Contact person: Business Client

Phone:Show

Email:Show

Location: Cranbourne, Australia

Budget: Recommended by industry experts

Time to start: As soon as possible

Project description:
"Hi everyone,

About me: Thanks for stopping by, I’m Jamie and my business is about a fast paced virtual pet site that incorporates a world of endless fun for its customer base. Its main features are pet adoption, a shop system where there are main shops and user shops, battle system where users can fight each other, admin system where things can be added removed or changed, simple easy to use web based games, chat (eg forums) and clubs where users can chat in a more private setting, there is also a login, logout system, item system, pet system and creature system and user and pet profile pages. The site uses a points based currency system where users can buy things for their pets, earn various awards and prizes and explore fantasy worlds.

The problem: My site is throwing an HTTP 500 error the moment the home page loads. Alongside that outright failure, several features that rely on older PHP 5-7 syntax have quietly stopped working and I occasionally see server-connection hiccups in the logs. In short, I’m dealing with error messages, broken functionality, legacy code and the odd connectivity issue—all wrapped inside a LAMP stack that hasn’t been tended to in a while. (Im not sure if that’s correct!!!) I’m updating the code using some tools I have available but it’s been a slow process and I understand how demanding it can be to get things done right.

What I need is a clean, well-documented rescue: identify the root cause of the 500 on page load, update or replace any deprecated PHP calls, make sure MySQL queries still execute efficiently, and confirm that the affected JavaScript pieces tie in correctly once the backend is healthy again. Apache logs, php-error logs and full database access are ready for you, and I can supply cPanel or SSH credentials as soon as we start.

Acceptance criteria
• Every public page renders without an HTTP 500.
• Functions that failed before (forms, user actions, dynamic content) operate normally.
• Any modified files are delivered with brief inline comments and a short summary outlining changes, so future maintenance is straightforward.
• Apply the latest programming and security features where appropriate such as using PDO, preventing SQL injections where likely and scripting attacks, hash passwords, etc.
• No new warnings or notices appear in the error log after fixes are applied.

The right candidate should be someone who has experience and knowledge in how to execute PHP 8+, MYSQL, JS, Git, Rector, PHPStan, Programming and the use of PDO, Object Oriented Programming and CMS. The right candidate should be friendly and focused to work on the project while using your skills to build something big for a larger community.

The project will pay handsomely but if you’re looking for more than $200 you should look elsewhere and not apply. If you’re a student or freelancer with some free time, want to work on a project, get paid for it, show off your resume and career skills, have the required skills and knowledge to handle the jobs and tasks involved then please feel free to apply. The deadline can be flexible on fixing everything but I would like to have all the issues fixed within 14-20 days.

There are between 100-300 pages of pre written HTML/PHP/MYSQL code that will require your attention to make functional. I think some of the errors are around Variables, Constants and old code. I’ve been going through some of it using AI tools such as Composer, rector and PHPstan.

If you’re comfortable diving into legacy PHP, untangling MySQL bottlenecks and double-checking front-end calls, this should be a focused yet rewarding debugging sprint.

Everyone is welcome to apply! Please send your resume and/or samples of your work or send me a little information about why you want to work on this project and what you can offer!

See you later!? ✌️ Jamie" (client-provided description)