Your Complete Guide to Troubleshooting Osclass

It is only normal to have problems when running your Osclass based website. Especially if you are new at all this and you have little or no experience with PHP, Linux, Databases and Control Panels.

I see a lot of people posting at Osclass Support forums, and to be honest most of them have no idea what they are doing and how to deal with a problem or even how to ask for help. So here are some information that may help.

What to do before ask for help

If you have a problem with your Osclass website, there are a couple of things to try before ask for help. Activate the default Theme (bender, un-modified of course) and try again to see if the problem insists. Many times 3rd party themes or modifications on them are the cause of problems and errors.

Also you can disable ALL plugins and try again. If after disabling all plugins the problem is gone, active them one-by-one to see what plugin is the cause of the problem.

Support Request Information

Before asking for help in the Forums, please SEARCH first. It is most likely that someone has already encountered the same problem and a solution or some help is available in the forums.

When creating a support topic at Osclass Forums, be sure to select the appropriate forum. Write an informative TITLE and avoid titles like “Please Help me” or “HEELLLLLPPP !!!!”. In the post body include your Osclass and/or plugin version, along some some details about your hosting setup (local, shared, vps, dedicated). Be clear and detailed in the steps needed to replicate the problem. Then wait for replies and don’t bump your questions.

Don’t forget to include your PHP version and if needed all PHP details of your plan. How ? Create a file called “info.php” and put the following line in there:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Upload via Ftp the file in your Osclass root. Visit your site pointing at http://yoursite.com/info.php and you will see all the information needed. Don’t forget to remove that file after you are done, because that file could be viewed by everybody by guessing the name.

Turn on Debugging

Edit via FTP your Osclass config.php and add the following:

define('OSC_DEBUG', true) ;
define('OSC_DEBUG_LOG', true);

This will add a file called “debug.log” in your oc-content folder and all warnings-notices-errors will be saved in there. Your file and folder permissions should be correct, otherwise the file will not be created. File permissions should be 644 and folder permissions 755. To be sure you could create an empty “debug.log” in oc-content folder.

Don’t forget to remove those lines after your are done. Or just change this line:

define('OSC_DEBUG', false) ;

Finding your PHP Osclass Error Logs via FTP

Osclass tries to catch some php errors (without debug to be enabled). Check your “error_log” in Osclass folder.

Finding your Osclass Error Logs in CPanel

This Cpanel function displays the 300 most recent errors for your site. Check this log frequently to ensure that your site runs smoothly. For example, this information can help you find broken links or problems with missing files.

Common Osclass Problems and Error Messages and How to Fix Them

Empty (blank/white) pages when viewing a page or after a new ad post: This is usually an “out of memory” fatal error. But it could also be a theme error or something else, so Osclass Debug should be enabled to see the error.

Can’t upload a plugin or an ad photo: If you can’t upload ANYTHING it usually is a permissions error. While i can’t go into details about website files/folder security here, the files should be 644 and the folders 755. But permissions should be correctly setup in your hosting plan by your hosting company, unless you have your own unmanaged server. Enabling debug may help you but you better check with your hosting support, since they can see the error in their logs.

If you can’t upload (attach) photos to your ads, it could be several things: Permissions (see above), GD or Imagick extensions missing or not working right, a PHP file upload size restriction (php_value upload_max_filesize) or a hosting setup. Check for errors, switch to Bender theme and if everything fails contact your hosting support.

Out of memory errors: If you see some out of memory problem in your error_log or debug.log, you should increase your PHP memory allowance for your plan. Osclass could run with 64 mb but at lease 128 mb are suggested. For bigger Osclass installation with more than one country, 256 mb are suggested. You can increase your PHP memory (put the size you need) using .htaccess by adding this line on top:

php_value memory_limit 256M

You can increase the php memory limit of Osclass by adding in your config.php the following directive:

define('OSC_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');

Prefer using Imagick lib php extension: If you have the option to use Imagick instead of GD library, do so. Imagick is better as it uses less memory and resources for image manipulation in Osclass (and in general). You may need to activate Imagick within your Cpanel in php settings.

If you have any problem or question, freel free to post it on Osclass Forum.