- Aren’t able to upload images, PDFs, or files to your WordPress Website
- Are experiencing time-out issues
- Are receiving notifications about your Memory Limits being reached.
- If you’ve read help documents that say to adjust your php.ini files or .htaccess file to increase the file-upload-size or memory-limit.
We recently created a few new WordPress websites and saw over and over that either our theme files were too big to be uploaded or the media library would display a HTTP error when we tried to upload images. It turned out that these new WordPress installs had maximum file upload settings set to 2M compared to our preference of 256M.
So what do you do?
Oftentimes articles regarding not being able to load a file or image to WordPress just straight into logging into FTP and updating the php.ini file or .htaccess file. You may see something for example like:
Try increasing the following values in php.ini, for example:
memory_limit = 64M
upload_max_filesize = 256M
post_max_size = 256M
But often this doesn’t seem to do anything. Or you try adding the additional code to your .htaccess file and your site breaks. There is an easier way!
Step 1:
When you log into your hosting account on GoDaddy, proceed to the CPanel.
Step 2:
Then scroll down to the Software section and click Select PHP version.
Step 3:
This will open a new window displaying your current PHP version (heads up, if you are experiencing theme errors after a recent WordPress and Theme update, check out the PHP settings and upgrade to 7.1+. Often old PHP versions are not compatible).
Step 4:
On the right side of the screen, you will see a link that says “Switch to PHP Options”
Step 5:
From here you can adjust the:
- max_execution_time
- memory_limit
- post_max_size
- upload_max_filesize
Click Save and TADA!
No need to log in through FTP and figure out where the php.ini or .htaccess files are. If you still are unable to upload media to your media library, there may be an issue with file permissions. Or you may want to reinstall the WordPress and Theme files just to make sure they are loaded properly.
Interested in learning more? Take a look at these articles:
Creating Branded Images on Canva
Why Your Social Media Channels Need Post Diversity