Moved from WAMP to live. License validation doesn't "stick," and edit pages go blank

[jocraddock]

Response from my hosting company:

By default, no log files are enabled in MYSQL, and this default setting for shared and reseller accounts cannot be changed.

Additionally, there’s nothing coming up in the error log:
sudo grep churchoffice /var/log/mysql.error.log
sudo zgrep churchoffice /var/log/mysql.error.log*

Could you please describe exactly what’s being looked for here? In terms of debugging WordPress, the following would need to be added in the /home/churchoffice/public_html/wp-config.php file:

// Enable WP_DEBUG mode
define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, true );

// Enable Debug logging to the /wp-content/debug.log file
define( ‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true );

// Disable display of errors and warnings
define( ‘WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY’, false );
@ini_set( ‘display_errors’, 0 );

// Use dev versions of core JS and CSS files (only needed if you are modifying these core files)
define( ‘SCRIPT_DEBUG’, true );

Source: https://wordpress.org/support/article/debugging-in-wordpress/

We can also check the account’s Apache error log to aid troubleshooting.

Please advise.

[rad]

Hi Jo,

In that case, it’s really impossible to see what’s happening behind the database. I saw a similar case before where it won’t retain and the issue is due to a database error. I can’t really say if it’s the same since I can’t check the logs at all, and I’m not sure what should we looking as I myself is still guessing all possible causes of this issue.

Would you mind providing CPanel credentials instead? I’ll check if validation is going through database, if not then I may recommend trying it on another host just for testing. There is no issue with validation, it just won’t save the outcome/result of the validation.

Thanks!

[jocraddock]

I don’t mind, at all. This is all that’s there, and I tend to agree. I’ll send in secure note. There’s a subdirectory where I’ve tried yet a third installation to same results.

While waiting for a reply, yesterday, I fresh-loaded to my staging domain on the same shared host with empty database, and validation was accepted.

This is not a huge site, and not something I can’t duplicate. Although several hours were spent adjusting the post php files as we don’t want the huge featured image called for in our chosen stack – hope my notes to self are clear on that! And, it worries me that that was one of the final revisions before moving to the live domain.

Is there a process detailed anywhere about how to save the site settings and personalizations/layouts I’ve created? At this point I can only see pages and pages of handwritten notes in my future…

Thank you,
Jo

[christian]

Hey Jo,

I checked your database and I can’t find the license key in there. x_product_validation_key does not exist in your database. This means that something in your web host is having an issue with saving the license to the database similar to the user in this thread: License not validating

Please follow the solution suggested by the user. Or, please move to a better web host and start from a fresh WordPress install and not move the site from your local install. That is because you might carry over some configuration code that is not compatible with the web host.

Thank you for understanding.

[jocraddock]

I input the key into the database, and that portion of the Pro portal is functioning as expected. Interesting that no further investigation into the previous user’s issue has been conducted; just fix manually.

However, the second initial issue remains:

Perhaps because of this (?), as I attempt to edit any page in Pro, the entire list of content appears, so I have to chose the page I just selected, again, it appears to load, but immediately disappears and I’m left with a blank screen.

If I choose, for example, “Pages” from the sidebar, then “Edit in Pro” in the listing of all pages, I should, I believe, go directly to the pro editor with “Layout/Elements/Inspector” sidebar. The address bar has indicated website.com/pro/#/contact/x where x is assumed to be the CMS page number. Instead, I’m getting only as far as website.com/pro/#/content with the Content sidebar (including pages and posts), and only the Pro logo.

Perhaps there is some further command line missing in the database? Any idea where to check, or what sort of search I could conduct?

Your second sentence seems to imply the suggestion is to, “Start Over.” Is that correct? So, there’s no way to carry over the design/layout specs to a new site, except manually?

Thanks,
Jo

[christian]

Hey Jo,

This is just the 2nd report about the license validation not reaching the database and the cause is still unknown to us. To save you time and so you can continue on working on your site, I recommended the solution provided by the other user. Do you want us to continue investigating? If so, I’ll forward this to our development team so they can study your website. It would be best that you copy your live site to a staging server so they can test without interrupting your live site. After that, give us staging WP Admin and cPanel access.

Please just note that we cannot guarantee a fix for server conflicts with our theme. We’ll just do our best to know the cause of the issue.

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Sorry I missed the other issue. It’s still due to your web host. A security system in your host is blocking cornerstone-endpoint directory. While loading your home page in Pro Content Builder, I captured the console errors you can see in the following screenshot. Please contact your web host to whitelist cornerstone-endpoint from their security system. It’s usually ModSecurity but I couldn’t see that in your cPanel so you need to contact your web host.

• 

For this issue also, I’d recommend you try out other web hosts. Don’t migrate just yet. Just try out Pro in other web hosts. Pro simply works out of the box in most web hosts.

If the issue persists in other web hosts, please open a separate thread for this issue as this could cause confusion and there’s a high chance we miss this issue. You can post a link to this thread for reference.

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Regarding my suggestion of moving to another host, you don’t have to start from scratch. There are migration plugins that allow site transfer to a fresh WordPress install like the Duplicator plugin. We can’t provide you with exact steps though as this is in the territory of the migration plugin’s functionality. The Duplicator plugin is also not a recommendation but just an example.

Another way also, though this is laborious, is to save each of your page as a builder template. In case you’re not aware of what a builder template is, please see the Template Manager documentation.

Theme Options can be exported and imported using the Theme Options Manager available in the Validation page. It’s located beside the Design Cloud card.

Hope that helps.

[jocraddock]

Interesting. I’m contact my hosting company (a rather major hosting firm with whom I’ve held accounts very large and small for nearly 10 years).

I was at the client’s office today, and looking at the site, found that my child theme has been de-activated in that the layout adjustments I’d made to single.php were obviously not present. Studying more this evening, I see the dashboard continues to hold the manual entry of the license, and I am getting the response expected to enter page edits. I reactivated the child theme. However, any attempted menu change results in:

Notice : Undefined property: WP_Error::$term_id in /home/xxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-terms-list-table.php on line 420

Notice : Undefined property: WP_Error::$name in /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-terms-list-table.php on line 421

Notice : Undefined property: WP_Error::$slug in /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-terms-list-table.php on line 424

Notice : Undefined property: WP_Error::$parent in /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-terms-list-table.php on line 425

Yes, I’ve used the builder template, but couldn’t get there, previously…

I’ll get back with you about the staging site (which I had at the same host w/o issue, but would need to clear and copy back from the live site to be sure the issues remain for investigation) after I hear from the hosting company.

Thank you.

[christian]

Thanks for testing, Jo.

Regarding the notices, if that only happens if the child theme is active, that means your child theme custom code is causing those errors. Regretfully, we don’t provide support for custom codes. You’ll need to figure this out on your own or with help from other developers.

Thank you for understanding.

[jocraddock]

The notices occur in both Pro and Pro-child. My child “theme” is comprised of one change to remove the featured image from the single post view – not a lot of modification!

My host has adjusted ModSecurity, so I’ll continue to test (with Pro, not child, activated), but must admit to frustration with the documentation. A few more specific nouns would be helpful, just FYI.

Thank you.

[christian]

Hey Jo,

Thanks for testing the parent theme. Since you’re now using the parent theme and you claim that the Notices persists, I investigated. I went to Appearance > Menu, changed a menu item (removed “s” in Assignments) and saved the menu. The result: I didn’t see any Notice. I added the “s” back after my test.

If my test is incorrect, please open a separate thread for this particular issue and let’s continue in there as this thread is already long and this could result in confusion for other staff that would handle this thread.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Regarding the Pro Content Builder, since your host updated ModSecurity, your home page is now working in the builder.

[jocraddock]

While you were testing, I’ve been re-creating the site in a subdirectory. It is entirely random, to me, as to which functions are working and which are not. Still in parent theme, template saving wasn’t and still isn’t functional on the original site, and attempts to add a post result in:

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/churchoffice/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 6754

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/churchoffice/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 6755

Notice : Trying to get property ‘ID’ of non-object in /home/churchoffice/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 6759

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 7000

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/theme.php on line 3078

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/theme.php on line 3307

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 4653

Notice : Trying to get property ‘ID’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 4653

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 4109

Notice : Trying to get property ‘post_type’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/post.php on line 675

Warning : Creating default object from empty value in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/post.php on line 713

Notice : Undefined property: stdClass::$ID in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/post-new.php on line 67

Notice : Undefined property: stdClass::$post_status in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/edit-form-blocks.php on line 101

Notice : Undefined property: stdClass::$post_type in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/meta-boxes.php on line 1398

Notice : Undefined property: stdClass::$post_type in /home/xxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/taxonomy.php on line 226

Notice : Undefined property: stdClass::$post_type in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-includes/taxonomy.php on line 229

Notice : Trying to get property ‘labels’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/meta-boxes.php on line 1473

Notice : Trying to get property ‘attributes’ of non-object in /home/xxxxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/includes/meta-boxes.php on line 1473

Notice : Undefined property: stdClass::$post_type in /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/wp-admin/edit-form-blocks.php on line 395

Add New Post

Since that’s the function of WP, that’s when I succumbed to having to rebuild the site. The client is happy with the layout, yet limited on using other CMSs, or we’d be back on my favorite engine by now. … This has been a very disappointing experience.

Jo

[rad]

Hi Jo,

It seems you’re no longer getting any issue other than notices based on the discussion. The credentials are no longer valid so I assume they are now fixed.

As for the notices, may I know how you’re migrating it to a subdirectory? I recommend using a migration plugin like All in one migration. The notices are not errors, and you can only turn it off especially it’s within Wordpress core files, you can turn it off by setting the WP_DEBUG to false under the site’s wp-config.php as you previously turned on. If it’s not turning off then you can add this code just under the WP_DEBUG line after setting it to false.

ini_set('display_errors','Off');
ini_set('error_reporting', E_ALL );
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

If it still not working then I recommend opening a new thread about that issue to prevent more confusion as to which issues are already completed or fixed. And so we can easily track the discussion per issue.

Thanks!