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Admin changes aren't being saved

    • 53935
    • 18 Posts
    wasteland_ Reply #1, 7 years ago
    Hello everyone!

    I was asked to do some basic work on a website that was built using MODX Revolution 2.4.4-pl. Really simple things: add pages, edit some text, upload images. The problem is that none of the changes I'm making in admin panel are appearing in the website itself after I press the "Save" button. The button works okay for the admin panel - all the changes are saving there but nothing is transferred to the website.

    Could you please help me find the issue?

    Thank you!
      • 38783
      • 571 Posts
      Andy Tough Reply #2, 7 years ago
      You could try emptying the sitecache.

      This can be done via the Manager (Manage / Clear cache)

      The first method is not always successful though so it is better to manually empty the contents of the /core/cache/ folder. (make a copy first)

      Have you cleared your browser cache?

      Is it possible that there is a CDN in place? If there is could the site be failing to send changes to that?

      If you view a website page you have just updated in the Manager by selecting the 'View' option (near the save button) are the changes you made visible?

      Is there anything in the MODX error log (Manage / Reports / Error Log)?


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        • 53935
        • 18 Posts
        wasteland_ Reply #3, 7 years ago
        Quote from: andytough at Nov 30, 2017, 08:25 AM
        You could try emptying the sitecache.

        This can be done via the Manager (Manage / Clear cache)

        The first method is not always successful though so it is better to manually empty the contents of the /core/cache/ folder. (make a copy first)

        Have you cleared your browser cache?

        Is it possible that there is a CDN in place? If there is could the site be failing to send changes to that?

        If you view a website page you have just updated in the Manager by selecting the 'View' option (near the save button) are the changes you made visible?

        Is there anything in the MODX error log (Manage / Reports / Error Log)?



        Hello and thank you for answering!

        Manage -> Clear cache did nothing

        When I tried to manually empty cache folder I couldn't do it. Folders stayed there. Here is a video of the process (the interface is in Russian but I think you should be able to understand what's going on): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7dqNzxLe_k&feature=youtu.be (the link is being cutoff after & so please copy it manually).

        I have cleared my browser cache.

        There is no CDN in place to my knowledge.

        If I select "View" option the site doesn't update either.

        After I checked the ERROR LOG I believe there is something wrong with admin rights because here is what it shows: 

        [2017-11-30 23:03:00] (ERROR @ /var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/xpdo/cache/xpdocachemanager.class.php : 510) PHP warning: unlink(/var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/cache1/resource/web/resources/57/1b35f178ba72b6d5632e71f97afe3658.cache.php): Permission denied
[2017-11-30 23:03:00] (ERROR @ /var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/xpdo/cache/xpdocachemanager.class.php : 510) PHP warning: unlink(/var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/cache1/resource/web/resources/57/c1ae14f0d7e138669c8e602889601706.cache.php): Permission denied
[2017-11-30 23:03:00] (ERROR @ /var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/xpdo/cache/xpdocachemanager.class.php : 510) PHP warning: unlink(/var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/cache1/resource/web/resources/57/5f23eab6aa13317a80a72be54b346a3c.cache.php): Permission denied
[2017-11-30 23:03:00] (ERROR @ /var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/xpdo/cache/xpdocachemanager.class.php : 510) PHP warning: unlink(/var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/cache1/resource/web/resources/57/bb48b5c51c62d613a487b0eff7aab45b.cache.php): Permission denied
[2017-11-30 23:03:00] (ERROR @ /var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/xpdo/cache/xpdocachemanager.class.php : 518) PHP warning: closedir(): 1124 is not a valid Directory resource
[2017-11-30 23:03:00] (ERROR @ /var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/xpdo/cache/xpdocachemanager.class.php : 510) PHP warning: unlink(/var/www/epowerlab.ru/data/www/epowerlab.ru/core/cache1/resource/web/resources/1.cache.php): Permission denied


        I've pasted only a few lines, there is actually a lot more but I believe they all are the same.
          • 53935
          • 18 Posts
          wasteland_ Reply #4, 7 years ago
          I also cannot upload images to the assets folder. When I try to upload a picture I get message "Web server doesn't have enough rights to upload into folder assets/img/tmp/"

          :/ [ed. note: wasteland_ last edited this post 7 years ago.]
            • 38783
            • 571 Posts
            Andy Tough Reply #5, 7 years ago
            You are correct, it looks like it is a permissions issue with the server.

            You should ensure that the MODX User you are logging is in the Administrator group, and preferably has 'super user' priviliges. (Manage / Users - select your user name and when viewing it check under the Access Permissions tab. If you are not an admin you might not be able to follow that step though!

            If you have some sort of control panel that allows you to administer the server, or ssh access to the web server folders, you want to make sure that the ownership and permissions of all the files and folders is correct.

            Generally you would want the permissions to be as follows.
            Folders 755
            Files 644

            If that does not work then you could try
            Folders 775
            Files 664

            Bear in mind that the permissions for you config file in the core folder should be 400

            If you are not in a position to make these changes then you need to ask the company running the web server to make them for you, or set you up with access so that you can.
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              Mark Hamstra Reply #6, 7 years ago
              Note that deleting the cache folder through the manager might automatically regenerate some files right away, like the action map you showed in the video. You could try removing them through FTP or a cpanel-like server management tool.
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                • 53935
                • 18 Posts
                wasteland_ Reply #7, 7 years ago
                Thanks for the answer, Andy!

                Quote from: andytough at Dec 01, 2017, 02:07 PM
                You are correct, it looks like it is a permissions issue with the server.

                You should ensure that the MODX User you are logging is in the Administrator group, and preferably has 'super user' priviliges. (Manage / Users - select your user name and when viewing it check under the Access Permissions tab. If you are not an admin you might not be able to follow that step though!


                My admin account has Super User priviliges I believe. Here is a screenshot: https://gyazo.com/a545c69313e1c4aefe263aaaaaa0ed2c (on top it says in Russian: User Group, Role, Sort)

                Quote from: andytough at Dec 01, 2017, 02:07 PM


                If you have some sort of control panel that allows you to administer the server, or ssh access to the web server folders, you want to make sure that the ownership and permissions of all the files and folders is correct.


                All I have is this admin access through /manager URL. I don't know if there is an ssh access. I'm really new to this and so are people who asked me to help them out with the website :/

                While I was trying to make the image uploading work I clicked on folders in file system and saw different rights (numbers) there. Couldn't make much of them though, it's good that you touched on them further in your post.

                Quote from: andytough at Dec 01, 2017, 02:07 PM


                Generally you would want the permissions to be as follows.
                Folders 755
                Files 644

                If that does not work then you could try
                Folders 775
                Files 664


                So some of the folders have 0777 and some have 0755. Should I try to change all of the folders to 0755? Thing is, I cannot change the rights on some folders. For example, I can change the rights on assets and core folders but changing the number of tmp folder gives me error "Unknown access rights error (chmod)". Also, uploading images worked for the folders that have changeable rights.

                Also, I'm not really sure how to change Files rights. Let's say I have a folder called img and inside I've got an image.jpg. So, img is a folder and image.jpg is a file, right? But when I rightclick on an image.jpg I don't get the option to change rights. When I rightclick on img I do.

                Hence the problem with "Bear in mind that the permissions for you config file in the core folder should be 400". In core/config folder I have config.inc.php file which I cannot change the rights of because there is no such option when I rightclick on it.
                  • 53935
                  • 18 Posts
                  wasteland_ Reply #8, 7 years ago
                  Quote from: markh at Dec 01, 2017, 03:15 PM
                  Note that deleting the cache folder through the manager might automatically regenerate some files right away, like the action map you showed in the video. You could try removing them through FTP or a cpanel-like server management tool.

                  Hey Mark!

                  Is it possible for me to connect to the file system if all I have is FileZilla, website's URL and admin password?
                    • 3749
                    • 24,544 Posts
                    BobRay Reply #9, 7 years ago
                    Yes, you should be able to use FileZilla and may be able to change permissions there. If not, you may be able to change them in cPanel's File Manager. I'd recommend 755 for all folders.
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                      • 53935
                      • 18 Posts
                      wasteland_ Reply #10, 7 years ago
                      Quote from: BobRay at Dec 01, 2017, 08:53 PM
                      Yes, you should be able to use FileZilla and may be able to change permissions there. If not, you may be able to change them in cPanel's File Manager. I'd recommend 755 for all folders.

                      In my file system I have the following folders:

                      assets
                      connectors
                      core
                      manager
                      old
                      tmp
                      uploads
                      webstat

                      tmp and uploads have 777 rights and I cannot change them. I get "Unknown access rights error (chmod)". The rest of the folders already have 755.

                      FileZilla is unable to connect to the website. It says that the password is incorrect even though I'm logging in with that password in my browser.