Title: Image thumbnails not generating
Last modified: August 22, 2016
---
# Image thumbnails not generating
* [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/)
* I’m having an issue with a WP 3.9.2 install running the AutoFocus theme. When
I upload images corresponding thumbnails are NOT being generated at all. I’ve
verified this by checking the /wp-content/uploads folder via FTP and no thumbnail
versions of image files have been created.
* I have a local VM with a mirror of my site that does not have this issue. These
installs are not identical but both have PHP v5.3 with the gd library enabled.
* Is this related to gd or should I be looking somewhere else? Any other avenues
I could use to debug this?
* Thanks for any help…
Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
* [Matthew](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kidsguide/)
* (@kidsguide)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5210874)
* Have you tried deactivating all of your plugins and switching to the default
Twenty Fourteen theme? See if that fixes it.
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5210875)
* This is on a previously working website. Additionally, I have verified that thumbnails
are generated correctly with the same theme, plugins and WordPress version on
a local VM version of the website.
* I think there is something more than a plugin conflict going on here. If I knew
more about how WordPress generates the thumbnails I might be able to debug this
further.
* [Matthew](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kidsguide/)
* (@kidsguide)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5210924)
* > I’m having an issue with a WP 3.9.2 install running…
* Did this happen as soon as you installed WordPress 3.9.2?
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5210933)
* I don’t think so. Like I’ve said previously, I have a separate VM (virtual machine)
install with the same WP 3.9.2, theme and plugins as my live website and it does
not have this issue.
* This points to something wrong with my live website, but what??? I don’t know
what part of the WordPress code actually generates the thumbnails and what might
cause it to fail.
* My suspicion is that this might have something to do with the GD library. I was
hoping that someone with more knowledge than me could verify that this is the
case or that the issue is likely with something else.
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5210991)
* On the off chance that it might help, I have re-installed WP 3.9.2 on this site.
Now the thumbnail files are generated when I upload images. However, the [gallery]
short code still refuses to use them. The HTML generated uses scaled full-size
images (sucks for page size). Previous posts with galleries use the thumbnails
as they should.
* Any other ideas on what might be going on???
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5210995)
* OK, I’ve taken a look at the HTML and there are some possible clues to what is
going on here but I’m not sure what they are pointing to, hopefully someone will
know right off.
* All galleries are created via the [gallery] short code and specify “Link to”
as the “Attachment Page” in all cases.
* Old posts generate HTML that looks like this:
* ```
```
* While new posts generate HTML that looks like this:
* ```
```
* Note the differences:
- the old posts use the 188×188 thumbnails for the gallery grid while the new
posts use the full resolution images scaled to 188×125 (sucks for page size)
- the old posts exclusively use the ‘gallery-icon-landscape’ class for dt tags
while the new posts use both ‘gallery-icon-landscape’ and ‘gallery-icon-portrait’
depending on the image
- the old posts link directly to the full-resolution image file while the new
posts link to the attachment page (yes, I double-checked that the old gallery
settings were also set “Link To” to “Attachment Page”
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211035)
* Argh! Pulling my hair out trying to figure out what is causing this…
* Anyone know where the [gallery] short code pulls it’s HTML from? Is that specified
as part of the theme? If so, where would I find the appropriate theme file (I
suppose this is theme dependent, though, so might be impossible to answer; I’m
using the Autofocus Pro theme if that helps).
* Any help with this greatly appreciated…
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211063)
* OK, I think what is happening is that the theme-specific HTML for galleries that
is supposed to override the default WordPress gallery style isn’t being loaded(
looks like this happens in /wp-includes/media.php).
* Unfortunately, my PHP knowledge is little to none at this point and I can’t figure
out where/how a theme overrides the default WordPress gallery styling. Can anyone
point me in the right direction???
* If it helps any, the theme I’m using is AutoFocus Pro.
* Thanks! Starting to feel like I’m having a conversation with myself…
* [Matthew](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kidsguide/)
* (@kidsguide)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211064)
* Just wait for WordPress 4.0. It is planned to be released today.
* [Matthew](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kidsguide/)
* (@kidsguide)
* [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211071)
* Correction, it is most likely going to be released September 3.
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211097)
* 4.0 makes no difference. Old galleries display correctly, but new galleries do
not.
* Still think this has something to do with overriding the default WP gallery style.
If anyone could help me debug this it would be MUCH appreciated!
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211098)
* I have another website that is showing some similar symptoms to this one: thumbnails
that were previously generated are no longer generated when new images are added
and image/gallery display is not working correctly. This is with the Reactive
theme ([http://themeforest.net/item/reactive/3262385](http://themeforest.net/item/reactive/3262385)).
* Matthew, I take it from your above comment that there is some kind of known issue
with WP 3.9.2 and images/galleries. Can you provide some details or point me
to a bug report?
* Is it possible to downgrade WP to a version that works correctly with images?
If so, can you provide details.
* Thanks!
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211103)
* OK, after some more work I have discovered that the original issue I had reported
with the AutoFocus theme is somehow related to PHP compatibility. Using v5.2.
x works while v5.3.x doesn’t (at least with my hosting provider). I’m hoping
that the AutoFocus developer can help determine exactly what is going on here(
I’ve submitted a support request on the developer’s website to this end).
* Now if I could just figure out what is going on with my site running the Reactive
theme…
* [rhymeswthgeorge](https://wordpress.org/support/users/rhymeswthgeorge/)
* (@rhymeswthgeorge)
* [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211130)
* I’m having this same issue but in the opposite direction.
* My gallery was pulling images id=”gallery-6″ now on my local environment it’s
setting id=”gallery-2″.
* I’m about to give up on local development. It just always seems like something
gets mucked up. I’m also no wiz and it’s likely entirely my fault.
* Thread Starter [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* (@brucedwilliams)
* [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211131)
* Rhymes: your issue doesn’t sound like it is the same or similar to my issue.
* As I posted above, the issue with one of my sites was resolved by downgrading
to PHP 5.2. With the other site, the issue was with the theme failing to generate
the image thumbnails as I recall. An update to that theme (Reactive) solved the
issue.
* You may want to contact your theme developer for assistance…
Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
The topic ‘Image thumbnails not generating’ is closed to new replies.
## Tags
* [gd](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/gd/)
* [thumbnails](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/thumbnails/)
* In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
* 15 replies
* 3 participants
* Last reply from: [brucedwilliams](https://wordpress.org/support/users/brucedwilliams/)
* Last activity: [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/image-thumbnails-not-generating/#post-5211131)
* Status: not resolved
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