temporarily chmod the wp-content directory to 777 and see if that solves the error message. chmod back to 0755 after WordPress creates the uploads directory.
That being said… themes don’t belong in the uploads directory, nor are they uploaded using the WordPress media up-loader. They belong in /wp-content/themes.
Using Themes
Since you are running wordpress locally, and you probably do not have an ftp server running, you may just want to download themes to your desktop, extract (un-zip) them and then simply place them in the themes directory.
Thank you for your reply, but I am on MAC. I am looking for help on changing the permissions on MAC environment.
What I tried: I changed the permissions via Get Info for XAMPP to Read @ Write for everyone; logged out and re-logged into WordPress and tried to install again but this didn’t make a difference, still get the same error.
Mila
Thank you for your reply, but I am on MAC. I am looking for help on changing the permissions on MAC environment.
Those are the instructions for changing permissions on a MAC. OS X is based on UNIX. chmod is the term/command used for changing file permissions on your mac using the terminal. Using the GUI to navigate to “Get Info” to change permissions is fine if you aren’t familiar with your mac’s console, or how to use the command line. The end result is the same.
Best wishes.
Thanks very much! I changed the permissions but still can’t install my theme… It appears that XAMPP has levels and levels of permissions. I also changed /wordpress and /wp-content permissions to get through the first step. Now it’s asking for FTP Username and FTP Password. I am installing the theme via the Upload because I already have the .zip in my Download folder. I don’t use FTP so I don’t have FTP user/password. What should I do?
I am also concerned about changing the permissions here and there would affect the development down the road or give me a headache when I will be moving to the hosted account.
Thank you!!
Mila
Moderator
James Huff
(@macmanx)
Volunteer Moderator
I also changed /wordpress and /wp-content permissions to get through the first step.
If you changed them to read/write everyone via Get Info, you did it right, but try this app next time. It’ll simplify the process, and it has a fun name if you’re a Batman fan.
http://macchampion.com/arbysoft/BatchMod/Welcome.html
Now it’s asking for FTP Username and FTP Password. I am installing the theme via the Upload because I already have the .zip in my Download folder. I don’t use FTP so I don’t have FTP user/password. What should I do?
Since you have a local server environment on your own hard drive, there’s really no need for automated uploaders or FTP. Just unzip the theme and drag the folder to your blog’s /wp-content/themes/ directory.
James, thank you!!
I was just wondering if I simply drag and drop the theme into the /wp-content/themes/ directory, then when I use the theme it may still have a problem writing in some of the sub-directories. The reason I am thinking that is because even though I changed the permissions for a parent directory XAMPP, the XAMPP/wordpress and XAMPP/wordprress/wp-content still had read only permissions… What other directories/sub-dirs permissions I might need to change when I work with the theme?
When the synchronization of the pieces is so manual, It just seems so prone to unexpected errors… What are your thoughts for someone who is not a programmer? Thanks again!
PS: I was using MAMP for a short time and it was very user-friendly and I had no problem with permissions – all automated and synchronized. But one of the plugin tools that I am using seems to be not very compatible with it, so this is why I am moving to XAMPP.
PPS: Thanks for the link to BatChmod. It looks very cool. I’ll keep it in mind when I’m in the Bat mod… 🙂
Moderator
James Huff
(@macmanx)
Volunteer Moderator
I was just wondering if I simply drag and drop the theme into the /wp-content/themes/ directory, then when I use the theme it may still have a problem writing in some of the sub-directories.
No, once the theme files are dragged and dropped, there’s nothing else to write.
The reason I am thinking that is because even though I changed the permissions for a parent directory XAMPP, the XAMPP/wordpress and XAMPP/wordprress/wp-content still had read only permissions… What other directories/sub-dirs permissions I might need to change when I work with the theme?
Well there’s your problem. The only directory that needs to have 777 (read/write everyone) permissions is /wp-content/themes/ . In BatChmod, that means that you check all of the r, w, and x boxes. I high recommend setting the /XAMPP/ directory back to 755. In BatChmod, that would be (from left to right) rwx, r-x, r-x.
OK, I see. I will download the BatChmod and redo the permissions first thing tomorrow. Thank you!!!
Hi James,
I ended up to completely re-installing XAMPP because I was concerned that I didn’t document everywhere I changed the security. I also downloaded BatChmod – thank you!
I am on the step of the installation where XAMPP suggests to tighten the security. Here’s the screen:
—————–
These XAMPP pages are accessible by network for everyone UNSECURE
Every XAMPP demo page you are right now looking at is accessible for everyone over network. Everyone who knows your IP address can see these pages.
MySQL is accessible by the network UNSECURE
This is a potential or at least theoretical security leak. And if you’re mad about security you should disable the network interface of MySQL.
The phpMyAdmin user pma has no password UNSECURE
phpMyAdmin saves your preferences in an extra MySQL database. To access this data phpMyAdmin uses the special user pma. This user has in the default installation no password set and to avoid any security problems you should give him a passwort.
The MySQL user root has no password UNSECURE
Every local user on Mac OS X box can access your MySQL database with administrator rights. You should set a password.
The FTP password for user nobody is no langer ‘xampp’ SECURE
—————-
Which of these areas and what security codes should I change to be able develop WordPress locally, including writing to MySQL, while preventing hacking from the outside?
Appreciate your thoughts!
Moderator
James Huff
(@macmanx)
Volunteer Moderator
You’d have to contact XAMPP support about that:
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/contact.html
Since you’re on a Mac, I highly recommend using MAMP instead as the entire installation process is detailed here:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress_Locally_on_Your_Mac_With_MAMP
James – thank you for the link!
The reason I am moving from MAMP to XAMPP is because the tool that I use to build WordPress is not very compatible with MAMP… So after a few headaches I decided to install XAMPP instead, as it is recommended by the tool’s developers. They were the ones who suggested that their tool may not be very agreeable with MAMP.
Moderator
James Huff
(@macmanx)
Volunteer Moderator
What are you using to “build WordPress?”
Impact Page Builder. I also downloaded Headway theme. All new to me. As a non-programmer, I look for tools that use visual editors as much as possible while I’m learning html, css, php (all in w3schools.com) and WordPress.
I have MAMP installed and am getting the same error when trying to upload a theme.
Yes, a workaround would be to unzip the theme files and just put them in the themes directory, but …. why the error?
