I just upgraded to PM Pro 2.4 tonight, and despite spending a few hours on this, I am stuck. “Submit the word you see below:” etc. comes up when a user tries to add a comment, but the image where the chaptcha graphic should be is empty. No graphic files are being created in the chaptchas directory, either.

- I have set the relative path to the chaptchas directory correctly.
- Permissions for the chaptchas directory are set to 777.
- GD 2 is installed (according to my host).

I’ve read the other relevant threads here and nothing therein has helped. Any ideas? Is there some step I am missing?

There are two “captcha” folders.  Make sure the one you are setting to 777 is the one in your “images” folder rather than the one in the folder where you access your control panel.  Also make sure the path you are specifying is to that folder as well.

Yep, it is the Captchas folder in the images directory outside the pm directory. (Out of frustration, I even tried setting both folders to 777. Obviously, it didn’t do anything.) And the path is going to the correct directory.

Also, I forgot to mention I am not using the TrueType font option. I have tried it both with and without, no change. Any other suggestions? Possibilities?

Do you have debugging turned on?  If not, turn that on and see if you get any errors/messages on the captcha output.

You might also check with your host to make sure you have the GD library installed and available.

I turned debugging on, and this is the error message I recieved:
Warning: imagejpeg(): open_basedir restriction in effect.

So I went looking for information on the host’s Knowledge Base and discovered, apparently, what my host provider lists as the correct relative path is only partly correct. Due to their PHP restrictions, an extra section must be inserted in the home/username/domain/ path they give in their own instructions, such that an individual must use home/.server/username/domain/ to deal with this situation.

So, I changed the relative path to include what I’m assuming is a server name, and now it is working fine.

Thanks for the pointer, Chris!
(I’d forogtten about debugging mode—never had problems with pM before.)

Wow, weird.  We were wondering if open_basedir might be a problem for some people, since the captchas folder would be at a lower lever than the file creating the captcha, which is why we are using the server path opposed to a relative path.  Thanks for the info.  What host is this?

Paul,

The host I use is Dreamhost. Apparently the path issue was causing similar problems with some Gallery installations (which is how I discovered the fix).

(Tangentially, I should mention that I completely understand the reason for the basedir restriction in their PHP install, and have had nothing but prompt, excellent service with them: I do not want sound like I am complaining about this security measure or their service.)