18 replies to this topic

[edrubins]

Our hosting provider, 1and1.com has announced an upgrade to PHP 5.4 effective April 1st. We run two versions of the site:

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is the live site and is running under PHP 5.2,

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is a test site running 5.4. While the site itself seems to be OK under PHP 5.4, we are having problems with the some of the administrative pages - both Wordpress and Pagelines pages.

 

These problems aren't present when switching to another theme - i.e. Coraline. Because of this 1and1 is calling it a "theme problem."

 

I've built PHP 5.4 from source on my local development server and there are no problems. 1and1.com is not providing PHP 5.4 from the command line, so I can't get a text version of phpinfo() to diff against my build. Nor will they give me access to the Apache error log to see what the errors are. I have enabled debug mode in Wordpress and the only thing I see are calls to deprecated functions in Wordpress. I also have a second site using Pagelines under my 1and1.com account (I have the Developer version of Frameworks) which is not experiencing any problems with PHP 5.4.

 

 

Two scrrenshots - one of the Pagelines dashboard

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  204.14KB   10 downloads and one of the Wordpress Appearance => Menus page

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  462.07KB   11 downloads are attached. The Pagelines debug information is a below.

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Are you aware of any issues with Pagelines Framework and PHP 5.4?

[James B]

Hi there,

 

As far as I'm aware there's no issues at all with Pagelines and PHP 5.4. I'll double check with our developer on the above information though and one of us will come back to you with more information :-)

[James B]

In the meantime thinking about this, looking at the screenshots it could be a plugin conflict causing those errors. If you disable the third party plugins, then clear the cache does the admin screen go back to normal?

[edrubins]

Disabling the plugins has no effect. There is no wp-content/cache/ directory to delete, so I I'm assuming there's no cache to clear, unless a plugin has its own. But then we all know what assume stands for. Is there some other Wordpress way to clear cache?

[Danny]

Hi,

 

You're not the first user hosted by 1and1 who has had issues, these previous issues reported by our users were server related. I myself about 10 years ago used 1and1 and eventually had to leave due to their poor service.

 

I have just this moment updated my test sites to use PHP version 5.4.10 in MAMP and none of these sites have any issues, both on the front end and back end.

 

Would it be possible for you to contact 1and1 again and ask them for the error logs again and why they will not provide them.

[edrubins]

I'll try to get the information from the error logs again. They're reason for not providing them was the fact we're on a shared server. I've already told them of my intention of finding another hosting provider after more than 10 years with them. They didn't seem to care.

[Danny]

To be honest and this is my view and not that of PageLines, when I used 1and1, they weren't the greatest. Even attempting to do some of the most simplest of tasks become time consuming.

 

At PageLines, we recommend the following hosts:

 

ZippyKid - 

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However, I suggest you get all the information from 1and1, in case there is a resolution to your issue.

[edrubins]

Just got off the phone with 1and1 support. They still refuse to give me either the Apache error log information or the output of running php -i for 5.4. I pointed out to them that without that information I would have no choice but to move to another hosting provider for both myself and the client. After putting me on hold for ten minutes they said they will refer the matter to an administrator and get back to me. So I guess we're in wait and see mode. <sigh />

 

Danny: I checked out the two providers you recommended. Unfortunately they're both dedicated Wordpress hosting providers and - you should excuse the blasphemy - I also do work in other platforms and languages. I'll have to keep looking.

 

If we get through this without any interruption to the site(s) there's a "pint of Courage in a dirty glass" on me. I'm not if that expression still means anything, but it did when I lived in the UK in the late 70's. And yes, I am that old.

 

Cheers - Ed

[edrubins]

After two days I still have not heard from 1and1.com's administrator. It looks like another hosting provider is in the works. Hopefully we can get the sites transferred before April 1st and avoid any interruption. The shame of it is we may never know what the problem really is.

 

I'm going to need that pint of Courage before this is over.

 

Cheers - Ed

[Danny]

Hi Ed,

 

I'm sorry to hear that 1and1 haven't replied to your question. I recommend the following if you're on the lookout for a new host.

 

 

ZippyKid - 

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If you're after a VPS, I've heard good things about

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[edrubins]

Hi Danny:

 

I've looked at both of them. They appear dedicated Worpress hosts, and I do a lot of work with other platforms and languages. It's not clear from their site exactly what else they provide. I'm not looking for a VPS solution, at least at this point. Right now I'm leaning toward

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. I been talking to their tech support and have been assured that what I need as a developer is available on their shared hosting plans at about the same price as 1and1.com. We'll see.

[Danny]

In my opinion, as a developer you should be using a VPS at the least. Shared hosting, isn't the greatest hosting solution, as its cheap and with hosting you most certainly get what you pay for.

 

If you use platforms other than Wordpress, then I recommend you give BlueHost a look.

[edrubins]

I haven't looked at BlueHost, but I did look at HostMonster, which I believe is owned by BlueHost. You are right though, I may have to seriously consider VPS.

[edrubins]

Dear Ed, (Customer ID:******)

Thank you for contacting us.

We are sorry to hear that you are having issue with the upgrade of the php version. The only logs details we can provide you is the one that you can access from your webspace. We cannot provide you the Apache error log since you are on a shared hosting account.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

It's like the hangman telling the one to be hanged, "This may hurt a little bit. Sorry." So long 1and1.

[edrubins]

Just to bring everyone up to date. I've switched from 1and1 to bluehost. I'm in the process of transferring the first of the domains and the test site has been uploaded to the new server. As soon as the domain transfer is complete I'll test under PHP 5.4. If it breaks I'll set the site to PHP 5.3.

 

Film at 11:00.

 

Best, Ed

[Danny]

Thanks for keeping us updated.

[Simon_P]

Trust me it works perfectly in 5.4 and only uses about 15m of ram!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[edrubins]

The domain was transferred and the DNS records update this morning. I've just done some basic testing using PHP5.4 at bluehost.com. I'm happy to say that, at least initially, everything seems to be OK. Now to find that "pint of Courage in a dirty glass."

[Danny]

I'm happy to hear that since the move, everything appears to going well, thanks for keeping us posted.