Title: William Bowles's Replies | WordPress.org

---

# William Bowles

  [  ](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)

 *   [Profile](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 *   [Topics Started](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/topics/)
 *   [Replies Created](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/)
 *   [Reviews Written](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/reviews/)
 *   [Topics Replied To](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replied-to/)
 *   [Engagements](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/engagements/)
 *   [Favorites](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/favorites/)

 Search replies:

## Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 312 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/2/?output_format=md)
[3](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/3/?output_format=md)…
[19](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/19/?output_format=md)
[20](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/20/?output_format=md)
[21](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/21/?output_format=md)
[→](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/2/?output_format=md)

 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/page/2/#post-10556869)
 * I didn’t know that. Trouble is, I find the stats quite useful. I like to know
   what’s popular with my readers. I’ve tried to find a useful replacement but so
   far no luck.
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10556745)
 * Hi Steve,
    Thanks for all this. Frankly, i’m way past the day when I have the
   energy, or indeed the inclination, to get tied up in this stuff. It’s all too
   tedious and time-wasting. But I need to keep the site safe and secure as it enters
   its 11th year.
 * I suspect, that in the cause of ‘security’ mine Host, did the write-protect, 
   possibly without realising the damage it’s done. But they’re okay, now that they
   know about it, I’m sure they’ll fix it in due course.
 * I’ll say it again and I know I’m not alone, but the incessent calls to pixel.
   wp.com and the slow response, is one the causes. WP denies it but others have
   also suffered the pixel pause.
 * Hopefully it’ll all be working properly by Monday.
 * Thanks
 * B
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10556376)
 *     ```
       				### WordPress ###
   
       Version: 4.9.7 ( Latest version: 4.9.8 )
       Language: en_GB
       Permalink structure: /%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/
       Is this site using HTTPS?: Yes
       Can anyone register on this site?: Yes
       Default comment status: open
       Is this a multisite?: No
       User Count: 5443
       Communication with WordPress.org: WordPress.org is reachable
       Create loopback requests: The loopback request to your site failed, this may prevent WP_Cron from working, along with theme and plugin editors.<br>Error encountered: (0) cURL error 28: Operation timed out after 10007 milliseconds with 0 bytes received
   
       ### Installation size ###
   
       Uploads Directory: 445.92 MB
       Themes Directory: 11.13 MB
       Plugins Directory: 27.47 MB
       Database size: 2.30 GB
       Whole WordPress Directory: 2.36 GB
       Total installation size: 4.67 GB
   
       ### Active Theme ###
   
       Name: P2
       Version: 1.5.8
       Author: Automattic
       Author website: https://wordpress.com/themes/
       Parent theme: Not a child theme
       Supported theme features: custom-header, automatic-feed-links, post-formats, custom-background, menus, widgets
   
       ### Other themes (9) ###
   
       Carrington Mobile (carrington-mobile-1.0.2): Version 1.0.2 by Crowd Favorite
       Classic (classic): Version 1.6 by Dave Shea
       Anarcho Notepad (customizr/..): Version 2.4.1 by Arthur (Berserkr) Gareginyan
       Default (default): Version 1.7.2 by Michael Heilemann
       Twenty Eleven (twentyeleven): Version 2.8 by the WordPress team
       Twenty Fifteen (twentyfifteen): Version 2.0 by the WordPress team
       Twenty Ten (twentyten): Version 2.5 by the WordPress team
       Twenty Thirteen (twentythirteen): Version 2.4 by the WordPress team
       Twenty Twelve (twentytwelve): Version 2.5 by the WordPress team
   
       ### Active Plugins (15) ###
   
       Advanced Image Styles: Version 0.4.1 by Gregory Cornelius
       Akismet Anti-Spam: Version 4.0.8 by Automattic
       Category Wise Search Widget: Version 1.3 by Shambhu Prasad Patnaik
       Cookie Consent: Version 2.3.11 by Catapult_Themes
       Disable Registration Email: Version 0.9.0 by Mike Gogulski
       Health Check & Troubleshooting: Version 1.2.1 by The WordPress.org community
       Jetpack by WordPress.com: Version 6.3.2 by Automattic ( Latest version: 6.3.3 )
       Limit Login Attempts: Version 1.7.1 by Johan Eenfeldt
       Maintenance Mode: Version 5.4 by Michael Wöhrer
       More Link Modifier: Version 1.0.3 by Peggy Kuo
       Plugin Vulnerabilities: Version 2.0.67 by White Fir Design
       Related Posts via Taxonomies: Version 1.0.1 by alphasis
       Simple Links: Version 4.4.6 by Mat Lipe
       TinyMCE Advanced: Version 4.7.11 by Andrew Ozz
       WP-SpamShield: Version 1.9.21 by Red Sand Media Group
   
       ### Inactive Plugins (9) ###
   
       AddToAny Share Buttons: Version 1.7.28 by AddToAny
       Admin renamer extended: Version 3.2 by Ramon Fincken
       Advanced Export: Version 2.9 by Ron Rennick
       GDPR: Version 2.1.0 by Trew Knowledge
       Google Analytics for WordPress: Version 1.1 by praveenchauhan1984
       Hello Dolly: Version 1.7 by Matt Mullenweg
       Video Embedder: Version 1.7.1 by Kristoffer Forsgren
       WP-DBManager: Version 2.79.1 by Lester 'GaMerZ' Chan
       WP Migrate DB: Version 1.0.2 by Delicious Brains
   
       ### Media handling ###
   
       Active editor: WP_Image_Editor_GD
       Imagick Module Version: Imagick not available
       ImageMagick Version: Imagick not available
       GD Version: 2.0.36
       Ghostscript Version: 9.05
   
       ### Server ###
   
       Server architecture: Linux 3.2.0-6-686-pae i686
       PHP Version: 5.4.45-0+deb7u14 
       PHP SAPI: apache2handler
       PHP max input variables: 5000
       PHP time limit: 180
       PHP memory limit: 256M
       Max input time: 60
       Upload max filesize: 64M
       PHP post max size: 24M
       cURL Version: 7.26.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1t
       SUHOSIN installed: No
       Is the Imagick library available: No
       htaccess rules: Your htaccess file only contains core WordPress features
   
       ### Database ###
   
       Extension: mysqli
       Server version: 5.1.73-1+deb6u1-log
       Client version: 5.5.60
       Database prefix: wp_
   
       ### WordPress Constants ###
   
       ABSPATH: /home/liamb2/public_html/
       WP_HOME: Undefined
       WP_SITEURL: Undefined
       WP_DEBUG: Disabled
       WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT: 256M
       WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY: Enabled
       WP_DEBUG_LOG: Disabled
       SCRIPT_DEBUG: Disabled
       WP_CACHE: Disabled
       CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS: Undefined
       COMPRESS_SCRIPTS: Undefined
       COMPRESS_CSS: Undefined
       WP_LOCAL_DEV: Undefined
   
       ### Filesystem Permissions ###
   
       The main WordPress directory: Not writable
       The wp-content directory: Writable
       The uploads directory: Writable
       The plugins directory: Writable
       The themes directory: Writable
       ```
   
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10556353)
 * I had no intention! I wouldn’t know what goes in there anyway.
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10556317)
 * Steve,
    I noticed this at the end of the installed wp_config.php file:
 * /** WordPress absolute path to the WordPress directory. */
    if ( !defined(‘ABSPATH’))
   define(‘ABSPATH’, dirname(__FILE__) . ‘/’);
 * But currently it’s the default, should it be changed or do I leave it alone? (
   I don’t remember having to do this before and the config sample is identical.
 * B
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10556025)
 * Steve,
    I’ve searched through wp-config.php and there is no mention of update
   at all. Should there be?
 * Also, I noticed that there is a bunch of stuff in ‘Authentication Unique Keys’
   that I never put in as I don’t use the additional security.
 * I’m not sure what you mean by ‘must use’ but yes, there about 9 that I need to
   use.
 * Positive-Internet are my hosting company and I’ve been with them since 2003 and
   they have been really good. The server runs under Linux I think and their backend
   guys seem to know their stuff (more than I ever will!).
 * Bill
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10555825)
 * Steve,
 * What restrictions did your host put on?
 * Well, some time ago (before all these problems) they added a couple more passwords,
   but they were installed ages ago.
 * Where is your site hosted?
 * The UK?
 * What is the directory structure for your site?
 * I’m not sure I should put it here but it starts home/then a name/then another
   name/wp_content/etc.
 * Do you assign an alternate content directory in wp-config.php?
 * No.
 * My site has been online for over 8 years and aside from password changes initiated
   by the host, it’s as it always has been. I rarely, if ever, change plugins and
   the site otherwise behaves as it should. Admittedly, it’s gigantic, over 18,000
   posts (on a shared server) which makes it a little slow but if functions as it
   should aside from these problems.
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10555791)
 * Steve,
    Manually installed health check:
 * Okay, a bunch of problems:
 * 1.
    PHP Version 5.4.45-0+deb7u14 – Your version of PHP, 5.4.45-0+deb7u14, is 
   very outdated and no longer receiving security updates. You should contact your
   host for an upgrade, WordPress recommends using PHP version 7.2.
 * [I’ve reported this to my host]
 * 2.
    Background updates A plugin has prevented updates by disabling wp_version_check().
 * [Not sure what plugin this is as when I disabled all the plugins, I still got
   the same errors]
 *  No version control systems were detected.
 * [?]
 * 3.
    Your installation of WordPress prompts for FTP credentials to perform updates.(
   Your site is performing updates over FTP due to file ownership. Talk to your 
   hosting company.)
 * [Have done]
 * Loopback request The loopback request to your site failed, this may prevent WP_Cron
   from working, along with theme and plugin editors.
    Error encountered: (0) cURL
   error 28: Operation timed out after 10005 milliseconds with 0 bytes received
 * [Ah, timeout problems! Again, I’ve forwarded all of this to my host.]
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10555749)
 * Hi Steve,
    No can do:
 * Installation failed: Unable to locate WordPress content directory (wp-content).
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Can’t update WordPress or Plugins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-update-wordpress-or-plugins-3/#post-10555051)
 * Update: I’ve turned off ALL the plugins and I still get the msg: Update failed.
 * My hosting co: ‘I’ve just flushed file permissions out now, can you see if that’s
   helped?’
 * No change
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Update Problems](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-problems-30/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-problems-30/#post-10298105)
 * Well, still not working. It tells me ‘unpacking update’ and then nothing…
 * I just checked the site contents and there is a folder in wp-content (Upgrade)
   and it contains the 4.9.6 upgrade with the exact name of: wordpress-4.9.6-jLWHVp.
   It contains the complete upgrade.
    -  This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/).
      Reason: additional info
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Update Problems](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-problems-30/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-problems-30/#post-10294680)
 * Well I installed a plugin which in theory turns off automatic updating, tried
   to update again and nothing happened. I’ve tried 4-5 times.
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Update Problems](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-problems-30/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-problems-30/#post-10294046)
 * Update: Okay, I waited half an hour but the update hasn’t happened. I successfully
   updated the themes though without a problem.
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [Re pixel.wp.com](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/re-pixel-wp-com/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/re-pixel-wp-com/page/2/#post-10082570)
 * Steve,
    The link is bust. could you repost the correct one please?
 * Jim,
    More generally, I’ve referred to Jetpack’s attempts to do everything and
   therein lies its Achilles Heel. I did find a way to turn off the stats but it
   cripples other actions. I found a replacement for the Site Stats aspect, but 
   it sucked! Frankly, I think WP has just gotten too complicated and just to big
   for its boots. It seems that ‘improvements’ are added not because they’re useful
   or even needed but because they can. EG, in the edit page, highlighting links
   in the same colour of normal highlights, but a shade lighter, is really irritating!
   What’s it for? Do they they think that the user can’t figure out where a Link
   is? And the fact that links appear in a popup that covers up the text underneath!
   What’s that for? Its not an improvement, it doesn’t speed up editing, it’s just
   a pain in the proverbial arse! I might add that now, with that highlight link,
   in order to move or insert something next to it, I now have to click twice in
   orer to get the cursor to function! It’s really irritating and serves absolutely
   no funtional purpose whatsoever.
 * I’ve seen this stuff for decade. All it proves is that it can be done and maybe
   it’s good for the programmer’s ego but that’s about it.
 *   Forum: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
   
   In reply to: [What happened to the Blogroll?](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-happened-to-the-blogroll/)
 *  Thread Starter [William Bowles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/)
 * (@creative-i)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-happened-to-the-blogroll/#post-10073570)
 * Yes, just discovered that. It’s such a long time since I’d used this function
   but at least Simple Links allows me to import all the old links.
 * Thanks
 * B

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 312 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/2/?output_format=md)
[3](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/3/?output_format=md)…
[19](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/19/?output_format=md)
[20](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/20/?output_format=md)
[21](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/21/?output_format=md)
[→](https://wordpress.org/support/users/creative-i/replies/page/2/?output_format=md)