Please assist!
I have very limited knowledge of Drupal and PHP based programing, so could someone please explain to me what, exactly, a "writable" directory would be? I've had this issue since I installed it, but now it's even more of a problem, since I can't edit themes or site information and can not submit images or files.
I've tried multiple directories since the installation, due to the fact the first one didn't work, however this may have been my problem - none of them qualified.
Either way, I still can't figure it out.
What do I do?
Comments
Comment #1
Crell commentedA writeable directory is one that a given program or user (on the server, not in Drupal) has access to modify, and modify files inside it. On your server, 99% of the time the Apache web server will be running as its own "apache" user (sometimes called www-data or something like that) or as "nobody". Whatever it is, it's different than the user you use to log into your account on the server. Because Drupal is run through Apache, it runs as that user, not as the user you use to log in yourself.
Drupal needs write access to *just* the settings.php file, *just* during the install. It also needs write access to the files directory at all times. So, when you first go to install Drupal, set the permissions for the sites/default/settings.php file to "777", that is "owner, group, and other" users have "read, write, and execute" permissions. (How you do that depends on your hosting provider. Some will give you a command line, some won't. Check their documentation for their recommended way to do that.) After the install is done, set the permissions on that file to "644", which means anyone can read the file (so that Apache and Drupal can read it) but no one but the file's owner, you, can write to it.
Then, create a directory sites/default/files. Set that directory's permissions to 777. (Again, check your host's documentation to see how they want you to do that.) Then in the Drupal admin, set the files directory to "sites/default/files". That way, Drupal will try to save all of its uploaded files and cached stylesheets and such to that directory, which it now has permission to use.
If you have command line access, you would change permissions with something like:
chmod 777 sites/default/settings.php. If you have to use an FTP program or a web control panel from your host, it varies with the program. Again, check their docs.(Note: The above is for Drupal 5, which you should be using for all new installs. For 4.7, do not set the settings.php file to any new permissions as you'll be editing it manually. The files directory is the same in either version, though.)
Cheers.
Comment #2
removed11111 commentedThat's the thing, however.
The host doesn't really have an option to edit permissions for directories, per se, though I may be completely misinterpreting what you meant.
I'll try to edit the file, but bear with me for a bit.
Comment #3
removed11111 commentedWhoa, that's really strange. I think my settings.php file has like, completely vanished.
That's obviously the problem, but what now? oO
Comment #4
removed11111 commentedOh, good. My friend just helped me with the settings.php file.
My final question would be this - how would you edit that file's permissions?
Comment #5
vm commentedyou can use your FTP program to do so. search its help text for CHMOD
Comment #6
Anonymous (not verified) commentedUser resolved issue.
Comment #7
removed11111 commentedI'm sorry, however this issue has still yet to be resolved, and my last resort was to simply terminate the image module.
However, I still wish to have avatars. I fixed the permissions for /moocow - the files file, however the subfolder /moocow/pic refuses to be recognized no matter how many times I change the permissions. Every time I try to edit my settings they can not be completed because of this, so now I can't even change the site name. What do I do?
Comment #8
ricabrantes commentedNo activity, Closed