I have an account with XO. In my account, a quick search in the knowledge base for ‘php5′ shows the article “What information do I need to execute a PHP script?”

Clicking on this article shows:

•We currently support version 5.2.3, 4.4.7 and 3 of PHP. The default is php4. The only way to use 5 will be to call it with the htaccess directive. The htaccess directive will also work with 3.
•
◦For php5
CGIMapExtension /usr/local/bin/php5 php
◦For php3
CGIMapExtension /usr/local/bin/php3 php

So what’s the secret?? How do I get PHP to work?

I am not an XO customer, but I am administering a website hosted by XO. I share in your grief trying to get htaccess directives to work properly. Just trying to get PHP5 support has taken me over an hour, and I haven’t even started mod_rewrite testing yet.

Thankfully, my client has given me the liberty to switch hosts if I can’t get my CMS to work with XO. At this rate, I will be playing that card in a day or two.

I was getting the 500 error parsing message.

I saved my file as a unix file and now, the server just IGNORES my .htaccess files.

I give up. We are moving hosts.

Thanks for helping me to remain sane.

I’ve heard about the returns, the Redirect 301/RedirectPermanent, etc. But still have problems. Am I just writing the code wrong or do I really have to hire someone from XO to provide this service?

Thanks!

“Hi, I work for Pacific Imaging.
The first time I tried to call, after speaking to someone that was in the wrong department I was put on hold for over 10 mins, then because I wasn’t with the owner of the company, he couldn’t give me any help whatsoever (even though he got all my information, and that is why I got this unsolicited email that I am responding to which pisses me off even more.)
So, when I called back the next day with the owners next to me, the guy didn’t even ask me for the owner, but told me that since we were on the mid level service that he couldn’t help me with my problem. So I asked him, “ok, well shouldn’t it be pretty straigtforward to get a .php page working on my website. No help again, just go to the search center in my login blah blah. I know it can’t be that difficult, I just want some general instructions on how the hell to get php pages working. Why would that not be mid-level support? Why is it so difficult in the first place? So that people pay for the high-level support? Especially at $14.95 a month…what are they paying so much for? The only reason we don’t go with a $5 dollar service (like my own at HostGator that has live 24 hour chat support regardless of who you are, and that help you with plenty of technical support,) Is because, you take away email routing support immediately. Another dirty trick, especially when you have already paid for that month…doesn’t make sense.
Maybe you can redeem your company by trying to explain these things, and more importantly giving me some real insight on how to get php pages working? It really is just ridiculous. As of now, I would never recommend your company.”

Thought you might like that I at least let them know how horrible they are.

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I would recommend another provider ASAP. It’s not only cheaper elsewhere, but also easier to get help.