Initially, I wanted to write a post just to highlight an error in WordPress with the aim of helping any web designers or general WordPress users that comes across the same problem.

However, I decided that it might be of interest to discuss troubleshooting in general – something which is a useful practice and can be applied to all walks of life.

The WordPress Issue

If you’re using the latest version of WordPress you now have an upload indicator showing the upload progress. This upload system has been put together by the WordPress development team and gives the end user some useful feedback, especially when uploading large files.

Last night the WordPress media uploader stopped working for me. I could click on “Choose files to upload” all I wanted, but nothing happened.

Before I explain the process I went through to find the solution, I’m going to spoil the end result now. For those of you who just want to know what the solution is – if your WordPress media uploader stops working, and you’re running Adobe’s latest beta of Flash (nick-named “Astro”), then you better be prepared to discard it. It’s a known issue, and no matter who’s at fault (there’s some debate about this), you’re going to have to re-install the current non-beta version of flash, which you can pick up over on File Hippo (here’s the IE version link).

How did I work out what was wrong? I went through a methodical troubleshooting process.

Troubleshooting – a methodology in finding errors

We troubleshoot on such a regular basis that you can easily be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t much to it. Here’s a really basic example:

• I can’t turn the TV on using the remote.
• Is the TV’s “standby LED” on? Yes, this means the TV is receiving power.
• Are the batteries in the remote dead? Check with another pair of batteries I know to be working.

Fingers crossed that’s your solution right there, if not you’d need to check whether you can turn the TV on manually and go from there. However, what the simple example above demonstrates is that troubleshooting is a step-by-step process which is all about eliminating potential causes of the error.

I studied sound engineering and music technology for 2 years, and troubleshooting was an important part of the course. However, unlike our example above, troubleshooting in a studio is a lot more complex. You are faced with potential errors with microphones, cables, input channels, patch cables, output channels, power issues, rack hardware devices and many more.

Signal Chain

In sound engineering, the most important thing to keep in mind is that there is a signal chain. Described in very basic terms, this is the process of sound going from the microphone to the mixing desk to the amplifier to the speakers. If any one element is broken in that chain then you aren’t going to hear anything. As you don’t instinctively know what’s broken, you need to check every single step in that chain. As you eliminate each step you get closer to working out what the problem is.

When I finished the sound engineering course, not only had I learnt a vast amount about sound, music, technology, physics and more, but I’d also learnt the importance of good troubleshooting – something that could be applied in many areas, not just in sound engineering.

Whether there is something wrong with my code, my computer, an application, the printer, my car, the cooker etc, the key factor is that unless I work through the problem methodically, I run more chance of missing the cause of the problem and going round in circles.

Identifying the issue

In this case I had a problem with a website not working the way it should. Unfortunately I forgot that I had recently installed the beta version of flash in all my browsers, which might have speeded up my resolution of the issue, however, I still followed a very logical path to identify the cause.

This is something that everyone should do before running to the support forums of any product – save on hassle by eliminating the obvious first!

1. Consider recent changes.

   Recent changes include upgrade to Firefox 3 RC1 (and a failure to remember the flash upgrade!), as well as various potential WordPress plugin installs.

2. Disable all WordPress Plugins

   This is in case a plugin is causing a conflict.
   Result: problem still occurs.

3. Check another WordPress website

   This ensures that you know whether it’s system wide.
   Result: problem still occurs, potential suspects are now Firefox 3 RC1, a Firefox plugin, or, a remote chance that it’s a server issue.

4. Check another WordPress website on a different server

   This ensures that it’s not a problem with a server configuration.
   Result: problem still occurs. At this point the word “Flash” is starting to niggle at me – I have a few flash blocking plugins in Firefox and the fact that the new media uploader uses flash is ringing alarm bells.

5. Disable all Firefox plugins

   This ensures that a Firefox plugin isn’t blocking the new uploader.
   Result: problem still occurs.

6. Test in other browsers

   Check the media uploader in Flock (code-base similar to Firefox 2) and Internet Explorer 6.
   Result: problem still occurs.

7. Test on another computer

   This defines whether the problem is localised to my machine.
   Result: problem no longer occurs. Check flash versions on both machines. Decide problem is likely caused by flash and decide to test.

8. Re-install Flash 9.x in IE

   This is to confirm my suspicions.
   Result: problem no longer occurs! Solution found!

Conclusion

I hope that I’ve demonstrated how a bit of common sense and a methodical troubleshooting process can save time and hassle. It’s of vital importance to web designers and developers in assessing issues with a broken website, but it’s also something that can be applied in all walks of life.

I’m sure everyone’s heard the story of the tech-support call that played out along the lines of:

Caller: My computer won’t turn on.
Support: Check that the power cable is plugged into the wall and the computer.
Caller: [goes to check, gone for some time] I’m not sure..
Support: What do you mean you’re not sure.
Caller: Well I can’t see anything, we’re in the middle of a power cut….

Now, if the caller had gone through a bit of troubleshooting logic, she would have saved herself and tech support a bit of time there. So next time you encounter a problem, stop, think about it, try and work out if there’s a good methodology by which you can work out what might be causing the problem, and see if you can isolate it. You’ll be surprised how easy it is.

Further Reading

Troubleshooting

If you’re interested in a slightly more detailed analysis of troubleshooting, I suggest reading this article on the Princeton University website which, although it goes into more depth about a specific computer system, the fundamental principles it outlines are solid and can be applied in all situations.

1. Investigation

   Problem Statement: Create a clear, concise statement of the problem.
   Problem Description: Identify the symptoms. What works? What doesn’t?
   Identify Differences and Changes: What has changed recently? What is unique about this system?

2. Analysis

   Brainstorm: Gather Hypotheses: What might have caused the problem?
   Identify Likely Causes: Which hypotheses are most likely?
   Test Possible Causes: Schedule the testing for the most likely hypotheses. Perform any non-disruptive testing immediately.

3. Implementation

   Implement the Fix: Complete the repair.
   Verify the Fix: Is the problem really fixed?
   Document the Resolution: What did we do? Get a sign-off from the system owner.

There’s also a few detailed articles on Wikipedia that go a bit more in-depth about the topic:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_solving
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubleshooting

WordPress Media Uploader

Below are a couple of links if you want to find out some more about this WordPress media uploader error when using the Flash Beta 10.

• WordPress Trac bug entry: http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6979
• WordPress Forum Topic: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/179104
• No Flash Uploader Plugin: If you have to use Flash Beta 10 for other purposes, you can disable the WordPress flash uploader using this plugin.