Answer To Changing default php.ini settings(on 'shared' hosts)

[silly rabbit]

Took a while because the direct answer on my host's Vb couldn't be found but I finally managed (an example) to increase my boards 'post_max_size' and 'upload_max_filesize' from the host server's shared default settings which was way too small for my purposes.

Details (not whole thing but excerpts)

When PHP runs as an Apache Module it executes as the user/group of the webserver which is usually "nobody". Under this mode, files or directories that you require your php scripts to write to need to have 777 permissions (read/write/execute at user/group/world level). This is not very secure because besides allowing the webserver to write to the file it also allows anyone else to read or write to the file.

Now, you need to check with your HOST because the point is htaccess is not very secure and MY FOLKS recently made a changeover to CGI instead:

With PHP running as CGI with suexec enabled (INSTEAD) your php scripts now execute under your user/group level. Files or directories that you require your php scripts to write to no longer need to have 777 permissions. In fact, having 777 permissions on your scripts or the directories they reside in will not run and will instead cause a 500 internal server error when attempting to execute them to protect you from someone abusing your scripts. Your scripts and directories can have a maximum of 755 permissions (read/write/execute by you, read/execute by everyone else). PHP running as CGI/suexec is much more secure than the older Apache module method.

Bottom Line Is:

Under the old Apache Module mode you were able to manipulate the PHP settings from within a .htaccess file placed in the script's directory. For example you could turn off the php setting "magic_quotes_gpc" with this line in .htaccess:

php_value magic_quotes_gpc on

With PHP running as CGI/phpsuexec manipulating the PHP settings is still possible However it can not be done with .htaccess. Using .htaccess with php_value entries within it will cause a 500 internal server error when attempting to access the scripts. This is because php is no longer running as an apache module and apache will not handle those directives any longer.

All php values should be removed from your .htaccess files to avoid the 500 internal server error. Creating a php.ini file to manipulate the php settings will solve this issue.

The Trick / Problem I Had
Is WHERE TO PUT THE OVERRIDING PHP.INI FILE FOR YOUR SELECTIONS TO TAKE EFFECT??

and the answer is WithIn Your /AdminCP/ folder On The /public_html/forum/ servers drive . . .

Does This Make Sense??

Rabbit