Sometimes when trying to run or install a PHP script you’ll see a screen with heading “Internal Server Error”. People usually rush to contact the script developer but this is the worst thing to do. Internal Server Error means server misconfiguration and the developer is unlikely to be able to help you.

Here is what to do:

1. Check file permissions. In  more than 90% of the cases the error is caused by wrong permissions on the uploaded file.

2. Check your server error log. Poorly configured servers will often output Internal server error when there is fatal PHP error for some reason. Fortunately these errors are recorded in the server error log. Even if you don’t know what the errors mean you’ll have some useful information to send to the script developer instead of asking them to guess out the reason for the Internal server error.

3. Contact your hosting support. You should contact your hosting support before contacting the software developer. They are responsible for your server setup and you are paying them every month to keep things running smooth.