If you’re getting one of those HTTP Error messages after crunching your batch uploads in WordPress 2.5, I have some solutions for you. These errors have plagued people on the WordPress support forums ever since 2.5 was released. The problem may lay with your web hosting configuration, your browser settings, or maybe something else. Don’t give up yet. In this quick guide I’ll go over how to:
- Use an alternative uploader plugin to get images uploaded
- Use an .htaccess fix to allow batch uploads
- Disable flash on the batch upload screen
Flexible Upload
One plugin (which I use on Theme Lab) that is very helpful to me is Flexible Upload. This will override the default WordPress 2.5 upload screen. Not only will uploads work, but you’ll also be able to resize images and place watermarks automatically. If you just upload a few images (not full galleries) I highly recommend you check out this plugin. You can get the plugin here.
.htaccess Hack
If you’d rather get the batch uploads to work how they’re supposed to, but you keep getting the HTTP Error, the problem probably lies with your web host’s security settings. There is a quick fix to this. Simply create a .htaccess file in your /wp-admin/ directory with the following:
<IfModule mod_security.c>
<Files async-upload.php>
SecFilterEngine Off
SecFilterScanPOST Off
</Files>
</IfModule>
This may fix it, it may not – but it’s worth a try. I’ve had success with this fix and it seems to work great.
No Flash Uploader
This should be considered a “last ditch” effort to get your WordPress 2.5 uploader to work. What it does is disable the flash portion of your uploader, which may help those who don’t have a compatible browser. You can get the plugin at WordPress.org.
Conclusion
If you were having problems with your image uploads with WordPress 2.5, I hope you found this guide to be of some use. The batch uploader is a great feature with WordPress and hopefully you can use it how it’s supposed to work now. If not, the Flexible Uploader should help too.
If you ever need support, I suggest you search the WordPress support forums first. There may be someone having the same problem as you.
If you found this guide useful, feel free to comment and share it. Subscribe to the feed for more Theme Lab updates.
I had no problem with my site, but when I moved my site to a new host (Host GAtor) things went wrong.. Later I tried non-flash uploader and it worked like magic for me!
Hope atleast in WordPress 2.6 we’ll have some fixes!
@Jack: Hmm…that’s too bad, what is the error you’re getting exactly? The same “HTTP Error” I describe?
FYI, this didn’t work for me. This is on a linux server running control panel.
Worth a try either way!
You caught me right in the middle of that Adam. More info here.
Wow, from the time I started writing my last comment to the time I actually submitted it, the theme changed;)
Thanks for yet another useful post Leland. I have applied the .htaccess fix to one of my sites already and I’m trying out Flexible Uploader now on my main site.
@Jo: Sorry to hear that. Was this after you tried each of the 3 methods listed here? Could you upload on previous versions of WordPress on the same web host?
Thank you for this post. I still can’t get even one image to upload.