[assg]Comment count not incremented, blank page after submit

[Magnus Larsson]

Hello Bugs,

I have installed Serendipity 0.8.1 in order to test it, from scratch, new database, nothing imported.

I can add comments to my test entries, comments allowed, but:
-pressing submit comment results in a blank page with an URL: "...html#feedback".
-the comment count is not incremented when returning to the main page.
-clicking on the comment link takes me to the entry and the newly entered comment.

I have not modified any configuration settings or plugins. It is all as per default from the first installation.

All other serendipity functions seems to work, ie the s9y installation and mysql as well as php seem to operate normally. The seredipity files are chmod 777.

I am using PHP 5.0.4 and mysql-4.1.12, built from source.

Serendipity 0.8 behaves in the same way, comments added, but not counted and submit results in a blank web page.

I would like to submit some more debug info, but I need your help to do that.

Please advice. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Magnus Larsson

[garvinhicking]

Is there a live site where I can see that problem? Because I cannot confirm this...

Can you try to temporarily remove the Spamblock plugin and see if it works?

Also please look at your PHP/Apache Error-Logfile; a blank page means usually a coredump, which is outside of the Serendipity scope...

Regards,
Garvin

[Magnus Larsson]

Dear Garvin,

Thank you for your reply.

I do apologise for a false alarm. The Serendipity application works well.

The root cause of my problem was the lack of PHP mail() support.

An installation prerequisite warning or a configuration setting warning could be considered if the sendmail requirement is not met given the chosen setting.

From php.net:
"..The mail() function allows you to send mail.
Requirements
For the Mail functions to be available, PHP must have access to the sendmail binary on your system during compile time. If you use another mail program, such as qmail or postfix, be sure to use the appropriate sendmail wrappers that come with them.."

I did not have the sendmail binary installed when I prepared PHP for make using the configure script, hence no mail() php support.

Serendipity Administration Suite -> Personal Settings, was set to
Send comment announcements=YES
Send trackback announcements=YES, by default.

This caused the fault I stated previously.

I managed to work around this by setting
Send comment announcements=NO
Send trackback announcements=NO

I have rebuilt php with postfix sendmail available and the php mail() function is now supported.

This solved the problem. Serendipity works with any Send comment announcements setting, YES or NO.

Best regards,

Magnus Larsson

[garvinhicking]

Thanks a lot for finding that out! I will try to check for sendmail existance in the installer!

Regards,
Garvin