helps. I was encountering the same problem. I use a Hosted Reseller type account where I can somewhat administer WHM to create unlimited domains. I had my Blog domain set to only 20MB, which should be enough. Before I did this update I was up to 11MB full, out of the 20. Just for Sh**s and Giggles I upped the MB to 50 for this domain and tried the update again. VOILA! It worked.
      This is odd to me but I wanted to share this with everyone. I tried all the other suggestion of deleting the upgrade folder, recreating it with 777 permissions. I also tried setting the public_html folder to 777 but that broke it worse. I didn't turn off any plugins as suggested. I was about to see about installing WordPress through Fantastico for this domain, thinking maybe it had something to do with not being installed through a server function like that, because I did install it manually.
      The other odd thing to me...I downloaded the update, thinking I'd do it manually. The ZIP file was only 2.83MB but once extracted Windows says all the files are 9.76MB on Disk. So that would explain it, if it has to "download" all the files first before replacing them.
      Anyway, I know that is probably more than some want to read but in my case by upping the space available for this domain it fixed the problem. So, if you can do that, try it, even by just a few MB, or at least over what your server says you currently have, eg 11MB, PLUS the almost 10MB for the upgrade.
      Regards,
      David aka Lord Dewi

      Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author rain21
    i also updated to 3.0.5, didn't get this kinda problem, how you installed wordpress ? using an automatic installer like fantastico ? go to wordpress forum and ask this question, there you can get the answer to this question. I prefer to install wordpress manually, because sometimes automatic installed wordpress can have problems.
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    • Profile picture of the author InTheMaking
      I'm new to wordpress though and I'm having trouble with the later steps when doing it manually..

      8. How to upload files to the directory? How do I go about doing though
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    #8. FTP (that's how upload everything to your server)
    Signature

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