Question Avatar upload fails

Since installing Kunena with J1.7 we have never been able to upload avatars. I chalked it up to needing an upgrade of Joomla and Kunena. However, today I upgraded Kunena, Joomla and my YooTheme template to the most current versions. There has been no change in the avatar uploading issue. Below is my configuration report. Please note that we are able to successfully upload file attachments in posts; it is only the avatar uploads that are not working. File and directory permissions are set appropriately and all other system media uploads work as expected.

Database collation check: The collation of your table fields are correct

Legacy mode: Disabled | Joomla! SEF: Enabled | Joomla! SEF rewrite: Enabled | FTP layer: Disabled |

This message contains confidential information

htaccess: Exists | PHP environment: Max execution time: 60 seconds | Max execution memory: 500M | Max file upload: 30M

Kunena menu details:

Warning: Spoiler!

ID	Name	Menutype	Link	Path
567	Forum	mainmenu	view=home&defaultmenu=209	latest-news/forum
123	Forum	othermenu	view=category&catid=0&layout=list	ca4wdc-forum
126	General	othermenu	view=category&catid=2	ca4wdc-forum/general-discussion
127	Access	othermenu	view=category&catid=5	ca4wdc-forum/access-forum
194	Forum	mainmenu	Itemid=208	2011-05-20-19-28-58
208	Forum	kunenamenu	view=home&defaultmenu=210	forum
209	Index	kunenamenu	view=category&layout=list	forum/index
210	Recent Topics	kunenamenu	view=topics&layout=default&mode=replies	forum/recent
211	New Topic	kunenamenu	view=topic&layout=create	forum/newtopic
212	No Replies	kunenamenu	view=topics&layout=default&mode=noreplies	forum/noreplies
213	My Topics	kunenamenu	view=topics&layout=user&mode=default	forum/mylatest
214	Profile	kunenamenu	view=user	forum/profile
215	Rules	kunenamenu	view=misc	forum/rules
216	Help	kunenamenu	view=misc	forum/help
217	Search	kunenamenu	view=search	forum/search
738	Winter Fun Forum	winterfunmenu	view=category&catid=15	winter-fun-forum
753	Forum	bottommenu	view=home&defaultmenu=209	forum-2

Joomla default template details : yoo_corona | author: YOOtheme | version: 5.5.15 | creationdate: June 2012

Kunena default template details : Blue Eagle 2.0 | author: Kunena Team | version: 2.0.2 | creationdate: 2012-09-02

Kunena version detailed: Kunena 2.0.2 | 2012-09-02 [ Botschafter ]
| Kunena detailed configuration:

Warning: Spoiler!

Kunena config settings:
board_offline	0
enablerss	1
threads_per_page	20
messages_per_page	6
messages_per_page_search	15
showhistory	1
historylimit	6
shownew	1
disemoticons	0
template	blue_eagle
showannouncement	1
avataroncat	0
catimagepath	category_images
showchildcaticon	1
rtewidth	450
rteheight	300
enableforumjump	1
reportmsg	1
username	1
askemail	0
showemail	0
showuserstats	1
showkarma	1
useredit	1
useredittime	0
useredittimegrace	600
editmarkup	1
allowsubscriptions	1
subscriptionschecked	1
allowfavorites	1
maxsubject	50
maxsig	300
regonly	0
pubwrite	0
floodprotection	0
mailmod	0
mailadmin	0
captcha	0
mailfull	1
allowavatarupload	1
allowavatargallery	1
avatarquality	75
avatarsize	2048
imageheight	800
imagewidth	800
imagesize	150
filetypes	txt,rtf,pdf,zip,tar.gz,tgz,tar.bz2
filesize	120
showranking	1
rankimages	1
userlist_rows	30
userlist_online	1
userlist_avatar	1
userlist_name	1
userlist_posts	1
userlist_karma	1
userlist_email	0
userlist_usertype	0
userlist_joindate	1
userlist_lastvisitdate	1
userlist_userhits	1
latestcategory
showstats	1
showwhoisonline	1
showgenstats	1
showpopuserstats	1
popusercount	5
showpopsubjectstats	1
popsubjectcount	5
usernamechange	0
showspoilertag	1
showvideotag	1
showebaytag	1
trimlongurls	1
trimlongurlsfront	40
trimlongurlsback	20
autoembedyoutube	1
autoembedebay	1
ebaylanguagecode	en-us
sessiontimeout	1800
highlightcode	0
rss_type	topic
rss_timelimit	month
rss_limit	100
rss_included_categories
rss_excluded_categories
rss_specification	rss2.0
rss_allow_html	1
rss_author_format	name
rss_author_in_title	1
rss_word_count	0
rss_old_titles	1
rss_cache	900
defaultpage	recent
default_sort	asc
sef	1
sefutf8	0
showimgforguest	1
showfileforguest	1
pollnboptions	4
pollallowvoteone	1
pollenabled	1
poppollscount	5
showpoppollstats	1
polltimebtvotes	00:15:00
pollnbvotesbyuser	100
pollresultsuserslist	1
maxpersotext	50
ordering_system	mesid
post_dateformat	ago
post_dateformat_hover	datetime
hide_ip	1
imagetypes	jpg,jpeg,gif,png
checkmimetypes	1
imagemimetypes	image/jpeg,image/jpg,image/gif,image/png
imagequality	50
thumbheight	32
thumbwidth	32
hideuserprofileinfo	put_empty
boxghostmessage	0
userdeletetmessage	0
latestcategory_in	1
topicicons	1
debug	0
catsautosubscribed	0
showbannedreason	0
version_check	1
showthankyou	1
showpopthankyoustats	1
popthankscount	5
mod_see_deleted	0
bbcode_img_secure	text
listcat_show_moderators	1
lightbox	1
show_list_time	720
show_session_type	0
show_session_starttime	0
userlist_allowed	0
userlist_count_users	1
enable_threaded_layouts	0
category_subscriptions	post
topic_subscriptions	every
pubprofile	0
thankyou_max	10
email_recipient_count	0
email_recipient_privacy	bcc
captcha_post_limit	0
keywords	0
userkeywords	0
image_upload	registered
file_upload	registered
topic_layout	flat
time_to_create_page	1
show_imgfiles_manage_profile	1
hold_newusers_posts	0
hold_guest_posts	0
attachment_limit	8
pickup_category	0
article_display	intro
send_emails	1
fallback_english	1
cache	1
cache_time	60
iptracking	1
plugins	Array
enablepdf	1
jmambot	0
annmodid	62
changename	1
userlist_username	1
rules_infb	1
help_infb	1
onlineusers	1

| Kunena integration settings:

Warning: Spoiler!

Kunena - AlphaUserPoints Disabled
Kunena - Community Builder Disabled
Kunena - Gravatar Disabled
Kunena - JomSocial Disabled
Kunena - Joomla Enabled: access=1 login=1
Kunena - Kunena Enabled: avatar=1 profile=1
Kunena - UddeIM Enabled: private=1

| Joomla! detailed language files installed:

Warning: Spoiler!

Joomla! languages installed:
en-GB	English (United Kingdom)

Third-party components: UddeIM 2.8

Third-party SEF components: None

Plugins: None

Modules: Kunena Latest 2.0.2 | Kunena Login 2.0.2

Most of these cannot-upload-avatar-images problems are caused by folder/file permissions issues. Look at the article Securing Kunena and, if necessary, discuss with your webhosting provider to make sure you have the ability for people to upload and store files on your site. That's where I would start.

This isn't a defect of Kunena. It's all related to how you have setup Joomla on your hosted environment.

Thank you Sozzled. The site is on a virtual dedicated server and I have total control on how it is configured. I have tried changing many of the PHP and Apache settings to no avail. Nothing is showing in the error logs. When I turned on Kunena's debugging the only error that I got was this:

Notice: Undefined property: JSimpleXMLElement::$params in /home/XXXX/public_html/libraries/joomla/html/parameter.php on line 398

And at one point it briefly flashed that MIME type .jpg was not set, even though it is. I have tried off and on for over six months to fix this. I cannot understand how I can upload files everywhere (including Kunena attachments), but cannot upload avatars. Do I need to chown the appropriate media directories to something other than my normal user? I have the permissions set to 775, but don't want to go any higher. My site administrator skills are limited, so it would be helpful if you could tell me where to start looking. I can also make a custom php.ini and change htaccess if that is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Thanks for your response. We agree that people should never exceeds the Joomla recommendations regarding folder/file security. Starting at the site root (and propagating throughout the site), folder permissions of 755 and file permissions of 644 should be adequate. That's not a hard-and-fast rule but that's what we would recommend as a starting point.

Devising rules of .htaccess files is well beyond the scope of this forum but, for most applications, using the standard Joomla .htaccess file - the one shipped with your installation as htaccess.txt - also should work for Apache installations.

If the MIME type of .jpg is not set in your Joomla global settings then, no, you would have a problem uploaded files of that type. Can you upload images within Kunena or is the problem localised to uploading images with users' avatars?

The only other thing I noticed from your configuration report that has me a little concerned is your customised Joomla menu. Have your tried using the default menu - the one that was created when you first installed Kunena?

Thank you. I tried disabling the custom menu, clearing the cache and trying to update my avatar. Still no good. As I said earlier, image uploads work fine throughout the site, including Kunena file attachments within posts. I have tried changing the Apache configuration, adding a custom php.ini for open_basedir to specify the tmp directory, removing open_basedir, all kinds of adjustments to the main PHP configuration, etc. I have completely run out of ideas, other than a possible jquery or javascript conflict if that even comes into play. I have also tried disabling the RSFirewall checks on Kunena and that made no difference.

There are many reasons why users cannot upload their own avatar images. The reasons include, but not limited to: folder/file security settings, Kunena forum configuration settings (although I could not see anything obvious from yours), file type, file size, reliability of connection/quality of service, PHP configuration settings, webserver (i.e. Apache) configuration settings, as well as things that reside in the "paranormal" unexplained - although I do not believe in goblins, ghosts or maleficent genies.

Javascript (obviously) comes into play because Javascript is responsible for opening the file dialog that allows you to select a file that you want to use as an avatar image.

The one piece of information missing from this [possibly easily-explained] case is how, specifically, the inability to upload the image manifests itself to the user. For example, is there an error message? Have you considered enabling Kunena debug mode to see if this helps reveal something not yet brought into evidence?

Yes, I have turned on debug mode several times to see what errors might be occurring. I just did it again and the only error that I got was this:

Notice: Undefined property: JSimpleXMLElement::$params in /home/xxxxx/public_html/libraries/joomla/html/parameter.php on line 398

Kunena goes through the motions like it is uploading the file and even says that my profile has been saved, but the avatar never updates, nor does the the image file make it in to the appropriate media directory. The avatar that I am trying to use is the same one that I have in my profile on this forum, which uploaded as expected. I also have gotten reports from many of my forum users that they also cannot upload an avatar. Not one of my several hundred forum users has a custom avatar, so I am pretty sure that no one can upload one.

Thank you for your prompt responses and for your time.

This is the first time I have seen that message. It does "obviously" look like the message is generated from Kunena; it looks like a more deeply-rooted issue in Joomla, to me. Have you tried the When all else fails, try this approach?

Thank you Sozzled. I will try the all else fails approach. I had a feeling that this was the direction I was going to have to go.