php - Unexpected behavior when trying to manually install Wordpress on macOS Sierra

Server Configuration

• macOS Sierra 10.12.6
• Server App v5.3.1 (Websites Service is ON and serving other sites)
• mySQL v8.0.12 (Verified up and running)
• PHP v7.2.10 (Verified through phpinfo())
• Wordpress v4.9.8 (Attempting to install)

Problem

I am trying to install Wordpress on my server running Sierra and I am running into a problem upon installation that continues post installation.

When I navigate to .php to begin the installation, I get the following, plain-text install screen rather than the "standard one" highlighted in all of the install documentation I could find:

After install, I get the following non-functioning site that is essentially useless. I just don't see where the problem(s) may be. It's a relatively painless install procedure.

For what it's worth, I have other, non-wordpress sites being successfully served by the configuration above. I welcome any and all assistance/ideas on where I can turn to remedy this problem.

Server Configuration

• macOS Sierra 10.12.6
• Server App v5.3.1 (Websites Service is ON and serving other sites)
• mySQL v8.0.12 (Verified up and running)
• PHP v7.2.10 (Verified through phpinfo())
• Wordpress v4.9.8 (Attempting to install)

Problem

I am trying to install Wordpress on my server running Sierra and I am running into a problem upon installation that continues post installation.

When I navigate to https://www.my.server/wp-install/index.php to begin the installation, I get the following, plain-text install screen rather than the "standard one" highlighted in all of the install documentation I could find:

After install, I get the following non-functioning site that is essentially useless. I just don't see where the problem(s) may be. It's a relatively painless install procedure.

For what it's worth, I have other, non-wordpress sites being successfully served by the configuration above. I welcome any and all assistance/ideas on where I can turn to remedy this problem.

• php
• mysql
• server
• mac

Share Improve this question asked Oct 24, 2018 at 10:52 Mike ManzoMike Manzo 122 bronze badges 2

• Your site doesn't appear to be loading asset resources, like CSS. What does the console say? Judging by the URL (if it's real) https://www.my.server/, you're using https, but if you don't have a certificate, or it's misconfigured, the browser will probably refuse to load assets from that URL. – Jacob Peattie Commented Oct 24, 2018 at 10:58
• Slapping myself on the head for forgetting to check the console ... thank you! It turns out that you pushed me in the right direction. The CSS resources were not being served because the site was treating them as non-secure. See the "answer" for what ultimately solved the problem in my case. – Mike Manzo Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 13:02

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1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 0

Thanks to Jacob P. for pointing me in the right direction.

The fix was simple once I saw that the site was not serving CSS resources. Since my site was indeed using https (and not http), simply changing the following in wp-config.php:

• define('WP_HOME','http://www.my.server');
• define('WP_SITEURL','http://www.my.server');

To (note the https):

• define('WP_HOME','https://www.my.server');
• define('WP_SITEURL','https://www.my.server');

solved the problem for me.