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Sessions

Seeing a session_start error, such as the ones below, or seeing issues related to a session.save_path value when working with Breakdance is an indication that there is an issue at the server level:

Example Error 1:

Warning: session_start(): open(/server/path/to/php/session/file, O_RDWR) failed: No such file or directory (2)...

Example Error 2:

Warning: session_start(): Failed to read session data...

Step 1: Disable Page & Session Cookies in Breakdance

First, to start using Breakdance, please go to Breakdance > Settings > Privacy in the WordPress Admin area and Disable Page & Session Cookies if you are not using either the Page View Count or Session Count conditions on your site. This should allow you to use Breakdance while working with your hosting provider to identify the problem.

Step 2: Contact Your Hosting Provider

To fix this issue, you will want to contact your hosting provider and let them know you are encountering a PHP issue related to session_start and that Breakdance is unable to check if a session has started due to this.

The most common causes of this problem are as follows:

  • The PHP version has been changed on the server.
  • There is a PHP mismatch on the server.
  • The session.save_path URL in the PHP configuration file is incorrect.

Step 3: Test the Site on a Different Server

If the above steps didn’t help you resolve the issue, please test your site on a different server. You can use a plugin such as the All-In-One WP Migration plugin or the Migrate Guru plugin to test your site on a different server. If you can’t access a different server, you can use the Local application to test your site locally. You can then use either of the migration plugins mentioned above or the WP Migrate Lite plugin to copy your site to Local.

Step 4: Contact Support

If the problem still occurs after testing the site on a different server or locally, our expert support staff will be glad to investigate further. Please submit a ticket via our support portal with the following details:

  • A clear description of the problem
  • Confirmation that you have already performed a plugin conflict test
  • Confirmation that you’ve contacted your hosting provider and they’ve been unable to fix a solution
  • Confirmation that you’ve tested the site on a different server or locally
  • Step-by-step instructions on how we can see the issue
  • A short video or screenshots illustrating the issue
  • Non-expiring administrative login credentials for your site (no one-time links, please)
  • A link to where we can download the export file (if you’ve used either All-In-One WP Migration or WP Migrate Lite)