Information for customers experiencing 500 errors
It has come to our attention that some customers are experiencing 500 errors on their sites. We are working on a global solution to resolve the issue across all accounts affected by it, but in the meantime, we have a temporarily solution available to you.
To resolve the issue, please use the cPanel File Manager to edit your .htaccess file located in your home folder to include the following:
Within the cPanel File Manager, be sure that you have the "show hidden files" checkbox enabled as your .htaccess file will not be seen otherwise.
# Use PHP 5.3 as default
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php53 .php
These lines will cause your account to use PHP 5.3 instead of the server default which is PHP 5.4.
If you have any issues with this, feel free to leave a comment here on this article or to reach out to Technical Support in which we will be happy to further assist you.
Did you find this article helpful?
Tweet
Comments
Staff 2,342 Points
|
2014-06-19 9:46 pm
Unfortunately, we do not have an exact time frame, however a solution is being developed and tested to ensure that it is resolved as quickly as possible. In the meantime, applying the fix mentioned in this article will resolve the issue.
|
n/a Points
|
2014-06-19 10:58 pm
I imagine I'm encountering this same problem. My internal server error message also cites an additional 404 error. Is this part of the same problem? |
Staff 16,266 Points
|
2014-06-19 11:12 pm
Hello Greg,
The additional 404 error you are seeing is usually when the server is looking in your directory for a 500 error page. It is not an additional error that will continue once you implement the code in your .htaccess file. Kindest Regards, Scott M |
n/a Points
|
2014-06-19 11:02 pm
adding the line of code to the .htaccess file got us back online. but will we have to remove it when it is fixed? |
|
Staff 16,266 Points
|
2014-06-19 11:15 pm
Hello ebs,
The line of code simply tells your account to use php version 5.3 instead of the newer default 5,4 version updated on the server. It is not something that will need to be removed unless you decided to use the 5.4 version. Then you may remove the line of code and your account will then default to the 5.4 version. Kindest Regards, Scott M |
3 Points
|
2014-06-20 7:56 pm
Hi:
When I went into the .htaccess file, the text above was already there. Is there another temporary solution? |
n/a Points
|
2014-06-21 4:18 am
Adding the code gets the site back, albeit in a basic form, but I still get 404 when I try to login and edit. |
|
Staff 16,266 Points
|
2014-06-23 2:31 pm
Hello GeeBee,
If the site returns then the php is running for you. 404 errors mean that the pages it is looking for cannot be found. .htaccess can sometimes have something to do with this as well. What type of site are you running? (WordPress, Joomla, etc) Kindest Regards, Scott M |
|
n/a Points
|
2014-06-24 12:34 am
Hi, I'm using WordPress and the site name is letterfrommanila.com Thanks for any assistance. |
Staff 3,713 Points
|
2014-06-24 12:49 am
Hello GeeBee,
Have you moved the position of your WordPress site at some point? I see that it is trying to link to content on your site from /wordpress but that directory doesn't exist. It looks like your WordPress Address (URL) was set to letterfrommanila.com/wordpress but it didn't look like you had your WordPress install in a separate directory. So I went ahead and changed it to just your domain. Please let us know if you're still having any issues. - Jacob |
|
n/a Points
|
2014-06-24 4:28 am
Jacob, got you message and everything seems to up and runnnig again. Thanks very much! I hadn't done anything (knowingly) to change things, I don't know enough to start messing around!
|
|
Staff 3,713 Points
|
2014-06-24 4:35 am
Hello GeeBee,
Glad to hear things are working again for you now. When I first visited your site the images weren't loading and the CSS stylesheets were not properly styling the site due to it trying to pull things from the /wordpress directory. Just changing the PHP version in your .htaccess file as mentioned in this news announcement wouldn't have changed those WordPress settings. So I'm not sure how it was working before prior to me going on and changing your WordPress site back to just use your main directory. But if it looks like everything is back and working for you now, that's great! - Jacob |
n/a Points
|
2014-06-23 3:38 pm
Hi,
Our website is showing, but before the actual website content, there are about 2 dozen lines of code showing. Is this something you're still working on? Our website is www.sevendevils.net. Thanks. |
|
Staff 16,266 Points
|
2014-06-23 3:46 pm
Hello SaraM,
Did you implement the fix as above? It should help with the issue. Also, I notice that the site appears to be built with our builder tool. Have you tried to republish the site as well? Kindest Regards, Scott M |
|
n/a Points
|
2014-06-23 4:22 pm
Hello:
I already checked, and our code already has the "fix" within it. I did try to republish the website, both Friday, and this morning, and it still publishes "with errors" generating the extra lines of error codes above the website content. Thanks. |
Staff 12,339 Points
|
2014-06-23 5:08 pm
Hello SaraM,
Sorry about the troubles you are having. I looked in your site, and was able to get it working by renaming your php.ini file to: php.ini.old I then put a copy of the default server php.ini file and your website started working. Since your php.ini file controls your local PHP settings, it's possible you were hitting some limitation there. You can change your PHP settings at any time. If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below. Thank you, -John-Paul |
|
n/a Points
|
2014-06-23 5:13 pm
Hello,
Thank you for your quick responses. Now, when I type in www.sevendevils.net, all I get is a blank white page. Do I need to go into my website edit and republish? Thanks! |
|
Staff 12,339 Points
|
2014-06-23 5:53 pm
Hello SaraM,
Sorry about the trouble. This issue was related to the fix that was pushed out recently. I deleted the php.ini, and everything is working with the default PHP settings. If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below. Thank you, -John-Paul |
n/a Points
|
2014-06-23 9:18 pm
I made sure to do the above. However, I still cannot get into my blog. Please help.
|
Staff 17,314 Points
|
2014-06-23 10:10 pm
Hello Vee,
Sorry for the problem. We changed the command line in the .htaccess to the following: AddType application/x-httpd-php53 .php Apparently, the MIME type was already defined in your cPanel, so the line provided in the article above was not necessary. This fixed the site and it does appear normally now. Regards, Arnel C. |
n/a Points
|
2014-06-24 4:02 am
Thanks for the solution. My site all came back up and it all seems to be working. |
n/a Points
|
2014-06-26 9:55 am
The above fix was already in my htaccess file. My site is completely down www.martinaccorsi.com, please let me know what I need to do to get my site back up and running. |
|
Staff 16,266 Points
|
2014-06-26 4:20 pm
Hello Martin,
The issue with your site is that your site is running a very old version of WordPress. It needs an even older version of php (5.2). So the line of code you need in your .htaccess file is: AddHandler application/x-httpd-php52 .php I changed that line already in your WordPress .htaccess and your site is now back up and running. I do, however, advise upgrading WordPress to the latest version (3.9.1 as of now) for security purposes. Note that if you do update the WordPress, simply change that line back to: AddHandler application/x-httpd-php53 .php And on the off chance it is on one of our older servers and the php breaks, it will need the following: AddHandler application/x-httpd-php5 .php Kindest Regards, Scott M |
n/a Points
|
2014-06-27 5:01 pm
My file already had this code in it as well, but I tried re pasting it in and now my site is saying Error establishing a database connection...help? www.jessicagreen.org. Thanks! |
|
Staff 16,266 Points
|
2014-06-27 5:38 pm
Hello Jessica,
The error message you see is due to WordPress not giving the password or database username the server is expecting. It does not have anything to do with the 500 error. I was able to make sure the server was expecting the right password and the site appears to be working again. Kindest Regards, Scott M |
n/a Points
|
2014-07-28 2:25 pm
For the last 14 hours already our customer and myself all are getting the error 500. Apparently your system also has a problem not to RESET itself. I found an email in spam: "Account Resource Overage". Possibly, you mean "overusage"? Last night I was working rapidly on many pages (updating), I assume the Google xml sitemap plugin may have strained a really weak server during that short period. Even if so, there is no reason to take a site down permanently. This is a serious breach of paid-for service. It must never happen with a professional hoster. It appears you also need a fallback system that ensures that IF you take a site down, you bring it back up. Interestingly, all this happens exactly after the trial period for the account is over. Not looking good at all. Pl can you ensure that the site is back up THIS MINUTE? Thanks.
|
|
Staff 16,266 Points
|
2014-07-28 4:23 pm
Hello David,
This particular article is about 500 errors that occurred with users that programs that need older versions of php after our upgrade. If you are having other 500 error issues or have received email about going over your account resources, you will need to contact our Live Support team in order for them to assist your specific situation. Kindest Regards, Scott M |
|
n/a Points
|
2014-07-28 4:28 pm
Oh sorry, I read this page as "Information for customers experiencing 500 errors" - and that is what we got. But thanks to Laura the problem has been addressed in the meantime. Thanks anyway for replying.
|
Help Center Login
Related Questions
Here are a few questions related to this article that our customers have asked:
Ooops! It looks like there are no questions about this page.
Would you like to ask a question about this page? If so, click the button below!
We value your feedback!
There is a step or detail missing from the instructions.
The information is incorrect or out-of-date.
It does not resolve the question/problem I have.
new! - Enter your name and email address above and we will post your feedback in the comments on this page!