Error on signup pge – Warning: mkdir(): Permission denied”

I don’t recognize this message as being from the Participants Database plugin, can you tell me where you see this message and the exact wording?

Taken at face value, this means that a directory could not be created. The plugin (assuming this is Participants Database showing the warning) creates a directory as a place to put uploaded files. This is typically in the wp-content/uploads/ directory, so it’s possible the permissions on this directory are not allowing directory creation….this is pretty unusual, but could happen if the permissions were not correctly configured. If you don’t know anything about this, I suggest you ask your hosting provider about it, they will know the correct settings to use.

It is showing on this page that I mentioned above – https://representnv.us/sign-up-page/

It appears to me that it is visible to all who go to that page. Are you not seeing it?
The exact wording is –

Supporters Sign Up Page

Warning: mkdir(): Permission denied in /home/public/wp-content/plugins/participants-database/classes/PDb_shortcodes/template.php on line 265

Warning: mkdir(): Permission denied in /home/public/wp-content/plugins/participants-database/classes/PDb_shortcodes/template.php on line 265

Together we can let it be known that we won’t stand for a corrupt system that ignores the voice of the electorate.

Please fill out this form so we can add your name to our lists of supporters.

OK, well I refer you to my previous answer for how to address this, you need to look at the permissions on the wp-content/ directory. The plugin wants to create a directory at wp-content/participants-database-templates

Or, if you are using a non-standard directory structure, make sure the “File Upload Location” setting is correct for your setup.

Hi
Thanks for your response but I am a bit confused still.
You said to look at-
wp-content/participants-database-templates
This directory does not exist

Error Message says to look at-
wp-content/plugins/participants-database
It’s permissions and as are all of the subdirectories under it are: repusnv [269596] 0775

And the instructions you linked to – https://xnau.com/work/wordpress-plugins/participants-database/participants-database-documentation/participants-database-settings-help/#File-Upload-Location says to look at –
wp-content/uploads/participants-database/
It’s permissions are web[25000] – 0755

Can you verify which directory/directories are the problem and how to fix them?
Might I just add. This is an issue which just recently cropped up despite my not having changed permissions.

Thanks

I can’t advise you on the permissions to use, this will be specific to your server.

The directory I suggested you look at is: wp-content/

When the plugin is attempting to find a custom template, it looks for the wp-content/participants-database-templates directory, and if it doesn’t exist, it attempts to create it. This is what is causing the warning to appear. This means that the permission issue is with the wp-content directory.

By the way, this is related to the use of a custom template for a Participants Database shortcode, if that helps you understand what is going on.

The warning states that it is forbidden to create the directory, permissions are one possible reason for that, but it’s also possible there is a configuration that prevents directory creation, typically, this would be as a security measure. I don’t know enough to be more specific than that.

Plugin updates to Participants Database would not have affected this, but there are several possible reasons for this coming up without you changing anything such as your hosting provider changing security setups, or installing a security plugin.

Thanks for working with me on this.

My setup does have a directory “participants-database-templates’ directory but it is not directly under “wp-content/”. It is at “home/public/wp-content/plugins/participants-database/templates”.
Is that wrong?
It seems logical to me that it would be there as opposed to directly under “wp-content/” but what do I know?
Also , there is a “/home/public/wp-content/uploads/participants-database” directory
Would it make any sense for me to manually create a /wp-content/participants-database-templates directory?

Steve

• This reply was modified 9 months, 2 weeks ago by Steve-CC.

The plugin has its own built-in templates at the directory you found, but it cannot be used for your custom templates. The wp-content/participants-database-templates directory is the correct location for those.

If you are using a custom template, that is where they should go, and you can create the directory manually.

If you are not using a custom template, then you may have an error in your shortcode that is making the plugin attempt to find a custom template. The “template” attribute of the shortcode must identify a valid template name. See Shortcode Templates for the details.

Thanks again
The page has two lines of text and then the “shortcode”?
[pdb_signup template=responsive]
Does that indicate that I am using a custom template?
If so, please remind me how to find it. It has been several years since I set this up so I do not remember.

The shortcode looks good, and the “responsive” template is a built-in template, so it shouldn’t be looking for a custom template.

Since the warning is getting printed to the web page, I’d suggest changing your configuration to not print error messages. Take a look at this page for instructions on how to do that: Debugging in WordPress

Also, try manually creating the directory that it is trying to create. That should keep the plugin from complaining about it.

Test the form to make sure it’s working.

I created a directory – “wp-content/participants-database-templates” and the error message went away. Tested and all seems ok now so seems unnecessary to change configuration since warning is gone.

Thanks