What is WordPress

A popular content management system that allows users to create and support websites, blogs and online shops is called WordPress. It is open-source software, and a society of developers constantly operates to improve it, making it free to use. It is written in PHP and stores content in a MySQL database. It contains many elements and customization options, including themes and plugins, to simplify creating and personalizing websites. Millions worldwide use WordPress for everything from modest personal blogs to substantial corporate websites.

Define the term “Image Upload”

Users share or upload digital image files from a local device or computer to a small server, website or application to save, process and share digital image files. The capacity to upload images is a critical part of web development. It allows website owners or administrators to include visual material on their website or online platform, such as blog entries, galleries, product pages, or user profiles. Image upload typically involves:

• You are selecting the desired image files.
• You are Specifying the upload destination.
• You are Submitting the files to the server via an interface or API.

Once uploaded, the images can be exploited, resized, optimized and displayed using various tools, plugins or libraries. However, image upload can pose multiple challenges and issues, such as file size limits, file type restrictions, upload errors, security vulnerabilities, and performance concerns, which may require troubleshooting and optimization.

Because they might occur without you changing anything, image upload failures can confuse newcomers. One of WordPress’s most common picture issues is the inability to upload images. Fortunately, you can resolve this issue yourself because it is simple.

This article will explain how to resolve the WordPress image upload problem.

Causes of Image Upload Errors on WordPress

Incorrect file permissions generally bring on WordPress image upload problems. Your web hosting server houses your WordPress files, which require particular file & directory permissions to function.
On the hosting server, incorrect file permissions prevent WordPress from reading or uploading files. WordPress may give you the following error when uploading an image file: “Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2019/04.” Is the server able to write to its parent directory?

The uploaded file could not be relocated to wp-content/uploads, or you might receive an error message.
The fact that your photographs vanished from the WordPress media library indicates this problem.

My Site Was Working Fine Before. Who Changed the File Permissions?

It could occur for a variety of causes:

• These permissions may change without your intervention if there is a configuration error on your shared hosting server.
• As an illustration, your site hosting company may have implemented an upgrade that suddenly altered file permissions.
• Applying the proper file permissions will resolve the picture upload issue if everything on your WordPress website functions well.

Let’s look at how to set the proper file permissions to resolve WordPress site picture upload troubles.

Fixing of Image Upload Errors on WordPress

By using FTP Client

To change file permissions you will need to utilize an FTP client.

• At First, connect to your website via FTP and switch to the /wp-content/ folder.
• You will find the uploads folder, where WordPress stores all your media uploads, including images.
• Now right-click on the uploads directory and then choose “File Permissions”.

• It will bring up the file permissions dialogue box.
• The uploads directory and its subdirectories’ file permissions must first be set to ‘744’.

• To achieve it, type 744 into the numeric value field and select “Recurse into subdirectories” from the drop-down menu. Now select the radio box that says “Apply to directories only.”
• To create these changes, press the ‘OK’ button. Your FTP client will now start using file permissions to the directories.
• Note: If setting directory permissions to 744 does not solve your problem, try 755.
• In the next step, you must set file approvals for all the files in the uploads directory.
• Right-click the uploads directory and choose file permissions to accomplish it. Change the numerical value to “644” in the file permissions dialogue box.
• Check the box next to ‘Recurse into subdirectories’. Select the ‘Apply to files only’ radio button after that.
• To make these changes final, use the ‘OK’ button.

All files in the uploads folder will now have their permissions altered by the FTP client. Once it is completed, you can go to your WordPress admin area and try uploading images.
Note: If you don’t understand how to operate an FTP client, you can also use the file manager supplied by your WordPress hosting company. Since the screenshots will vary for each host, you must contact their support to find instructions.

Resize, Rename & Re-Upload Image

• Start by examining the file name if you only have problems with one particular image. The WordPress uploader may have problems using letters with underscores (, á, é) or special characters ($, *, &, #).
• The image may also be too large in terms of dimensions and file size.
• You can change an image’s dimensions using your favorite editing program.
• Using a compression tool like TinyPNG, you can minimize the size of a graphic’s file without sacrificing its quality if you’re trying to upload one with a lot of resolution.

• WordPress’s limit may need to be higher if you regularly encounter issues due to file size. You can increase the limit range by adding code to your site’s php.ini file:
  upload_max_filesize = 128M
  post_max_size = 128M
  max_execution_time = 300
• You can make a php.ini file inside the PHP folder for your site’s existing PHP version if it isn’t already there. Then, add the code mentioned above to the file’s end.

Increase Memory Limit

WordPress may give you an HTTP error when uploading an image. It can sometimes be caused by low server resources or unusual traffic. It’s always worthwhile to wait a while before attempting to upload the image again. If the issue doesn’t resolve itself, you may exceed the WordPress memory limit. You can increase the amount of memory PHP uses on your server by connecting to your site over SFTP.

• Open your wp-config file next. You can then put the following, which will increase the limit range to 256MB:
  define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’);

If this doesn’t fix your problem, threading might be the cause. Depending on whether the module is available, WordPress uses the GD Library or the Imagick module to process images.
Imagick was designed to use multiple threads to accelerate image processing. However, some shared hosting providers limit Imagick’s ability to use multiple lines, which can result in an HTTP error.

• You can fix this issue by putting the following to your .htaccess file:
  SetEnv MAGICK_THREAD_LIMIT 1.

Plugin Deactivation

• It’s always worth trying to address your picture upload problem by deactivating each plugin you use one at a time.

• If a plugin is to blame, you can double-check to ensure you’re running the latest version. You might be dealing with a previously resolved problem if you need to catch up on your updates.
• If you’re utilizing the most recent version, we advise contacting the plugin’s creator to ensure they know the problem. It can also be a chance to inquire whether they intend to address this issue in their upcoming release.
• If the plugin is crucial to your website and there is no sign of a cure, consider an alternative strategy.

Clear Cache

Clearing the cache may be enough to resolve your image upload errors using a caching plugin. It’s important to note that it is infrequent for the cache to prevent a file upload, so we’re including this fix out of caution.

Your actions will depend on the caching solution you have chosen if you suspect caching is the cause of the problem. For instance, select Performance > Purge All Caches from the WordPress toolbar when using the W3 Total Cache plugin to remove the cache.

If you need help clearing the cache in your tool, the plugin’s Settings menu is often an excellent place to start. You can also examine the developer’s authorized documentation for more information.

Browser Uploader

• Utilize the built-in file uploader in your browser if you’ve tested the solutions above but still need help. The browser uploader does not support drag and drop or multiple file selection like WordPress’s image uploader. However, if you need to submit an image quickly, it can be a helpful workaround.
• Go to Media > Add New to get to the native picture uploader. Next, you can choose the link for the browser uploader.

• After that, select a file. As usual, you can upload the image using the well-known file selection interface launched. If this method is successful, it is recommended that you submit an image utilizing WordPress’ default image uploader to notice if your problem has been fixed.

Check Theme

Another option is to back up your website and switch to a default theme for a short period. If your image uploads correctly, the issue is likely with your current theme. Contact the theme developer to further troubleshoot the image upload issue on your site.

Switch Browsers

Google Chrome users occasionally report HTTP issues. Switching browsers lets you determine whether the issue is related to your website. If you can upload the file using a different browser, contact the platform’s support to determine what’s wrong.

FAQ’s