AJAX Error: HTTP Internal Server Error

More than likely you have a plugin conflict. Please try these diagnostic steps: https://create.blubrry.com/resources/powerpress/using-powerpress/diagnosing-feed-andor-player-issues-with-powerpress/

Thanks for the reply. I had tried most of what the document suggested except for deleting and reinstalling the PowerPress plugin. Once I did that, I was able to see the settings page and my error on verifying the URL is different. It changed from the Ajax error to now display:

Media URL reporting incorrect content type: text/html

I get that error even if I try to verify URLs that are already podcasts.

Okay you are 90% there.

Whom ever is hosting your media files is not aware of the media format you are using. Can you share the URL to the media file so I can give you specific advice?

Non-specific advice, you need to contact your web host to add the appropriate content type to your web server for the media format you are using. Surprising though, most web hosting can detect mp3 files, which hopefully is the format you are using.

Here’s the link: https://ptcsda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Finding_Father_Benjamin_2015_08_01.mp3

You can see that it will play as a podcast. It’s a little slow to start, it should have been edited to clean up the dead air. Also, I know self-hosting is a no-no. Our organization doesn’t really have the budget at this point for a CDN.

You will want to find out if you have the ability to edit your .htaccess file on the server. If you can, you want to add the following line to it:

AddType audio/mpeg .mp3

Here is a site that explains all the types: https://voice.firefallpro.com/2012/03/html5-audio-video-mime-types.html

Been years since I found a web site that did not have mp3 type defined.

The type needs to be set correctly, not just for PowerPress but for iTunes. If the content type continues to be text/html, there is no guarantee it will play correctly.

I tried that, unfortunately it didn’t resolve the issue. I have a BlueHost VPS, which their help documentation says that they support mp3 (https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/306).

Here is my updated .htaccess file:

RewriteOptions inherit

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*$

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

# Add file types to support
AddType audio/mpeg .mp3

Thanks again for your help on this.

Any ideas on this? My hosting provider says they support MP3. Any chance this is an issue with PowerPress?

Your media hosting service is still not reporting the correct content type consistently. What ever they are doing it is based on user agent. I can request the media file with Firefox and get audio/mpeg, but from WordPress it is reporting text/html. Usually when this happens it also will not work for iTunes and other podcatchers (logic is blocking non browsers). This could be caused by many factors (caching service, mod security, WP security plugin, overzealous admin rules, etc…), only your web hosting would know 100% by looking at the error.log.

Please try testing with this media URL to confirm the problem is not with PowerPress: https://media.blubrry.com/demo/content.blubrry.com/demo/Finding_Father_Benjamin_2015_08_01.mp3 (this is your media file using Blubrry Podcast Hosting)

Ok that worked thanks. I’ll deal with my hosting provider.