TOPIC: Yes I'm sorry to say another issue with the Captcha image

Just installed the component JoomlaComment 4.0 Beta version on my Joomla test site but the captcha image is not showing. I've used different browsers and cleared the cache but still no good. Does anyone have an idea what might be causing the issue?

Apart from this issue I'm very happy with the component.

Erm.... how are we supposed to know? We can't even see the site

If you can't post a link you'll have to do the same thing you would do to fix any problem on a website - Maximum Error Reporting in Joomla Backend, check error_log file, check JavaScript errors with Firebug or Web Developer Toolbar, and check POST status with Firebug.

Ok, here are the site details. www.joomlademo.com.au

See what you think?

Ah g'day fellow Aussie,

You don't seem to be getting any errors, I think this is a server-side library problem. Check your PHPinfo to make sure you have both GD Library and FreeType Library installed on the server, you may need to contact your webhost provider to find out.

If you need further help PM me with a username and password for backend access and I can take a look for you

Giday Mate,

Yes, I agree it doesn't appear to be a Joomla error and I think that you're right, the server or host side of things must be the issue. I'll let you know how it goes.

My account is hosted with Webcity and I've just emailed them via their support ticketing system - see how we go.

No worries, let us know how she goes.

EDIT: Off topic, how do you find Webcity to be so far? My server is currently in Texas (Hostgator) as they are among the best, although i'll be looking to get some home-hosted solution when the site gets bigger - the Business Pro plans Webcity has seem nicely priced, but I think I will ask around on whirlpool forums maybe.

I used Webcity for my very first Joomla site but their customer service was a bit lacking at the time so I moved my sites to Foote Francis in Perth who are dedicated to Joomla, its all they work with.

I only use Webcity now for my Joomla demo site where I test all the components I work with before uploading to client sites, its cheap and easy to work with in that regard.

Some clients that I work with want an easy and cheap solution so I point them to Webcity as an option. Of late their customer service has improved. Compared to some other companies I think they rate ok but I recommend the move over the F2 for serious website owners that need excellent service and dependability even if it costs a little more.

Fair enough. I was going to choose an aussie host from the start, but I cam to the conclusion it's not worth it unless you really need that Australian reputation/local support, or are ABN registered and operating business (required to be aussie hosted in that case, I believe).

The reasons why I thought it isn't worth it are various, but mostly it seems that the infrastructure we have is generally lacking compared to the US of A (everbody blames Telstra). There is cheaper, faster and more feature-rich competition offshore. But if I were to get further established, I wouldn't dismiss bringing it home for the simple reason of supporting our own economy (if not anything else) - despite the fact that i'll probably have to pay double for similar speed.

Many have done their own tests - you'd think same-country would be fastest, but you know - our internet kind of sucks i'm not one for politics but i heard back that ol' Kev was pressing for Fibre-to-the-home in metro areas, maybe things will improve within the next few years? We'll see.

Well that was an ace rant right there, sorry if I bored you but thanks for your feedback Marcus! Let us know when you get that tech info for the server.

I received the following response from Matt at Webcity.

Hi,

I can confirm that our servers all support GD with Freetype built into GD

Please ensure that your module is making use of GD, if you still have problems let me know

Regards,
--Matt

I'm sure I've already checked that my module is making use of GD, could I have missed something?

I don't think there was anything TO miss, it should just work! Ah that's never the case though is it. Well I'm not sure if JoomlaComment needs GD or GD2 specifically but... well we have more things to try.

Since this is a demo/test site, I suppose you don't mind installing a new extension...? Give this a go - extensions.joomla.org/extensions/access-...ecurity/7013/details its a very handly "Health Check" sort of thing for Joomla. It is much more effective however if you have the FTP Layer configured and enabled for Joomla, that's the one in "Global Configuration" > "Server" tab, bottom-left corner. Double check that the details there are are valid max-permission FTP account that Joomla can use for File Maintenance tasks.

GuardXT is something I use personally so don't be worried or suspicious on it, it's very handy. If the GuardXT extension seems a bit daunting (it was a little for me) I'm happy to do it for you.

Oh while you're in GLobal Configuration, could you also put Error Reporting on to "Maximum" while we try this out? That way we will get extra info in the error_log file. When you save that configuration, go and click on the Captcha Text in the article to try and load it, hopefully it triggers and error, and send us that error_log file in the public_html folder from your FTP (ZIPped first).

OK so do that and also install and run the GuardXT File Check if you can. Let us know of your results. If we're still stuck and it doesn't work, I think you may have to PM me a username/password for full backend access for me to investigate. It must be a server issue though, that's pretty much a fresh Joomla install by the look of it...

Still no image - really gets me angry when I have these little issues - just very frustrating although a good learning experience I guess. I may have to look for another comments component and see if I can get better results. I'm sure Joomlacomment works well in most cases but just not for me this time. That's why I have a Joomla test site, for this type of scenario. With some many other extensions available I'm bound to find something similar.

That's a shame... we have GD and Freetype, so its not that. The only other thing is the 755/644 for dir/file permissions, I guess the server configuration must be rather exotic

In these circumstances it is sad but true - we could probably fix it, but it's a matter of time and what's convenient for your clients. You can't have errors like this slowing you down.

Well if you need more assistance just let us know. Hey, if your Webhost are nice enough, maybe they can check your PHP process logs for you to see if there's anything in there. We have established that, and you can quote me on this, there are no client-side or render errors - JavaScript, AJAX, XML and POST returns no problems, permissions for PHP execution are correct, the server has GD with Freetype libs installed, there is literally nothing else I can ask you to - aaprt from doing a manual reinstall of the plugin via FTP folder method (and that'd only fix it if the extension installation was corrupted somehow).

I don't like days like this

Ok, I didn't read the whole thread, but why don#t you guys just look in the error log:
http://www.joomlademo.com.au/components/com_comment/joscomment/captcha.php?refid=2fd99f408c6cb78e7014a27c858a2741

generates an internal server error - that means that something must be written in the error log.

Thanks for the tip, it will be checked out today.

Still none the wiser with this issue, its really got me stumped. Mmmmmm might have to consider some alternatives.

There is something really wrong with your demosite Marcus. I can't run GuardXT at all because the FTP layer settings are not correct, and the /logs/ folder is not writable!

That appears to be corrupted, you've got :tmp and :logs and wierdness in there. When I go to PHP Information in Joomla backend, I get an undefined offset error and see nothing - I don't know if it's related, but basedir shouldn't look like that.

The open_basedir restrictions can be turned off in the Apache configuration file, httpd.conf, with the following line:You'll have to contact the webhost. They probably will not allow you to make it empty, which is a horrible thing many webhosts do to try and restrict their clients.

Please note also - you've got No Editor set. This can cause problems with many 3rd party extensions, it's safe to set it to Tiny Editor (or any editor that's included).

Also I couldn't get into Global Configuration, of course that is sensitive, but please ensure you have a correctly configured FTP Layer. I can't stress that enough.

I also advise you to contact your webhost to do "A recursive CHMOD on all files and folders for Joomla compatibility. If you have PHPSuExec enabled on the host, 0755 for all directories and 0644 for all files is recommended. If PHPSuExec is not installed, you will need more insecure permissions and this various per host configuration. /media/ /tmp/ and /logs/ also has to be CHMOD 0777 on most servers that do not have PHPSuExec"

Good luck, let us know how you go.

Daniel,
I suggested that in my first reply

Mmmm, I'm thinking of just uninstalling Joomla and starting over with this account and then go from there with a fresh install.

Marcus Rummler wrote:

Mmmm, I'm thinking of just uninstalling Joomla and starting over with this account and then go from there with a fresh install.

I've done that so many times don't worry It's a good idea to give Joomla those FTP details on the installation you can enter the same account details you use in your FTP client usually, you dont need to create a new one.