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Troubleshooting

Solutions for common PHPPoll problems: settings not saving, wrong embed URLs, pretty links 404, no emails, "already voted" messages, blank pages and upload errors.

Most problems are caused by folder permissions, server settings or a wrong address. Open Settings → System first: it checks the most important server conditions. See Settings.

"Settings could not be saved" or polls cannot be created

PHP cannot write to the data/ folder. Set its permissions to 755 or 775, and make sure the folder is owned by the web-server user. Do the same for uploads/.

A blank page or error 500

  1. Open config.php and set define('PP_DEBUG', true);.
  2. Reload the page. The error message tells you what is wrong, for example a missing extension or an old PHP version. See System requirements.
  3. Set PP_DEBUG back to false when you are done.

The embedded poll has no styling or does not load

  • The web address in the embed code is wrong. Set the Script URL in Settings → Public site (for example https://www.example.com/poll, no slash at the end).
  • For the PHP include, open the admin panel once so the address is remembered.
  • Check that the page uses HTTPS if your poll folder uses HTTPS, to avoid mixed-content blocking.

"You have already voted" while testing

The vote limit works. Temporarily set Prevent repeated votes to Do not limit, or use a private window with cookie-only limits. Delete test votes with Reset all votes. See Prevent duplicate votes and spam.

Everybody gets "already voted" after the first vote

Your site is behind a proxy or CDN, so all visitors seem to share one IP address. Enable PP_TRUST_PROXY in config.php, or switch the vote limit to cookie only.

They need Apache with mod_rewrite and AllowOverride All so the .htaccess file is read. On nginx add a rewrite rule such as rewrite ^/poll/([a-z0-9]+)/?$ /index.php?p=$1 last;, or switch off Pretty poll links.

No notification emails

See Email notifications for new votes: check the spam folder, the System page and with your host whether mail() is enabled.

Images cannot be uploaded

  • Only JPG, PNG, GIF and WebP are accepted, up to 3 MB.
  • The PHP limits upload_max_filesize and post_max_size may be lower than your file.
  • The uploads/ folder must be writable.

I cannot log in

After 5 wrong attempts login is blocked for 15 minutes. If you forgot the password see Admin panel login and account.

Dates and times are wrong

Select your time zone in Settings → General.

Still stuck? Read the frequently asked questions.

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