How to Fix CodeIgniter Error, “A PHP Error was Encountered”?

CodeIgniter often displays the message, “A PHP Error was encountered,” when there are problems with the code used in your website.

This article will explore the common causes of this CodeIgniter error and provide steps to resolve it.

Why Does CodeIgniter Display “A PHP Error was Encountered”?

Apart from errors within website’s code, this message can stem from other issues like poorly structured code or problems with your database server.

When this error occurs, you will typically see an error message formatted similarly to this:

A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning

Message: ini_set(): A session is active. You cannot change the session module's ini settings at this time
Filename: Session/Session.php

Line Number: 284

Backtrace:

File: /home/cPanelusername/public_html/domain.com/application/controllers/Site.php
Line: 8
Function: __construct

File: /home/cPanelusername/public_html/domain.com/index.php
Line: 318
Function: require_once

Here’s a breakdown of what the error message means:

• Severity: Indicates the severity of the error. It is often shown as either “Notice” or “Warning.”
• Message: Provides detailed information about the nature of the error.
• File Name: Specifies the file where the error originated.
• Line Number: Indicates the specific line of code within the file that’s causing the issue.

Steps to Fix the CodeIgniter Error, “A PHP Error was Encountered”

Here are the steps you can take to resolve the “A PHP Error was Encountered” message in CodeIgniter:

Step 1

Open the `application/config/config.php` file and replace `http` with `https` in your base URL, as shown below:

$path = “https://”.$_SERVER[‘HTTP_HOST’].str_replace(basename($_SERVER[‘SCRIPT_NAME’]),””,$_SERVER[‘SCRIPT_NAME’]);

Step 2

In the same `application/config/config.php` file, configure the `sess_save_path`. Create a `ci_sessions` directory inside your application folder (within your domain’s document root), and ensure proper ownership for this folder.

$config[‘sess_save_path’] = APPPATH . ‘ci_sessions/’;

Step 3

In your `index.php` file, find the line containing `session_start();` and comment it out:

//session_start();

Conclusion

By implementing the steps above, you should be able to resolve the CodeIgniter error: “A PHP Error was encountered”.