So, the site is hosted with GoDaddy. They're a pretty good host, but I finally had my first problem with them. I worked through it and still like them as a host because I'm understanding and realistic, but I thought I'd share the story so you get a feel for the work that sometimes goes on behind the scenes to keep the site running and growing.

Anyway, I had decided that I wanted to allow video files on the site. Coding the pages to do that was the easy part. I created a form and set things up so that the files would place themselves in the appropriate new folder on the server. Most of that went pretty smoothly, as expected. However, there was one minor thing that annoyed me: files larger than 8MB caused a timeout and a "This page cannot be displayed" error.

Well, I decided to see if I could fix that. Eventually, it became clear that the problem was what more expert designers will have already guessed: the php.ini file on the server indicates that files larger than 8MB aren't allowed. To fix this problem, I decided to try using a .htaccess file to override some of the php.ini file settings. That didn't work out so well.

I decided to try calling my host next, to see if they wanted to up my limit for me. They didn't, but they said I could do it myself. "You can create a custom php.ini file and change the setting!" they told me.

That sounded almost too good to be true. The problem was that I wasn't sure about what to put into the file. I read online that the wrong contents can be a big deal. I found out the location of the default file using phpinfo() and it was revealed that its location was outside my area of access, in a folder I can't touch. So I read some online and talked to espiga and decided to try SSH. After downloading Putty and finding my IP address for the server, though, it became clear that since the server is shared, I can't log in (even though GoDaddy had pages on how to use Putty).

So I was back to square one, mostly. However, a fileget() script allowed me to finally get the contents of the file and I was able to parse them in a meaningful way. Finally, I had a php.ini file I could trust. I uploaded it onto the server, delighted... only to find that the php.ini file wasn't recognized as the configuration path. According to all of the tech support I got, it should've been recognized immediately.

Irriated, I called my host a few times, and they basically told me that it was a coding issue, that they can't help me with my custom scripts. I made clear to them that I don't care about my page loads, that they're doing fine (and they are). I told them that I simply wanted the path to the php.ini file changed.

"Well, we can't help you with that," they said. "We can't provide that sort of support, we can just make sure the servers are working like they're supposed to, which they are."

They had a point, but blaming it on my coding didn't sit well with me. Sure, my coding isn't always perfect, but this clearly wasn't a coding issue. It wound up being a situation where I knew as much as any of the people I was able to talk to on the phone. They e-mailed me messages full of things I knew and everything.

Then I got a brain storm. While accessing the control panel, I noticed that there were two configuration options. I updated to the other configuration option on their server and VOILA! Everything works perfectly. It turns out that the option they told me I could and should use was only available to me if I selected a certain hosting configuration.

They could've saved me 6 hours if they just put the clues together. Anyway, at least I always got on the phone with someone within 30 seconds of calling, and they were local American support staff and very courteous (even when giving me flawed info). So I still like GoDaddy. This was just... frustrating.