Very specific wordpress.org / Hostgator problem - Help!

[Johnny1975]

I'm having a problem with optimizepress (on Wordpress.org 4.4.2) & Hostgator. It's a very specific problem which I'm going to try to describe as clearly as possible. I'm hoping that someone who knows exactly what I'm talking about will be able to help.

I'm building a membership site. I have 1 product so far. I've set up most of it, but right now I'm trying to get the files that make up my product onto wordpress.

I can't upload them onto the media library directly because my files are huge. So I've uploaded them onto the cpanel of hostgator.

At first, after I uploaded them, I couldn't figure out how to make them appear in the media library. But then I found out about a plugin called Media From FTP and I managed to do it, by clicking on Search & Register. No problem.

But then, as I was watching various videos on how to set up optimizepress, one of them said that I need to protect not only the pages where my files would be, but also the files themselves.

The way to do this is to go to Optimizemember > Download Options > Basic download Restrictions.

Here's what it says there :

- - - - -
Upload restricted files to this security-enabled directory:
/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files

- Now, you can link to any protected file, using this special format:
http://mysite.com/?optimizemember_file_download=example-file.zip
optimizemember_file_download = file, relative to the /optimizeMember-files/ directory. In other words, just the file name.

- Or, use: [opmFile download="example-file.zip" /] ( easier Shortcode if you prefer )
Shortcode equivalent: [opmFile /] produces the entire URL for you, easier.
- - - - -

So, I had to move my files into a special folder for them to be protected.

My files were originally in the /wp-content folder. So, I went into the plugins folder, then the optimizeMember-files folder, and then I created another folder named after my course, plus other folders inside that, in order to organize my files.

So, then I went into the Media From FTP plugin, to get my files into the media library. But when I tried, it only lets me search in the /wp-content/uploads folder (as well as whatever folders are in that one).

So I can't access my files. As far as I can see I have only 1 option, which is to move my files into the uploads folder. This would work, but it would be unacceptable because the files wouldn't be protected. I need them in the protected folder (optimizeMember-files) and I need to get to them from the plugin so I can put them in the media library.

And that's my problem. For days I've tried and tried to get an answer but I've come across nothing. If you're reading this and you know what I'm on about, what should I do? Most of my site is done apart from some tweaking, but this is really slowing me down.

Thanks.

 

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[Supa]

Would it help if you could increase your upload file size limit?

I did that with changing up some code like it's described here:
http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-increase-the-maximum-file-upload-size-in-wordpress/

 

[Johnny1975]

Would it help if you could increase your upload file size limit?

I did that with changing up some code like it's described here:
http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-increase-the-maximum-file-upload-size-in-wordpress/

I'd still need to protect the files, and the way to do it is to put them in the optimizeMember folder, which is not part of wordpress.

 

[eekern]

Why do make it so difficult for yourself?

Use vimeo.com... Set the video to only show on your member domain.

 

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[MarkNNelson]

How about a plugin like Add External Media? Would that let you point to the underlying protected folder?

 

[Johnny1975]

I really need help with this people. I need to be able to use the Membership Files Download element on optimizemember. My files are in the optimizemember-files folder in cpanel (they need to be there to be protected), but no matter how I try to construct the url for a file, it just doesn't work.

What I mean is that the url itself is fine but to do it on optimizemember, I need to do this :

http://mydomain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=myfile.pdf or whatever

But it doesn't allow it.

 

[eekern]

you are wasting valueble time, read my answer. I promise it is better than self hosting...

 

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[OverByte]

Are you saying that you have uploaded the files to hostgator but can't get them to the correct folder because you can't navigate to the folder you uploaded them to in cPanel?

If this is the case you can ssh into hostgator and move the files that way. You will be able to see your entire hostgator directory. Does that make sense?

 

[Johnny1975]

Are you saying that you have uploaded the files to hostgator but can't get them to the correct folder because you can't navigate to the folder you uploaded them to in cPanel?

If this is the case you can ssh into hostgator and move the files that way. You will be able to see your entire hostgator directory. Does that make sense?

No they're in the right folder.

Normally, if I wanted to put them in cpanel in order to then move them into the media library, I would need to put them into this folder :

/public_html/wp-content/uploads/2016

But that doesn't apply for what I'm doing, because I need to protect them with optimizemember, by putting them in a specific folder in cpanel for that purpose. I guess protected files can't be moved to the media library (besides, they wouldn't be protectable even if they could).

This is what it says in Optimizemember-Download Options-Basic Download Restrictions :
- - - - - - - - - -
Upload restricted files to this security-enabled directory:
/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files

- Now, you can link to any protected file, using this special format:

http://mydomain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=example-file.zip
optimizemember_file_download = file, relative to the /optimizeMember-files/ directory. In other words, just the file name.
- - - - - - - - - -

That's what I've done. My files are in this folder :

/public_html/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files/myfile.whateverfiletype(i.e. pdf, mp4, whatever)

According to the instructions, it seems to be saying that I should replace "example-file.zip" with the name of my file. Does that mean the entire path or just the file name? I've tried both ways and none of them work.

When I try to create a Membership Files Download element on my downloads page on my site, it doesn't work. When it asks me to enter the URL of the file, it doesn't accept it. I've tried doing it in different ways but nothing works.

I need the files to be in that protected folder so that my files are only accessible for people with a particular type of membership (which the element lets me set), but I don't know exactly what to enter when asked for the URL of the file. I saw a video where someone just entered the file name and nothing else (i.e. whatever.pdf), and that worked for them, although it's not what optimizepress says to do.

This is just confusing. My files are there in cpanel, in the right folder, but I just don't know what to enter when it asks for the URL.

 

[OverByte]

No they're in the right folder.

Normally, if I wanted to put them in cpanel in order to then move them into the media library, I would need to put them into this folder :

/public_html/wp-content/uploads/2016

But that doesn't apply for what I'm doing, because I need to protect them with optimizemember, by putting them in a specific folder in cpanel for that purpose. I guess protected files can't be moved to the media library (besides, they wouldn't be protectable even if they could).

This is what it says in Optimizemember-Download Options-Basic Download Restrictions :
- - - - - - - - - -
Upload restricted files to this security-enabled directory:
/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files

- Now, you can link to any protected file, using this special format:

http://mydomain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=example-file.zip
optimizemember_file_download = file, relative to the /optimizeMember-files/ directory. In other words, just the file name.
- - - - - - - - - -

That's what I've done. My files are in this folder :

/public_html/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files/myfile.whateverfiletype(i.e. pdf, mp4, whatever)

According to the instructions, it seems to be saying that I should replace "example-file.zip" with the name of my file. Does that mean the entire path or just the file name? I've tried both ways and none of them work.

When I try to create a Membership Files Download element on my downloads page on my site, it doesn't work. When it asks me to enter the URL of the file, it doesn't accept it. I've tried doing it in different ways but nothing works.

I need the files to be in that protected folder so that my files are only accessible for people with a particular type of membership (which the element lets me set), but I don't know exactly what to enter when asked for the URL of the file. I saw a video where someone just entered the file name and nothing else (i.e. whatever.pdf), and that worked for them, although it's not what optimizepress says to do.

This is just confusing. My files are there in cpanel, in the right folder, but I just don't know what to enter when it asks for the URL.

According to this line:

"optimizemember_file_download = file, relative to the /optimizeMember-files/ directory. In other words, just the file name."

you should just need to replace the file with the file name, not the full path

so for instance if under /public_html/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files/ you had file1.png

The url should be www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file1.png

if under optimizeMember-files/ you had a subdirectory called memberFiles/ and it contained file2.png url should be:

www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=memberFiles/file2.png

That is how it should work according to that documentation you just posted.

If it is not working, there are a couple things that could be wrong.

1. that URL assumes that wordpress is installed at the root of your domain, if instead it was installed in a subfolder, such as store for example then you would need to use www.domain.com/store/?optimizemember_file_download=XXX.x

2. not likely but could be a permissions issue accessing the files.

Have you tried logging in / authenticating as a user to your store and then typing the URL into the browser (instead of trying to create the element)? Do you get an error if you type in www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file in your browser? Is there any output?

You could also try looking / pasting the output of wp-content/plugins/error_log or the error_log in the main word press directory.

It's possible optimize press has it's own log output, I don't know anything about optimize press, just trying to help using general troubleshooting. If you know how to ssh onto your hostgator box you can run this command to find all log files relative to your wordpress directory.

First 'cd' into your wordpress directory will be public_html/ if wordpress is installed to the root of your domain and that is the only domain in your hostgator.

Then run 'find . -name "*log" ' to get a list of all files ending in log relative to that path. if there is one under optimize press, then post the contents here. Likely optimize press will just use the main plugins/error_log.

I'm not sure how technical you are or if those instructions make any sense but that is how I would start to narrow down the problem. I'm guessing you just having something configured differently than the default which is why the documentation isnt working.

 

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[Johnny1975]

According to this line:

"optimizemember_file_download = file, relative to the /optimizeMember-files/ directory. In other words, just the file name."

you should just need to replace the file with the file name, not the full path

so for instance if under /public_html/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files/ you had file1.png

The url should be www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file1.png

if under optimizeMember-files/ you had a subdirectory called memberFiles/ and it contained file2.png url should be:

www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=memberFiles/file2.png

That is how it should work according to that documentation you just posted.

If it is not working, there are a couple things that could be wrong.

1. that URL assumes that wordpress is installed at the root of your domain, if instead it was installed in a subfolder, such as store for example then you would need to use www.domain.com/store/?optimizemember_file_download=XXX.x

2. not likely but could be a permissions issue accessing the files.

Have you tried logging in / authenticating as a user to your store and then typing the URL into the browser (instead of trying to create the element)? Do you get an error if you type in www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file in your browser? Is there any output?

When you say installing wordpress at the root of my domain, I don't know what that means.
- - - - -
You could also try looking / pasting the output of wp-content/plugins/error_log or the error_log in the main word press directory.

It's possible optimize press has it's own log output, I don't know anything about optimize press, just trying to help using general troubleshooting. If you know how to ssh onto your hostgator box you can run this command to find all log files relative to your wordpress directory.

First 'cd' into your wordpress directory will be public_html/ if wordpress is installed to the root of your domain and that is the only domain in your hostgator.

Then run 'find . -name "*log" ' to get a list of all files ending in log relative to that path. if there is one under optimize press, then post the contents here. Likely optimize press will just use the main plugins/error_log.

I'm not sure how technical you are or if those instructions make any sense but that is how I would start to narrow down the problem. I'm guessing you just having something configured differently than the default which is why the documentation isnt working.
- - - - -
No sorry I don't know what any of that means. No I'm not very good at this.




When I uploaded the files, I set the permissions to 0755. But when I moved them into the protected folder, it automatically changed the permission to 0644. I guess that means that it's protected.

Yesterday I was chatting with someone from hostgator about this and they gave me the correct url of a file (not to be confused with the extra bit that optimizemember mentions), and when I clicked on it, it downloaded the file immediately. At first I was worried because that would mean that my file isn't protected, but then I remembered that I was logged into wp-admin at the time, so maybe that's why it downloaded it.

 

[OverByte]

When you say installing wordpress at the root of my domain, I don't know what that means.

When I uploaded the files, I set the permissions to 0755. But when I moved them into the protected folder, it automatically changed the permission to 0644. I guess that means that it's protected.

Yesterday I was chatting with someone from hostgator about this and they gave me the correct url of a file (not to be confused with the extra bit that optimizemember mentions), and when I clicked on it, it downloaded the file immediately. At first I was worried because that would mean that my file isn't protected, but then I remembered that I was logged into wp-admin at the time, so maybe that's why it downloaded it.

See my edited answer for additional info from the logs.

When I say installing wordpress at the root of your domain.. if you can access wp-admin by going to www.domain.com/wp-admin it would be installed at the root.

644 still gives everyone read access so I don't see how that is protecting the file. Likely the folder they reside in itself is protected.

What was the "correct" url that hostgator gave you?

 

[Johnny1975]

See my edited answer for additional info from the logs.

When I say installing wordpress at the root of your domain.. if you can access wp-admin by going to www.domain.com/wp-admin it would be installed at the root.

644 still gives everyone read access so I don't see how that is protecting the file. Likely the folder they reside in itself is protected.

What was the "correct" url that hostgator gave you?

Yes I can access my admin by going to www.mydomain.com/wp-admin

I can't remember the url that I was given.

(I've edited my previous reply)

 

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[OverByte]

Yes I can access my admin by going to www.mydomain.com/wp-admin

I can't remember the url that I was given.

(I've edited my previous reply)

What happens when you type: www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file into your browser (while you are logged in)?

 

[Johnny1975]

What happens when you type: www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file into your browser (while you are logged in)?

I just tried it. It goes to my home page. Weird.

But when I go to : http://mydomain.com/wp-content/plugins/optimizeMember-files/File (notice that there's no public_html there), it downloads the file.

 

[OverByte]

Yea that makes sense actually.

You need to look at the output of your error log

The one at www.domain.com/wp-content/plugin/error_log

Can you download this file from cpanel and paste the last 20 lines or so (right after you try to access the URL www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file in your browser)?

 

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[Johnny1975]

Yea that makes sense actually.

You need to look at the output of your error log

The one at www.domain.com/wp-content/plugin/error_log

Can you download this file from cpanel and paste the last 20 lines or so (right after you try to access the URL www.domain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=file in your browser)?

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're saying. I typed in www.mydomain.com/wp-content/plugin/error-log and all I got was ooops, this page couldn't be found.

I want to show you a couple of screenshots. How do I put images here?

 

[OverByte]

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're saying. I typed in www.mydomain.com/wp-content/plugin/error-log and all I got was ooops, this page couldn't be found.

I want to show you a couple of screenshots. How do I put images here?

You can't type that into the browser you will need to go to that location by using the file / ftp browser in cpanel. The file is located under wp-content/plugin/error-log

 

[Johnny1975]

 

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[Johnny1975]

I did it, but it says this directory is empty.

 

[OverByte]

I did it, but it says this directory is empty.

Rename that file to "Introduction.pdf" (ie remove the 1)_ in front and then try to access the file using the URL

yourdomain.com/?optimizemember_file_download=Introduction.pdf

I think the ')' character may be screwing things up for you.

 

[Johnny1975]

I tried :

1-Introduction.pdf
1Introduction.pdf and
Introduction.pdf

None of them worked. A couple of days ago I checked to see what characters are acceptable in a url and underscores are ok, and so are parenthesis. But even without them, it won't accept it.

By that, I mean that optimizepress won't accept it. But typing it in is fine, it downloads the file, even with the underscore and bracket.

 

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[OverByte]

In that file explorer is there a log file under:

wp_content/plugin/optimizeMember/
or
wp_content/plugin/optimizeMember-logs
?

If there are logs in either or both directories attach them here.

 

[Johnny1975]

I typed both in the search bar in cpanel. Nothing.

 

[OverByte]

I typed both in the search bar in cpanel. Nothing.

Instead of typing in the search bar just navigate to those directories like in that screenshot you sent. I see the directories are there. There are no files in either? That doesn't make any sense there would be no files in plugins/optimizePress so I have to think you aren't looking in correct place. Or do you mean there are no log files?

 

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[Johnny1975]

 

[OverByte]

Is there an error_log under public_html?

You mentioned earlier "it wouldn't take the URL" or something along those lines. Can you post a screenshot of that and if it gives any error messages?

 

[Johnny1975]

Is there an error_log under public_html?

You mentioned earlier "it wouldn't take the URL" or something along those lines. Can you post a screenshot of that and if it gives any error messages?

What I meant was that when optimizemember asks me to enter the url of the file, no matter what I type, it doesn't accept it. There's no error message, just a red cross next to the text bar thingy, indicating that it'd not accepted.

 

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[OverByte]

What I meant was that when optimizemember asks me to enter the url of the file, no matter what I type, it doesn't accept it. There's no error message, just a red cross next to the text bar thingy, indicating that it'd not accepted.

Can I see the screenshot? I'm just interested in the exact phrase it gives you ie "enter URL, enter file name" etc

 

[Johnny1975]