Sonic's support for installing WordPress/MySQL is ABYSMAL!!

[dwhittaker]

This is the fist time in 4 years I've any problems with your support. I'm asking the most basic questions about installing WordPress and MySQL and still have received no help. The only answer I got from anyone at Sonic didn't even address most of the questions I posed in my post. That's just lazy.

This process is confusing, your documentation is non-existent and you provide little to no support. I've spent hours trying to figure this out with no help from you guys. This is unacceptable. All I wanted to know initially is where on the server the MySQL files are located and how WordPress knows what database to use. Upon investigating this further I found two different wp-config.php files with two different sets of login information. Which one is valid? Why were there 2? How can I edit these settings?

I finally got one answer today from another user. She said to go to Member Home page, click on Databases and you can access the area to make these changes. Well, there were NO databases listed under Databases. WTF?

I figure I'd delete the entire WordPress directory and just reinstall it and the MySQL database and start over. I tried to reinstall WordPress and wasn't allowed to anywhere on my server. I'm now told by Tech Support, unbelievably, that customers can only use the One-Click install once and that now, I'm going to have to go to WordPress.org and download and install the files myself?? Are you effin kidding me? What online ISP has widgets and add-ons that you're only allowed to install once?? This makes no sense whatsoever. You need to change this, period.

Since your other option to install WordPress other than 1-Click is to have you guys do it... "If you'd like us to install WordPress, please let us know where to put it. It will be put in the top level of your web site unless you specify the name of a subdirectory to install it in."... I'm now requesting that you reinstall these files. I've wasted hours trying to get this done because of your lack of support. The WordPress folder needs to go in this directory (BronTaylor):

http://www.neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor

[cdkeen]

Sorry for the hassle you described having with this process. I installed wordpress for you at:
http://www.neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor
To do so I had to move the existing folder of that name to BronTaylor1 where it is currently accessible.
To complete the installation of wordpress, you may go to http://neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor at any time.
With the one-click installer (that I used to install this instance) the database is configured automatically, and while you can see the username and password hash included in the wp-config.php file you do not need to modify the values. The database does not appear on your account as a service and as such it will not be displayed via member tools. The idea is that database manipulation will be handled via wordpress.
Let me know if you have more questions or need additional assistance. Thanks!

[dwhittaker]

I really appreciate your attention to this situation. I attempted to do the entire thing myself, downloading WordPress and installing it but it's a lengthy and convoluted process.

I should have specified that WordPress should be installed in a subdirectory: www.neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/blog instead of the root: www.neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor. I'm assuming that's why you had to create BronTaylor1? WordPress needs to be in it's own "blog" directory in the root alongside all the other site files at www.neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor. So I created a subdirectory called "blog" and moved all the wordpress files you created into that directory, then moved all the site files back to www.neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor where they need to be.

This is an example of how this process to install WordPress is confusing and convoluted and there are aspects to it I don't understand. I'm very comfortable uploading files via FTP and I've been working on computers for 23 years, yet, apparently, moving these files screwed something up and I have no clue why. When I try to complete the install process and run the file http://www.neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/ ... nstall.php it won't let me and I get the following errors in my browser:

Warning: require_once(/nfs/www/WWW_pages/dwhittaker/neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/blog/wp-load.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nfs/www/WWW_pages/dwhittaker/neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/blog/wp-admin/install.php on line 36

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/nfs/www/WWW_pages/dwhittaker/neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/blog/wp-load.php' (include_path='.:/opt/php53/lib/php') in /nfs/www/WWW_pages/dwhittaker/neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/blog/wp-admin/install.php on line 36

If these 3 folders are the only files that were created when you installed WordPress... wp-admin, wp-content and wp-includes... and I simply moved them to a new directory, why does this process no longer work?

GRRRRRRR. Sorry for screwing this up. I'm not a computer novice by any means but this has been the most frustrating application installation process I've ever run across and doesn't make much sense to me.

What do we do now??

[cdkeen]

There are absolute paths stored in the sql database that wordpress uses, so when you move the files to a different directory things get confusing for wordpress and you get fatal errors as you found out. I cleaned up the files left over from the previous install and then used the one-click installer to create the blog at the requested url. To complete the installation, you may go to http://neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/blog at any time and proceed with the set up. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks for choosing Sonic.net!

[dwhittaker]

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

[cdkeen]

No problem at all!

[dwhittaker]

So now that I have WordPress installed, here's where I got confused and what prompted me to start asking questions about the database aspect of WordPress. On the WordPress website installation support pages and in the WordPress Visual Quickstart Guide, they both refer to "Installing The Database" AFTER WordPress is installed. Their website states "If you are using a hosting provider, you may already have a WordPress database set up for you, or there may be an automated setup solution to do so...." I'm assuming that with your installation procedures, the database is already set up and I shouldn't have to worry about it or mess with it at all, yes? So at this point I can just begin creating my clients blog and administer it through the WordPress WYSIWYG?

[thulsa_doom]

I think this may just be a terminology problem. "Installing" Wordpress basically just consists of uploading the files to a directory on your web server. But that doesn't make it communicate with the database, so be default you really install it when you first attempt to load the admin interface, at which point Wordpress should ask you for database information and some basic details about the website. It populates the wp-config.php file and sets up the appropriate tables in the database, tells you you're all set, and sends you to the admin login screen.

When we install Wordpress for you, we put the files where they belong and populate the database details for you (behind your back, because generally people don't need to see it). If you can get to the admin interface of your Wordpress install you should be good-to-go.

[dwhittaker]

I'm assuming you mean "http://neptunemedia.net/BronTaylor/blog/wp-admin/"? Yes I already accessed that file... it prompted me to enter a username and password then it immediately took me to the Word Press dashboard. I'm assuming now I'm good to go.

[dwhittaker]

And technically, yes, I did install Word Press and used that term correctly because I went through their installation process.