Software Development:
Individual Programming

Symptom

Your PHP script shows a blank (white) page. It probably contains an error, so that it is not compiled, neither executed. But you cannot see the error in the web browser.

Cause

By default all errors will be written to the web server’s error log and will not be displayed. You could turn runtime errors on by error_reporting (E_ALL); and ini_set('display_errors', 1);, but if your script cannot be compiled as it contains syntax errors, these settings are useless. Display_errors must be turned on in the PHP ini file. However, as that is a security problem (on errors, hackers could see passwords and user names directly in the web browser), this setting is deactivated by default.

Solution

Many customers are unaware of the risks that this setting has. For that reason the setting cannot be done by yourself. Please ask our support, if you want display_errors activated in the PHP ini file. This setting is not recommended, because it is a security risk. It will only be configured on demand.

We recommend using the web server error logs instead. Your web space offers a very comfortable, even realtime access to your logs.

Overview of frequently asked questions