Adding New Plugin Behavior

  • Hello,
    I am practicing setting up a wordpress server from the ground up so to speak.

    My basic TL;DR question is: Can wordpress self install plugins/themes if the proper folders are server-writable?

    I am trying to get my fresh, barebones wordpress install up and running, and I am hitting a weird wall. So far everything works well, but I cannot upload themes or plugins through wordpress itself without it requesting ftp credentials. Thinking this was a permissions or ownership issue, I decided to recursively set the entire wp-content folder to 777 temporarily.

    Trying to install a plugin with these permissions resulted in the same ftp credentials prompt, to my surprise.

    Resetting my permissions, I decided to test if I could upload images via wordpress backend. I could, but I noticed that for some reason the zip file of the plugin I tried to install was now inside the media gallery. Looking via ssh, sure enough I found it tucked in the uploads directory. This particular behavior is confusing to me. I can’t seem to find any info on why this is happening via my searches.

    I then tried manually uploading and decompressing a plugin to the proper directory, which worked fine. WordPress was able to recognized and activate it with no problem. This is of course a workaround, as would be giving it ftp credentials, but my end goal is to figure out why it isn’t working as expected now. Can someone help me out here?

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

  • If the folder is writable, then WordPress will try to install the plugin or theme automatically.

    The main reason that I’ve seen for the permissions not allowing writing is that the web user doesn’t have permission on the folder. Most web hosting servers get around this by having Apache “cloak” the user to be the one that’s associated with the site, but if you’re configuring your own erver, that sort of thing can be a lot easier said than done.

    Give a try by define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true); in wp-config.php and then you will find the right cause of the problem in the browser.

    Thread Starter Abacomancer

    (@abacomancer)

    Somesh79: No errors come up with debug, it still just redirects to the ftp login credentials request page.
    catacaustic: I thought the same, but on the other hand, my 777 permissions test should have “fixed” that problem.

    So I am thinking that this might be a problem with the uploading directory being different from the directory it is looking for the upload. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how to further fix/test for this.
    I’m making that guess based on the following:

    • 777 permissions did not fix this
    • I can edit plugin files (and save the changes) through the WP backend.- so wordpress/the server has write permissions
    • The zip files are still showing up in the media gallery + uploads directory. – this just seems like it shouldn’t be happneing

    You can add or update any plugin in local environment and then upload it at server.You can move your desired plugin to the plugin folder in wp-content folder with ssh.Unzip it and then in browser you will see that plugin then just activate it and all done.Also check the owner and group of the wp folder.

    Thread Starter Abacomancer

    (@abacomancer)

    Somesh79: I wasn’t looking for a workaround so much as an explanation if one could be found. Like I said earlier, I have done successful manual plugin installs already. I’m confident the owner and group is set correctly. WordPress can edit plugin files via backend, and it can upload to the uploads folder with the same permissions. Even if they weren’t correct, setting everything to world writable would have bypassed that, as I understand it.

    Have a look at https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/step-by-step-guide-to-install-a-wordpress-plugin-for-beginners/

    If you still have problem then let me know

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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