YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten

Troubleshooting Guide

Common issues and solutions for the Upload and Shorten Advanced plugin.

Common Issues

File Uploads Not Working

Symptoms:

• Upload button doesn’t work
• Files fail to upload with no error
• Progress bar stalls

Solutions:

1. Check Directory Permissions

# Verify upload directory is writable
ls -la /path/to/yourls/user/plugins/YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/uploads/
# Should show 755 or 777 permissions

# Fix permissions if needed
chmod -R 755 YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/
chmod 777 YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/uploads/

1. Verify Upload Directory Exists

# Create if missing
mkdir -p /path/to/yourls/user/plugins/YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/uploads/
chown www-data:www-data uploads/

1. Check PHP Upload Limits

Edit php.ini:

upload_max_filesize = 20M
post_max_size = 25M
max_execution_time = 300
memory_limit = 256M

Restart web server after changes:

systemctl restart apache2    # Apache
systemctl restart php-fpm    # PHP-FPM
systemctl restart lsws       # LiteSpeed

1. Verify Database Tables

-- Check if tables exist
SHOW TABLES LIKE 'yourls_upload%';

-- Should show:
-- yourls_upload_files
-- yourls_upload_settings

If tables are missing, deactivate and reactivate the plugin.

Short URLs Not Redirecting

Symptoms:

• Short URL returns 404 error
• URL doesn’t redirect to file
• “File not found” message

Solutions:

1. Check File Location

Verify file exists in upload directory:

ls -la /path/to/uploads/

1. Verify Upload Directory is Web-Accessible

Test direct access:

https://yourls.example.com/user/plugins/YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/uploads/test.txt

If this doesn’t work, the directory isn’t web-accessible.

1. Check .htaccess Rules

Verify .htaccess exists in uploads directory:

# Allow file access
<FilesMatch "\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|pdf|doc|docx|txt|zip)$">
    Allow from all
</FilesMatch>

# Prevent PHP execution
<Files *.php>
    deny from all
</Files>

1. Verify YOURLS URL Rewriting

Ensure YOURLS rewrite rules are working:

# Test with a regular YOURLS short URL first
curl -I https://yourls.example.com/test

If regular YOURLS URLs don’t work, fix YOURLS configuration first.

Frontend Uploads Not Showing

Symptoms:

• Upload form doesn’t appear on homepage
• Only admin can see upload option
• Public users get “access denied”

Solutions:

1. Check Frontend Upload Settings

Go to Admin Panel → Upload Settings:

• Verify “Enable Frontend Uploads” is set to “Yes”
• Check frontend file size and type restrictions
• Save settings

1. Verify Theme Compatibility

Test with default YOURLS theme:

// In user/config.php, temporarily change theme
define('YOURLS_THEME', 'default');

If it works with default theme, your custom theme needs updates.

1. Check for JavaScript Errors

Open browser console (F12) and look for errors. Common issues:

• jQuery not loaded
• Script conflicts
• CORS issues

1. Verify Form Hook

Check that your theme includes the upload hook:

// Should be in your theme's index.php
yourls_do_action('upload_frontend_form');

Database Errors

Symptoms:

• “Table doesn’t exist” errors
• “Cannot insert into table” errors
• Plugin activation fails

Solutions:

1. Verify Database Permissions

-- Check user permissions
SHOW GRANTS FOR 'yourls_user'@'localhost';

-- Should include:
-- CREATE, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, SELECT

1. Manually Create Tables

If activation fails, create tables manually:

-- Run the SQL from sql/install.sql
SOURCE /path/to/YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/sql/install.sql;

1. Check Database Connection

Verify YOURLS can connect:

// In a test file
require_once('/path/to/yourls/includes/load-yourls.php');
$db = yourls_get_db();
print_r($db);

1. Run Activation Function Again

// Deactivate plugin
// Then reactivate to trigger table creation

Permission Errors

Symptoms:

• “Permission denied” when uploading
• Cannot create directories
• Cannot write files

Solutions:

1. Fix File Ownership

# For standard web servers
chown -R www-data:www-data YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/

# For CyberPanel
chown -R yourls_user:yourls_user YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/
chown yourls_user:nobody YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/

1. Fix Directory Permissions

# Directories
find YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/ -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

# Files
find YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/ -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# Uploads directory
chmod 777 YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/uploads/

1. Check SELinux (if applicable)

# Check if SELinux is enabled
getenforce

# If enforcing, add context
chcon -R -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t uploads/

# Or disable SELinux (not recommended for production)
setenforce 0

1. Check AppArmor (if applicable)

# Check AppArmor status
aa-status

# If blocking, adjust profile or disable for web server

Rate Limiting Issues

Symptoms:

• “Too many uploads” error
• Cannot upload despite waiting
• Rate limit counter wrong

Solutions:

1. Clear Rate Limit Data

-- Clear rate limit table
DELETE FROM yourls_upload_rate_limits WHERE timestamp < DATE_SUB(NOW(), INTERVAL 1 HOUR);

1. Adjust Rate Limits

In user/config.php:

define('UPLOAD_RATE_LIMIT', 20);  // Increase limit
define('UPLOAD_RATE_WINDOW', 3600);  // Adjust window

1. Whitelist Your IP

define('UPLOAD_RATE_LIMIT_WHITELIST', [
    'YOUR.IP.ADDRESS.HERE',
]);

1. Disable Rate Limiting (temporarily)

define('UPLOAD_RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED', false);

Debug Mode

Enable debug mode to get detailed error information.

Enable Plugin Debug Mode

Add to user/config.php:

define('YOURLS_DEBUG', true);
define('UPLOAD_DEBUG', true);

Check Log Files

View plugin logs:

tail -f /path/to/yourls/user/logs/upload-plugin.log

View PHP errors:

tail -f /var/log/php/error.log
# Or
tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log
# Or
tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

Increase PHP Error Reporting

// In user/config.php (temporarily)
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', 1);

Test Upload Manually

Create a test script:

<?php
// test-upload.php
require_once('includes/load-yourls.php');

$file = [
    'name' => 'test.txt',
    'type' => 'text/plain',
    'tmp_name' => '/tmp/test.txt',
    'size' => 100
];

$result = yourls_upload_file($file);
print_r($result);

Performance Issues

Slow Uploads

Solutions:

1. Increase PHP Limits

max_execution_time = 600
max_input_time = 600
memory_limit = 512M

1. Optimize Database

OPTIMIZE TABLE yourls_upload_files;
OPTIMIZE TABLE yourls_url;

1. Enable Caching

define('UPLOAD_ENABLE_CACHE', true);

High Server Load

Solutions:

1. Enable Rate Limiting
2. Set lower file size limits
3. Implement CDN for file delivery
4. Use separate storage server

Getting Help

If you’re still experiencing issues:

Before Asking for Help

Please gather this information:

1. YOURLS version
2. PHP version
3. Web server (Apache/Nginx/LiteSpeed)
4. Error messages from logs
5. Steps to reproduce the issue
6. What you’ve already tried

Support Channels

• Discord: Join our Discord Server
• GitHub Issues: Report a bug
• Email: info@newstargeted.com

Useful Commands for Support

Gather system information:

# PHP version
php -v

# Web server version
apache2 -v   # or nginx -v, or /usr/local/lsws/bin/lshttpd -v

# Permissions
ls -la /path/to/YOURLS-Upload-and-Shorten-Advanced/

# Disk space
df -h

# PHP modules
php -m

# Recent errors
tail -50 /var/log/php/error.log

Next Steps

• Return to configuration guide
• Learn about advanced features
• Back to usage guide

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