Large Video Upload Errors on the BuddyBoss Activity Feed

Uploading large video files to your BuddyBoss-powered community can enhance user engagement, but sometimes you might encounter frustrating errors during the upload process—especially with larger files (e.g., 500MB or more). In this post, we’ll walk you through the common causes of these issues and how to fix them step by step.

Why This Happens

When uploading large video files to the Activity Feed, several limitations—primarily server-side settings—can lead to errors. Common symptoms include a failed upload, a timeout, or a vague error message that doesn’t clearly explain the problem.

Let’s break down how to troubleshoot and resolve this.

Step 1: Check Your BuddyBoss Video Upload Settings

First, log in to your WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to:

BuddyBoss → Settings → Media → Video → Upload Size

Make sure the maximum upload size configured here is large enough to accommodate your video file. If you’re trying to upload a 500MB file, but the limit is set to 100MB, you’ll run into problems.

Note: Changing the limit here only sets what BuddyBoss allows—your server must also support this size.

Step 2: Verify Your Server Upload Limits

Even if BuddyBoss is configured for large uploads, your server’s PHP settings might be restricting you.

Let’s say:

• Your video file is 500MB
• Your server’s max upload size is only 100MB

In this case, you’ll need to contact your hosting provider and ask them to increase:

• upload_max_filesize
• post_max_size
• memory_limit

These values should be set high enough to accommodate your largest expected uploads. For example:

upload_max_filesize = 512M
post_max_size = 512M
memory_limit = 1024M

Step 3: Run a Test Upload

Try uploading:

• A small video file (e.g., 50MB)
• A large video file (e.g., 500MB–600MB)

If the smaller file uploads without issue but the larger one fails, it’s likely not a problem with BuddyBoss or your file format. Instead, it confirms the issue is size-related, and most likely a server setting.

Step 4: Address Server Timeout Issues

Even if upload limits are properly configured, server timeout settings can still block large uploads. When a server connection times out mid-upload, you’ll see an error or the upload will stall indefinitely.

Ask your hosting provider to adjust the following:

• max_execution_time (recommended: 300 or more)
• max_input_time (recommended: 300 or more)

These settings control how long PHP scripts are allowed to run. A low timeout setting may cut off uploads before they finish, especially over slower connections.

Dealing with large file uploads often comes down to your server environment, not BuddyBoss itself. Once the PHP configuration supports large files and generous timeout values, video uploads to your activity feed should proceed smoothly.

If you’re on shared hosting and hitting these limitations often, it may be worth considering a VPS or dedicated server that gives you more control over PHP and resource settings.

Need help confirming your server’s limits? Drop a comment below or reach out to your hosting provider with the configuration settings mentioned above.