1 (edited by Moot 2026-04-14 17:53:56)

Topic: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I have almost 200 Juicebox galleries and based on some spot checking they've all gone blank - just a useless black blob now. Any help appreciated! See example here, at the bottom of this blog post: https://inmagicland.com/2025/09/keiths- … al-coffee/

A few things that might be relevant. Recently I changed to a new hosting provider (Hostinger). Then, last night, I added a new Juicebox gallery from a NextGen (Imagely) gallery, as always, and put the shortcode in a new draft post. However, in the preview I got an error: "Juicebox Gallery Id 195 cannot be found." (see recreation of this below).

I also tried to point that new gallery to an old NexGEN gallery to see if that would work. Then I disabled and re-enabled the Juicebox Wordpress plugin. One of those things somehow made all the galleries go blank... I can still see my galleries listed on the Juicebox plugin page as before, linked to posts as before, but they seem to be blank on the actual posts.

This other one, gallery 192, was blank yesterday, but then I added a new Juicebox gallery (gallery 195) linked to the same Nextgen gallery and then the original gallery (192) seemed to have sorted itself out and started working again. I've also inserted below it the new gallery 195 that isn't working (and is for all intents identical to gallery 192 now, after editing it), so you can see the error message. Look at the bottom of this post, there's the working gallery 192 (that went blank initially), and then gallery 195 which gives the error: https://inmagicland.com/2025/11/red-hea … w-camping/

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I can see why your gallery is blank but I do not know what caused it.

If you check out the XML configuration file for gallery #191: https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ery_id=191
... you'll see that it has no image information at all (just gallery configuration options).

The 'juicebox.js' JavaScript file is being loaded in your page OK, the gallery's embedding code is present and correct in your page and the gallery's XML configuration file is being generated OK but the images are not being picked up.

WP-Juicebox uses another XML file (where the image source is stored) to generate the actual XML configuration file that Juicebox uses to display the gallery.
You can find the corresponding XML file for gallery #191 here: https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ox/191.xml
(The fact that the file exists is the reason why the gallery listing shows up in the Manage Galleries page.)

You'll see the entries e_library="nextgen" and e_nextgenGalleryId="215", telling WP-Juicebox to create a XML configuration file containing all the images from NextGEN gallery #215.
I'm guessing that there's a problem with either:
(1) WP-Juicebox being unable (for some reason) to fetch the images from NextGEN gallery #215.
... or:
(2) NextGEN gallery #215 contains no images (for whatever reason).

WP-Juicebox seems to at least be creating and embedding all the files the gallery needs. The problem seems to be that it can't fetch or find the images from your NextGEN galleries.

Gallery #192 seems to be suffering from the same problem as gallery #191; all the required files are there but there is no image information in the XML configuration file.

I know this does not directly resolve your problem but I hope it's at least a first step in the right direction towards finding the cause (and it should hopefully let you eliminate some potential problems).

3 (edited by Moot 2026-04-14 22:27:16)

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

Thanks for that info! Just not sure what to do next... I have verified though that NextGEN gallery 215 has images in it. One additional piece of information - I was previously using a NextGEN 3.9 version. At some point I did a routine plugin update and upgraded all the plug ins which pushed NextGEN to the next major release (4.x). Then yesterday I tried to create a gallery with the new UI and found - like many others (it turns out), that it is not usable. So, I then uploaded NextGEN 3.9 in a different directory, disabled the newer version and activated the older one. I wonder if this had something to do with it...?

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

Somehow through all this meddling I did get a gallery to work again. That's gallery 192. I tried doing what I described above with another gallery that isn't working, but it failed. That's the only gallery that actually shows up, the others are all black. That tells me though that there is a way to fix this. I'm on PHP 8.2 by the way. Wondering if upgrading PHP could have caused an issue. But again, given that one gallery is working, that makes me think that it can't be a systemic issue (?).

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I, too, have read (in the plugin's WordPress Support forum) that a lot of users are experiencing issues with NextGEN 4. They seem to have deprecated a lot of features from NextGEN 3.

Having said that, I just created a test gallery in WordPress 7.0 RC2 under PHP 8.1.31 with NextGEN 4.0.5 and WP-Juicebox 1.5.1.4.
The gallery displayed OK (with the exception of the thumbnails due to this issue).
I then upgraded to PHP 8.4.1 and NextGEN 4.1.3 and the gallery remains the same.

I'm really not sure what the problem is with your own galleries but maybe you could try reverting to NextGEN 3.59.12 which at least one user claims is a solid workaround for NextGEN 4 problems (see here for details).

WP-Juicebox has not been fully tested on PHP 8.2 but I think that your problem is more likely to be connected to NextGEN than PHP.

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

Yes, I was actually already using 3.59.12, not sure why I wrote 3.9 - that was just from memory. I tried upgrading to 4.1.3, adding a new Juicebox gallery and then using it in a post and still it shows as not found.

7 (edited by Moot 2026-04-15 23:03:22)

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I tried a few different things - including deleting the NextGEN plugin and reinstalling the same 3.59.12 version, removing and adding Juicebox galleries, re-scaning the folder for new images in NextGEN, re-saving a couple of NextGEN galleries and mysteriously all the black blobs (my old galleries) are showing up now properly!

However, still when I add a new Juicebox gallery it shows up as not found... This seems to be a different problem. Here's an example of a gallery that shows up as "not found" but the xml file DOES contain the test image I added (which wasn't happening with the blank galleries before): https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ery_id=201

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I don't know why it's happening but there is no WP-Juicebox XML settings file for gallery #201: https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ox/201.xml
... which results in a completely empty gallery XML configuration file: https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ery_id=201

Unfortunately, I'm no further forward in figuring out what is going on.
All I can say with any certainty is that new galleries are displaying as expected in my own setup so the combination of WP-Juicebox 1.5.1.4 and NextGEN 4.1.3 ought to work in your own setup, too.

If I can think of anything else that might help (or anything else that you could check that might point us in the right direction), I'll be sure to post back here.

9 (edited by Moot 2026-04-17 04:44:37)

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

The second file you linked (https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ery_id=201) - the gallery XML configuration file, is not actually empty - it contains info on a gallery with one image, which is my test gallery. So that at least seems ok. However, I guess I deleted it in the meantime, which is probably why the other XML file is missing. For gallery 202, I have both files:
https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ox/202.xml
https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ery_id=202

and yet, when I use the shortcode [juicebox gallery_id="202"] I get "Juicebox Gallery Id 202 cannot be found."

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

It was blank when I checked it. I guess you must have deleted the gallery by then.

Where exactly are you seeing "Juicebox Gallery Id 202 cannot be found."? Is it in the admin section or the gallery's page? If it's the gallery's page, could you please provide a link to it so that I can see the problem for myself? I'm not sure it will help but it might.

11 (edited by Moot 2026-04-17 16:51:50)

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I was seeing it in the preview of a new post. In order for you to be able to see it, I've added that same shortcode to an existing post: https://inmagicland.com/2024/02/whistle … s-ladder/. At the end of the post you should see a working gallery (existing = old = was blank before but working now), and below it the message: "Juicebox Gallery Id 202 cannot be found."

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

Thank you.
Here's what I can deduce from this:

(1) The shortcode itself is fine, otherwise WP-Juicebox wouldn't recognize it and go looking for a gallery.

(2) The shortcode handler can extract the gallery ID fine (as it forms part of the error message).

(3) The problem seems to be with the shortcode handler creating the full path to the '202.xml' file and confirming that it is an actual file. Why this happens sporadically and not consistently across all galleries is a mystery to me at the moment (as the '202.xml' file is present and correct on your web server and the 'config.php' file finds the '202.xml' file without any problems and dynamically generates the gallery's XML data fine).

One thing I noticed in my investigations was that you seem to be using WP-Juicebox v1.5.1.1 and not the current version v1.5.1.4.
I don't know if it will resolve your problem but I'd certainly recommend upgrading.
WP-Juicebox is not in the official WordPress repository so you'll not be able to upgrade it on the 'Plugins' page.
Instead, you'll need to download it from here: https://juicebox.net/support/wp-juicebox/
... and follow the installation instructions (overwriting your existing WP-Juicebox plugin files).

I'll keep my fingers crossed that this helps.

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

Thanks for noting that! I wasn't aware that I wasn't on the updated version (since I assumed I would see that via the plugin menu). I downloaded the new version, uploaded it to the plugins folder, replaced jbcore with the folder I had before (for Pro), and activated it. That gallery didn't work (202). Then I deleted that gallery and added a new one (203) linked to the same NextGEN gallery, but... I get the same error at this page: https://inmagicland.com/2024/02/whistle … s-ladder/, meaning "Juicebox Gallery Id 203 cannot be found.". The new relevant links are:
https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ery_id=203
https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ox/203.xml

But as before, they seem fine... Regarding your point (3) - so, what could be wrong with the way the shortcut handler is processing this gallery? Perhaps it is looking in the wrong place / folder? Why would this happen? Where else could it be looking? Hmmm!

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I don't see any obvious problem with the code and I cannot replicate the problem which makes troubleshooting difficult.

The next step would be check where your setup is looking for the gallery #203 file.
This would confirm whether or not the internal path is correct.
If the path is OK, then the next step would be to figure out why the file check is failing.

Some modifications to the 'wp-juicebox.php' file will be required.

Open 'wp-juicebox.php' (from 'plugins/wp-juicebox/') and change the error message on line 375 from:

return '<div><p>Juicebox Gallery Id ' . $clean_gallery_id . ' cannot be found.</p></div>' . PHP_EOL;

... to:

return '<div><p>Juicebox Gallery path ' . $gallery_filename. ' cannot be found.</p></div>' . PHP_EOL;

This will print the full path to the gallery XML file rather than just the gallery ID in the error message.
We can then see if the path is correct.
Please let me know what the error message now says with this modification in place.

If the path looks correct, then the only other reason for the shortcode handler to fail would be if the path fails the PHP is_file() check. (There are many instances of this function throughout the source code so if your PHP installation has any problem with this function, I would expect the plugin to fail in other areas, too.)

N.B. The line number refers to WP-Juicebox v1.5.1.4.

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I think I just stumbled on the key to this puzzle... My Wordpress lives in the public_html/wordress folder, and so my plugins are in the public_html/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ folder, including the newly upgraded wp-juicebox v1.5.1.4 (which is the version I see on my dashboard under Plugins). However, recently I was surprised to find out that I also have a public_html/wp-content/plugins/ folder with some plugins in it - I don't know why... Maybe it happened in the recent (automatic) migration? There are copies of some or all of my plugins there. I might have done this mistakenly myself? I don't know. There is an older wp-juicebox there v1.5.1.1.

Either way, when I made the change you asked for (in the former, more normal directory), nothing happened initially. Then I removed the wp-juicebox plugin from the latter mysterious folder and then... all galleries disappeared and instead of the galleries and not found error I just could see the shortcode as is - i.e., the plugin stopped working completely. Then I put the folder back, and went back to the situation I had before, where the old galleries work and the new ones give a not found error. So, I believe that the shortcodes are going to the oddly placed older wp-juicebox.

Once I determined that, I upgraded the mysteriously located wp-juicebox and uploaded the Pro jbcore folder. Then I edited the file as you suggested, and get this:
Juicebox Gallery path /home/u860466953/domains/inmagicland.com/public_html/wp-content/uploads/juicebox/203.xml cannot be found. BUT, that folder doesn't go via the wordpress/ parent folder, since that plugin is in wp-content/ and not in wordpress/wp-content/ (so it makes sense for that plugin I guess). As posted before, it should be going to the file that actually exists, at:
https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-co … ox/203.xml

Then I tried deactivating wp-juicebox and uploading the new version zip with the pro jbcore by choosing "Add plugin" and uploading the zip. Now I have two v1.5.1.4 wp-juicebox plugins on my dashboard. If I activate the new one (in the more standard location), nothing works (I just see the shortcodes printed). I know it's the one in the odd location since this one doesn't have the edited code (your edit), whereas the other one does - and when I activate the "old" one, I see the not found message with the path (due to the new edit).

I also looked in my wp-content/uploads/juicebox/ folder and I see xmls going up to 192.xml. Whereas in my wordpress/wp-content/uploads/juicebox/ folder I see the new 203.xml as well. So, it seems that when I create a new Juicebox gallery, it puts the xml in the latter folder, but the plugin is looking in the former folder!

The question is, what to do now to make Juicebox work with both old and new galleries- ideally I would remove the wrongly placed one and then maybe everything would work via the correctly placed one. But as above - if I remove it, things break, since I guess something, somewhere, refers to that oddly placed plugin folder.

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I also verified that if I download 203.xml and upload it to public_html/wp-content/uploads/juicebox/ then the new gallery 203 works. So, if I could just get new juicebox galleries to route their xmls to the latter folder, I suppose I could just keep going with wp-juicebox in the non-standard location, and all galleries would work. I would have thought that with juicebox active in the non-standard location, it would create gallery xmls in that location, especially since that is where it goes looking for them...?

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

Ah, so you have two separate WordPress installations, one in your root directory and another in /wordpress/.
That would certainly explain things.

WP-Juicebox saves each gallery into the current installation's /wp-content/uploads/ folder.
WP-Juicebox fetches the path to this folder using WordPress's own wp_upload_dir() function and the ['basedir'] key. This is the recommended method of pointing towards the /wp-content/uploads/ folder in the active installation without hard-coding any paths.

It looks like both of your WordPress installations might be returning the same value for this, which would be correct for one site but incorrect for the other.
Are both of your WordPress sites using the same database by any chance? If so, they ought to be using different table prefixes. If they are both using the same table prefix, then they will be intertwined and I can see how this might be a probable cause.

The thing is, no matter where WP-Juicebox saves the file to, it should still be able to find it again as the same get_gallery_path() function is used to save and load the files.

I'm just noting everything I can think of in case it helps but I'm really not sure how to untangle this so that you can continue with one site and perhaps abandon the other.

If I can think of anything else you could try, I'll be sure to let you know.

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

I've just noticed that going to:

https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/2024/02/whistler-spankys-ladder

... redirects to:

https://inmagicland.com/2024/02/whistler-spankys-ladder/

... i.e. there's a redirect from one WordPress account (the one with /wordpress/ in the path) to the other.

If you remove the redirect (which might be in a .htaccess file or a setting in your web hosting account's control panel), this might help to disentangle your two WordPress installations.

I can't think of any other reason why one WordPress installation would save files to the uploads folder in another WordPress installation which, by all accounts, it should not even know about.

I think the root of the problem could either be that both WordPress installations are sharing the same database or that the redirect is causing problems in the admin sections of your sites.

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

Thanks - I don't know why I would have two Wordpress installations... How would I check if that's actually the case? Or is the presence of the files enough to show that that is the case? I'm wondering if it was just a migration went awry that ended up copying some files into the wrong location, which are now being picked up since that location is higher in the queue (i.e., it checks public_html/ first, then public_html/wordpress/).

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

If you think a migration might have gone awry, then maybe your web how would be best suited to help you resolve this.
If you don't remember installing WortdPress twice (in two different locations), then it's quite possibly a migration problem.

You certainly seem to have two different login URLs:

... which suggests to me that you have two different installations.

Your current redirect ensures that the site seen by the public is always the root directory site (not the /wordpress/ one).
This suggests that it's the root site that you should be using but I don't know which one you've recently been logging into.

Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of the history of your site (whether a second installation was intentional or a migration ever took place) or access to your web server.
With this in mind, I think your web host would be better placed to help you untangle things.

Here are a couple of things you could check to see if things make sense:

(1) Check /wp-config.php and /wordpress/wp-config.php to see if both installations are using the same database and/or table prefix. Look for:

define('DB_NAME', ...);
$table_prefix = 'wp_...';

(2) Check /wp-config.php and /wordpress/wp-config.php to see if the path to the content directory (the parent directory for the uploads directory where Juicebox stores its XML files) is explicitly defined. Look for:

WP_CONTENT_DIR

In a regular installation, this constant will not be present (and WordPress will just use the default value of ABSPATH . '/wp-content'). However, the path can be overridden with WP_CONTENT_DIR so it might be interesting to see if one installation has an explicit entry for WP_CONTENT_DIR.

You might be able to 'fix' your problem by setting a WP_CONTENT_DIR in the wp-config.php file in one of your installations to force a certain content directory to be used.
e.g.

define('WP_CONTENT_DIR', $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/wp-content');

... or:

define('WP_CONTENT_DIR', $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/wordpress/wp-content');

However, with your two installations seemingly intertwined, I don't know which installation you should target for this 'fix' or which path to use.
(Also, I put 'fix' in quotes as this is more of a potential workaround than a true fix as, under normal circumstances, you shouldn't need to define a WP-CONTENT_DIR and you'll still be left with two installations on your server.)

Maybe you'd get more specialized help from a WordPress forum or more knowledgeable support from your web host (as they will have access to everything and might have been involved in the installation and/or migration). These are avenues I'd certainly explore.

... higher in the queue

Incidentally, there won't be a queue. There will be one content directory specified per installation and either it will be used or saving content will simply fail. As noted above, the default path will be used unless WP_CONTENT_DIR is specified.

21

Re: My ~200 galleries just went blank

First, thanks for your in depth help on this, going above and beyond!

Second, I'll try to follow your comments.

I log in via https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-login.php but I just tried logging in via https://inmagicland.com/wp-login.php and they both lead to the same dashboard at https://inmagicland.com/wordpress/wp-admin/. The original intention was to put everything in the wordpress/ folder but with a redirect (as you noted before) for blog post URLs.

When I migrated to Hostinger they used an AI-powered migration. It initially failed - I was able to see the main page but things were broken. They told me to initiate a new migration then. My suspicion is that the botched migrated copied files from the wordpress/ directly one level higher, creating this mess. It might look like two different Wordpress installations, but I don't think it is (?).

I checked wp_config.php and: 1. the DB_NAME and table_prefix are the same, and 2. the word "content" doesn't appear in both files.

Thanks for the suggestion I might try to contact Hostinger's support to try to sort this out. I might be able to find an older backup actually and verify that way what the previous situation was. This could help figure out if it's Hostinger's responsibility, but more importantly - I might be able to just delete files judiciously to go back to that situation, if the messed-up copy is indeed what happened.