Increasing WordPress File Limits with BlueHost

Posted on July 11, 2010 by WJNM

First, a little background: I’m a copywriter by nature and trade, but in the spirit of expanding my services since the 2008 economic collapse, I’ve found it more difficult to make a decent living from spinning words alone. Over the last year, I decided to expand my services by spinning some WordPress love; that is, making content-driven websites by utilizing WordPress as its non-label use as a content management system (CMS) rather than just a blog. It started with using basic themes and plugins, of course, but it has evolved into getting deeper into the coding side of things. I still have quite a bit to learn, but I’ve found a couple common problems here and there that are rather difficult to find adequate answers to. In the spirit of community, I’ll share some of the problems and solutions here with the hope that the next person’s project will be a bit more manageable.

A Word on Shared Servers for WordPress, including BlueHost

I’ve been building my own sites and client sites via BlueHost for awhile now. I’ve had some use with GoDaddy (when forced to by a client), but whether you’re using WP’s five-minute install or the one-click install offered by BlueHost and GoDaddy, there is one key difference in my user experience thus far. BlueHost updates most of their files in real-time; this means that when you install WordPress, via either method, the installation and usability of the application is instant: you can get right to work and dig in. With GoDaddy, it is not instantaneous. They work on a cycle system, so if you install WordPress, the installation won’t take effect and be ready for use until the next cycle process (depending on the time you install WP, this could be anywhere from an hour to 24 hours). If you’re like me and like to get to work on a site immediately after installing WordPress, then this can be a bit frustrating if a client is forcing you to use GoDaddy. While I would love to use my very own server, I don’t have this luxury at the moment, so all my work has been done using BlueHost. I never had even the slightest issue with them until recently.

WordPress Max File Size Limit with BlueHost

A client project I took on required me to build a site that hosts 1.7G worth of files, with the biggest file being 560M. This normally doesn’t sound like a problem, right? The standard WP Max Upload File Size is generally set to 10M, though some shared hosting companies bump it down to 8M or even 2M. BlueHost had theirs set at 10M. Now, this can be edited from your php.ini file, but many hosting companies (even those whom advertise “unlimited space”) don’t particularly care for users messing with those values. I’ve read numerous issues regarding BlueHost being one of those companies. After adjusting the settings in my php.ini file a few times, I found they were overwritten with the default values nearly instantaneously. Not wanting to sour my relationship with BlueHost, and wanting to check on their “do not use us as file storage” policies, I placed a call to their tech support.

A Solution for BlueHost Users

During my call, the tech support guy ok’d my use of the space in reference to the Terms of Service, and then told me I could adjust my space limits in the php.ini file. After I told him that it was overwritten several times, he asked my username, followed by denying that BlueHost did it, but he strongly suggested that I try it again. After the phone call, I adjusted my php.ini again, and – voila! – no more overwriting; though that never happened to begin with, right? ;)

I reset my values yesterday to 100M per file, before I realized the biggest client file was 560M. I then adjusted it a second time to 600M, hoping that BlueHost wouldn’t overwrite this change. They didn’t, and besides the downtime in uploading the new files, there’s no trouble.

How to Edit Your php.ini File

All values for WordPress’ max upload file size limit are held in the php.ini file in the root directory of your server. There’s not separate php.ini files for each WP installation, rather, there’s one that covers them all. Instructions:

1. Call BlueHost, tell them your username, and that you need to edit your php.ini file. They may tell you to go ahead and that you didn’t need to make the call, but this was not the case for me and a few others. Their answering time is fairly quick, so it shouldn’t be more than a 5 minute call.

2. Log onto your CPanel. Click on File Manager under Files.

3. Locate php.ini file in your /public_html/ directory and click to edit (doesn’t matter if you use the standard editor or the code editor).

4. Under Resource Limits, up them. I changed mine to the following, but depending on your project, you may not need anything this big (keep in mind I was working with a 560M file here, that was already compressed). My new limits: max_execution_time = 12000, max_input_time = 1000, memory_limit is 600M.

5. Under Data Handling, you’ll find the called out phrase “Maximum size of POST data that PHP will accept”. Directly underneath this, change your post_max_size to equal your new memory_limit from above (600M for me).

6. Under File Size, you’ll see the following phrase called out: “Maximum allowed size for uploaded files”; underneath this, change your upload_max_filesize to an amount equal to your post_max_size (again, for me, 600M).

7. Save the file; you may need to refresh the admin panel on your WP install for the change to take hold. If you’re on with BlueHost, this should be instantaneous. If you’re on GoDaddy or another shared server, this could take a spell.

8. If this change isn’t immediate, call BlueHost.

Hope that helps! Happy uploading!

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Photos – Week of July 1, 2010

Posted on July 4, 2010 by WJNM
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June 28, 2010 Photos

Posted on June 28, 2010 by WJNM

A work day while the house renovations continue.

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A Little Portland, A Little Cooking

Posted on June 25, 2010 by WJNM

Apples 'n Onions, well carmelized

On the heels of my last post, I made a decision that I will try out living in Portland – the least non-committal of my options by far – this upcoming fall; probably from mid-September to mid-October. I’ve been to the city a couple times now and I love it (I practically had to be pulled back to Phoenix), but I’m going to go there for a month and test-drive the city as an actual home. Work and school is (mostly) all online for me, so it doesn’t really matter too much where I do it. The biggest thing is that I have some amazing friends out in Phoenix, many of which I’m reluctant to leave; plus my family. At the same time, you have to live life for yourself at times and get out there and truly experience the world.

In the spirit of Portland, and the hippie vibe, I’ve been eating much healthier lately and doing my own cooking (well, and to be healthier, but the Portland tie-in was a better segue-way than nothing). In addition to making my own baba ghanoush (which was amazing) and my own sorbet (not so epic), I tried another first tonight. I came across a snazzy little recipe for Apples & Onions, a rather odd but tasty dish. Most of my friends (@aehdesigns, @myaztechpro) turned their nose at it, while others embraced it with a charming familiar wink that could only be sustained by long-time memories of pairing the sweet and the tangy (@timtrainor).

I had a few requests for the recipe, which I made some modifications to. Here it goes, with a suggestion or two thrown in:

2 apples (I used Fiji, sliced lengthwise), 1/2 sweet red onion (make sure it’s sweet, this is key), Basalmic vinegar, lemon juice, cumin, sea salt, sugar.

Directions: Get some of the Basalmic vinegar nice and hot in a pan, then throw in your apples and sweet red onions. If you’re like me, you’re going to want them carmelized, and this takes a bit of time. During your sauteeing adventure, add lemon juice, cumin and sea salt to taste. Throw in some Basalmic towards the later end to keep the carmelization up.

Note on sugar: if you’re going for a sweet dish, add a few tablespoons of sugar – this will really help. If it’s more of a main course (it can be either), just put a tablespoon or so.

I ate mine straight, then chilled the other half for a good late-night munchie snack. But I suspect it’d go fabulous atop a nice thick slice of grilled California sourdough or some rice for a more Asian-inspired dish.

I’ll be blogging soon about life and Portland preparation, so stay tuned for that. I also will be doing some fun things with Portabello mushrooms soon and have plans for home-made Cesar dressing to go on a grilled veggie and flame-charred Romaine salad. I’ll also work on getting better pictures!

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Drifter

Posted on June 22, 2010 by WJNM

I feel a bit silly for mentioning this. Why? Because I’ve mentioned it so many times before. Truth is, I have some incredible friends in Phoenix; I’m not from here, originally, but moving here with my family right after junior high afforded me the chance to get to know the city and my friends from a young and formulative enough place that this city, and the people here, are very ingrained into who I am today.

There are a couple people in particular (they know who they are) that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without. Like anyplace you more or less grow up in, Phoenix has become the place where I routinely tested who I am, my values, my beliefs and social skills against a backdrop of opportunities and events that I could never have predicted. Spiritually, the experiences of my time at Central shaped who I am, for better or worse, in that regard, and professionally, I was able to make the leap from cubicle dweller to entrepreneur with an incredible amount of support from my family, friends and other professional acquiantances.

Recognizing this value and having said that, I will still admit that this place has never felt quite right for me. When I need to get away, I will road trip to Huntington or Venice and sit along the beach, but I’ve never had more than a passing whim for living back in Southern California. While there is a glamor to a proper L.A. lifestyle, it is still a city I can be closely associated with yet admire from a distance. The place I discovered that I truly love is the Pacific Northwest. I love many great things about San Francisco and Seattle, but my heart is most closely tied to Portland.

It’s the perfect city for a cloudy-sky loving Gemini, who is part writer, part entrepreneur, part dreamer, part hippie. It is the perfect mix of quirky and vibrant city and stunning natural beauty. Once in 2005 I spent about a week in the city on my way to Vancouver, British Columbia, and on my second day there (I was based in Tigard, just south of Portland), I parked my car and used foot and public transportation to just explore the place.

The mountains and the water, the lively outdoor vibrancy of the city, the authenticity and uniqueness of each person, the constant scent of green herb from nearly every outdoor coffee shop patio, the fresh-roasted beans, the incredible weather, the used book stores – the Portland I discovered resonated with me more than any place ever has. A trip there a couple years later with my now-former boyfriend confirmed that for me; he could also see it in me around every turn.

This isn’t, at all, a comedown on Phoenix, but I’ve been here since 1996. Why haven’t I left earlier if I’ve felt this way for oh, 5 1/2 years? A couple reasons. I’m attached to the people here, tremendously, but I’ve also learned you need to live life for yourself. The other, more serious reason, is that I just haven’t motivated myself to do it. There’s always something; if you’re looking for life to make a decision for you, you’ll always find plenty of reasons to choose the path of least resistance. In other words, you’ll find a reason to stay because it’s more comfortable, familiar.

For example, back in 2006, I used a new relationship I was in as an excuse not to go, even though he was more than generous with respecting what I need and never made it a requirement that I stay in Phoenix. Well into 2008, I told people I was only staying because of my job, which I got laid off from. While I have made a giant leap in life decisions and personal changing (for the better) in the last year, I still feel like a huge thing I need to do to “grow up” (I’m 28) is to truly move out – of my default life. Try as I may, I’m finding that hard to do in Phoenix. Maybe it’s a psychological block, maybe it’s life truly telling me to move on.

I’m not making any rash decisions like I used to make. I know the realities of money better now than I did in years past, I know what I need to accomplish professionally and academically in the short-term. I’d like to say I’m kind of planning for a change. I know it’s non-committal, and I know most of my friends will probably roll their eyes in a “here we go again” response if I was to even breech this topic aloud. But that’s fine. It’ll either happen or it won’t.

But I know if it doesn’t, it’ll be because I’ve found a way to be truly happy in Phoenix, not just content. This city has brought me great things, but I have always laid in bed for a few minutes each morning, looked at the light flooding my bedroom, and briefly pretended that I would wake up in downtown Portland and spend the day working in a park-side coffee shop with 60-degree weather, jackets, and plenty of mountains, rivers and green around me in an alive city. That’s what makes me happy and come alive.

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First Post

Posted on June 18, 2010 by WJNM

Hey again everyone! It’s been awhile since I’ve had a blog; I used to be the guy who blogged about everything (even things that shouldn’t have been blogged about), and the result ended up being very therapeutic, if not a bit interesting to go and read back on later in life. While I am done with that tough transition period of my life (or so I hope!), I have missed the regular blogging world.

I’ve been meaning to set up another blog for about four years or so (the last time I really blogged hardcore was during my 2006 Israeli trip, here), but a laundry list of excuses got in the way … then MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. took the place of these things. I still write a heavy amount of content on other sites, but I haven’t really had a blogging “home” in a spell.

So this is a shot at that, but I’ll be doing other things as well that kind of tie my virtual existence all together. I’m mostly psyched about getting all my travel pictures in one place again, but that’s a rather large project. I can’t promise it’ll always be interesting, but I’ll do my best.

Until then,

Will

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