Codeigniter displays a blank page instead of error messages

If CodeIgniter is displaying a blank page instead of error messages, it often means that errors are being suppressed. This can be frustrating during development when you need to see the error messages to debug your code. Here are some steps to troubleshoot and enable error reporting in CodeIgniter:

1. Enable Error Reporting in CodeIgniter

1. Set the Environment to Development

   Ensure that your CodeIgniter environment is set to development to show errors. Open your index.php file in the root of your CodeIgniter installation and ensure the environment is set to development:

   define('ENVIRONMENT', 'development');

2. Set Error Reporting in the CodeIgniter Configuration

   Open the application/config/config.php file and set the log_threshold to a higher value to log more information. A value of 1 will log only error messages, while higher values will log more detailed messages.

   $config['log_threshold'] = 4; // 0 = Disables logging, Error logging TURNED OFF
                                 // 1 = Error Messages (including PHP errors)
                                 // 2 = Debug Messages
                                 // 3 = Informational Messages
                                 // 4 = All Messages

2. Enable Error Reporting in PHP

Make sure that PHP is configured to display errors. You can do this by updating your php.ini file or by setting the error reporting directives in your CodeIgniter project.

1. Update PHP Configuration

   Edit your php.ini file and set the following directives:

   display_errors = On
   display_startup_errors = On
   error_reporting = E_ALL

   After making changes to php.ini, restart your web server (e.g., Apache, Nginx).

2. Set Error Reporting in CodeIgniter

   You can also enable error reporting directly in your CodeIgniter project. Add the following lines to the index.php file:

   display_errors = On
   display_startup_errors = On
   error_reporting = E_ALL
   

3. Check Server Logs

If the steps above do not reveal any errors, check your web server's error logs. The location of the logs will depend on your server configuration. Common locations are:

• Apache: /var/log/apache2/error.log
• Nginx: /var/log/nginx/error.log

4. Debugging Tips

• Check File Permissions: Ensure that your files and directories have the correct permissions.
• Check for Syntax Errors: A common cause of blank pages is syntax errors in PHP files. Double-check your code for any syntax issues.
• Autoloaders: Ensure that your autoload configuration (application/config/autoload.php) does not have any issues.
• Routes: Check your routes configuration (application/config/routes.php) for any misconfigurations.

By following these steps, you should be able to see error messages instead of a blank page, which will help you debug and fix issues in your CodeIgniter application,