Hi everyone,
I’ve been migrating a few more client sites over to ClassicPress because I really prefer the stability of the classic editor for high-volume posting. However, I’m running into a consistent “HTTP error” whenever I try to upload high-bitrate vertical video files directly to the media library.
I’ve been using a specific capcut macbook version to handle my quick edits and color grading before pushing them to the site, but even with the file size under 50MB, the upload seems to hang or time out. I’ve already increased my memory_limit and max_execution_time in php.ini, yet the issue persists intermittently.
Has anyone else noticed that certain desktop-exported MP4s with modern codecs (like H.265) cause the ClassicPress media uploader to struggle with thumbnail generation? I’m starting to wonder if I should be looking into a specialized plugin for chunked uploads or if there’s a way to disable the server-side metadata parsing that might be causing the script to crash. If anyone has a tried-and-tested workflow for managing desktop-edited social clips within the classic media library without having to resort to FTP every time, I’d love to hear how you’re handling it. I’m really trying to keep this build as “clean” and plugin-light as possible!
Which uploader are you using? ClassicPress currently has two. The media list view uses the legacy uploader we inherited from WordPress. The grid view uploader now uses Filepond. Could you try whichever one you have not tried yet and see how that goes?
Yeah, I’ve run into something very similar when dealing with vertically exported MP4s, especially anything using H.265/HEVC. ClassicPress (and even older WP-based uploaders) can struggle with those because the server-side processing (like thumbnail generation via FFmpeg or GD/Imagick) isn’t always optimized for newer codecs.
A few things that have worked for me without going plugin-heavy:
Switch export codec to H.264 whenever possible. It’s way more “upload-friendly” and reduces the chances of metadata parsing failures.
Disable intermediate image sizes temporarily using add_filter( 'intermediate_image_sizes_advanced', '__return_empty_array' ); to see if thumbnail generation is the bottleneck.
Check server FFmpeg support — sometimes it’s outdated or missing proper codec support, which causes silent failures.
If you’re sticking with HEVC, try re-wrapping the file (not re-encoding) using a tool like ffmpeg just to clean metadata.
Also, one workaround I’ve found helpful is pre-processing files before upload using lightweight online tools or guides—this helped me avoid a lot of trial-and-error. You might want to check this resource, it covers some practical fixes and workflows around media handling that could point you in the right direction.
If you’re trying to avoid FTP, another middle-ground is enabling chunked uploads via server config (some hosts support this natively), so you don’t need a full plugin.
Curious to hear what your hosting stack looks like, sometimes that’s the real culprit here.
@timkaye they seem to be using the “multiple file fallback uploader” - the one that is triggered when a normal upload of multiple files in the media library fails. (it relies on browser file uploader and just shows a dropzone with a select files button and a upload files button).
I think this error is not relevant to media library but to the upload_max_filesize. in practice they are trying to upload a huge amount of files in one go (and for that FTP would be better really). this triggers media library to fail and go on the fallback and it fails too for the upload limit.
How to fix:
However do consider that this limit is present both in WP and CP. it’s a feature and not a bug. Basically if you need to upload larger files you really do need to edit php.ini