GoDaddy, WordPress, php, Windows Hosting

I’m not sure hosting on GoDaddy is worth the money OR the trouble. Trying to install a simple php package turned into a huge chore.

I decided upon the WordPress package for use on a client’s site, to be hosted on GoDaddy’s servers. Because GoDaddy locks down the servers, many php features and functions have been disabled. This becomes a real problem, especially when I need to change file and directory permissions and write/create new files on the fly.

If you are in need of a solution for this, here is what I have found:

1. If you get the error 'Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL which is required for WordPress' when you first install the package, comment the following lines in wp-settings.php:

//if ( !extension_loaded('mysql') )
// die( 'Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL which is required for WordPress.' );


2. If you get the error “Couldn’t open plugins directory or there are no plugins available” and plugins do not appear when you are in the Admin Panel (but you know they are there), do the following inside admin-functions.php:

• Comment out the line: $plugin_data = implode(”, file($plugin_file));
• Replace it with the line: $plugin_data = file_get_contents($plugin_file);

This allowed me to access the database and utilize plugins for WordPress, however I still cannot write/create new files or change the access permissions. To avoid further headaches, contact GoDaddy and either switch plans or change to a better hosting service.

Unfortunately I cannot give credit to the original source since I cannot relocate the site I found the solution on.