Joomla: 500 - An error has occurred

I got a strange error when I tried to login to the Administration section of my Joomla(1.7) installation. After I entered my login name and password and hit the singin button, I got the following error!

"500 - An error has occurred - Return to Control Panel"

500 - An error has occurred - Joomla

However, I could access the site(front end) without any problem. That didn't help me because I can't do any configuration changes without entering the administrator section(back end).

A Google search for the error message returned thousands of results. It looked like many people had this problem. 

The Solution:

Though it took couple of hours of going through results and tweaking the folder/permission settings on my hosting server, I could solve this problem.

This is what I did to solve the mysterious "500 - An error has occurred" problem:

I logged into my hosting server. Then in my Joomla installation directory, I changed the permission of following folders to 775.

• administrator/cache
• cache
• logs
• tmp

And it started working! I could login to the Joomla Admin Page of my site! I managed to solve the problem without understanding the problem!

If you have run into same/similar problem, and/or you know a better solution feel free to share your story in comments.

Google +1 buttons on AdSense ads soon

Google is planning to introduce +1 button and personal recommendations to display ads. They plan to roll out this new feature from October 1st.

Extract from blog post +1: Now making Display ads more relevant on Inside AdSense Blog:

Starting in October, the +1 button will begin to appear on display ads on your site. With a single click, people will now be able to endorse specific ads and make them more likely to appear to their social connections.  We believe that these recommendations could lead your readers to notice ads on your site more, leading to more clicks and higher returns for you over time. 

Google hopes to deliver more relevant ads based on recommendations from your friends and connections. It will be interesting to see this in action.

BSNL Offers

Today I got an email from BSNL Bangalore about BSNL Mela to be held for 3 days starting Tomorrow. Sharing it here for the benefit of readers.

The email goes like this.. 

Dear Customer , Bangalore Telecom District is organizing Mela on 17,18,19th September 2011 at our Customer Service Centers Kindly visit nearest Customer Service Center For Promotional Offers Assuring you of our best services at all times. Best Regards, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Bangalore Telecom District

And here's the attachment from email giving the details of the offers.

*******************************************************

                  Related Links

• BSNL 3G: How To Recharge Online

Nokia 'Create For Millions' Contest

Nokia recently added regional contests and prizes to it's 'Create for Millions' contest.
According to a news post on Nokia Developer News:

Nokia’s Create For Millions contest for Series 40 developers has just added regional contests with local prizes: China, Indonesia, the Levant(Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian Territories, and Sudan), and West Africa. More regional contests are coming soon, too. Prizes for the regional contests include cash of up to 50,000 euros, as well as Nokia marketing and other promotions. read more..

The Create for Millions contest features four categories where you can bring out your best work for Nokia's latest Series 40 phones:

1. In the Know - we're seeking your Series 40 web apps focusing on news and location-based information.
2. Fun & Games - we're eager to try your Series 40 games and entertainment apps (either Java-based or web apps) that will fill those spare moments during the day with amusing, unforgettable diversions.
3. Emotional Closeness - this is your chance to submit social networking apps that are developed either as Series 40 Java apps or web apps.
4. Access to Knowledge - we want your life improvement apps (e.g., education, health, etc.), and in this category we'll accept either Series 40 Java apps or web apps, too.

The deadline to enter the Create for Millions contest has been extended to 1 November 2011

For more details on the contest, visit contest home page. Good luck!

Test post, ingnore

R5BVNC85ENY5

Jnana Fellowship 2011 Provisional Merit List

Karnataka Jnana Aayoga(http://www.jnanaayoga.in) recently announced the provisional merit list for it's Jnana Fellowship 2011 program.

According to their site, the criteria used for shortlisting the candidates are:
(weightage in bracket)

• Educational qualification (10)
• Kannada language proficiency (10)
• Work experience (15)
• Answers to descriptive questions (20) (given in the application)
• Written test-analytical 30; general personality 15 (conducted on August 21, 2011)
• Submission of original documents for verification.

You can visit their website to download the Jnana Fellowship Merit List. Or you can click here.

Related Links

• Karnataka Jnana Ayoga Announces Eligibility list for Jnana Fellowship 2011