Hey dsaunderswa,

I ran into the same problem you are having. Check out the following link. You can edit the timthumb.php file to display errors by adding this line to the beginning of the file:
ini_set('display_errors', 1);

Next, right click on the broken jpeg and copy the URL for it.

Paste it into your browser and hit go.

By allowing the errors to be shown, you can now see the exact problem as to why it's not loading.

http://www.elegantthemes.com/troubleshooting-timthumb.html

Cheers!

Chris,
A Systems Administrator from my host just contacted me to let me know that after looking at the source code they created the cache folder in the path: public_html/wp-content/themes/wpchurch/cache.

I've looked at the new folder and it is there, right above the images folder.

The slider feature still does not work.

So, I deleted the two photos that I'd uploaded previously (in case they were corrupted) and re-uploaded them. Refreshed my browsers and they're still showing up in the slider.

However, since I have two freshly uploaded jpeg-files, I looked to see where WordPress was putting them. I located the files in a folder called "uploads." This folder is outside of the themes/wpchurch path. I was in fact surprised that these images were not uploaded and placed in the images folder. I thought that was normally where uploaded images are uploaded to?

I've also looked at the source code for the main page and see that the src reference points to a timthumb.php file. Looking at that php-file, line 238 says to "give 666 permissions so that the developer can overwrite the web-server user."

I wondering what I'm missing . . . this is frustrating me because I love that slider feature. It also appears that my hosting service is trying to help me make it work.

Any other suggestions, Chris?

The cache folder should be in the same directory as the theme template files, so whatever the path to your theme is...

Chris, I'm working with HostGator right now. I provided them with your instructions re: the tinyurl.com/ydykayk you gave me (above).

Their question to me now is:
Can you confirm what the path to the cache file should be?

Thank you for whatever you can provide me.

Deborah

OK. Thanks. I do NOT see a Cache folder. I've got a Ticket request in with the hosting service to see what's up. And, once I figure this out I'll come back and let you and others know what fixed it.

I'm not sure what you need to do regarding your nameservers, etc. I'm not really a server guy. All I know is that it's not seeing the image you're trying to use.

The forum post I setup (http://tinyurl.com/ydykayk) is really all the info I have as to why your hosting/server isn't working, so if you continue to have trouble, you really need to resolve it with your hosting provider as it isn't a theme-related issue. Hope you understand.

Regarding the cache folder, it should be in the template files. If you don't see it, that means your host isn't allowing the script to run.

Chris, in the first post, I meant to say that I CAN'T find the Cache subfolder (I mis-typed "can"). Can you tell me how to find it?

OK Chris. Let me make sure I'm clear -- to make sure I'm explaining & that I understand what you're saying. I'm new to WP and your theme has been a joy to work with in my initiation.

The URL (above) is live in that I'm making changes in real time directly on the server; however, we still have the current site with a different hosting service. So we don't want to change the NameServers to the new host until we get everything working on this new one.

So, do I understand that this built-in (?) code or script will not work until we switch the NameServers?

Thanks,
Deborah

file not found /~unityedg/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/mtRainier072010.jpg

This is the problem. You need to load the site on a live domain.

First, we love this beautiful theme. Now to get help with making the Featured Images work.

I've read ALL of the helpful hints back & forth to other users. I've watched the video (it looks so very easy).

I've called my hosting service and they checked to make sure the permissions for the cache folder was set to 777 (& it was). I can find the cache folder myself though. Where is it?

Lastly, my original photo file sizes are < 5 mb (host support said that should be fine but what do you think?).

The hosting support wondered if this function might not work since currently we're using the IP address rather than the domain name . . . until we get this completely built we don't want to move from the old site.

http://174.122.150.8/~unityedg/

Thanks for any help you can give.

Deborah