Title: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '');' (T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING) in …
Last modified: August 31, 2016

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# Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '');' (T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING) in …

 *  [_andrew](https://wordpress.org/support/users/_andrew/)
 * (@_andrew)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t_constant_encapsed_string-in/)
 * Hello,
 * Tried to up my WP Memory Limit to 256M in _/wp-includes/default-constants.php_
   and now receiving:
 * > Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ”);’ (T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING) in /
   > home/wwwbrandcow/public_html/wp-includes/default-constants.php on line 25
 * Here is the full defaults-constants.php file:
 *     ```
       <?php
       /**
        * Defines constants and global variables that can be overridden, generally in wp-config.php.
        *
        * @package WordPress
        */
   
       /**
        * Defines initial WordPress constants
        *
        * @see wp_debug_mode()
        *
        * @since 3.0.0
        *
        * @global int $blog_id
        */
       function wp_initial_constants() {
       	global $blog_id;
   
       	// set memory limits
       	if ( !defined('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT') ) {
       		if ( is_multisite() ) {
       			define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', ‘256M');
       		} else {
       			define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', ‘256M');
       		}
       	}
   
       	if ( ! defined( 'WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT' ) ) {
       		define( 'WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );
       	}
   
       	if ( ! isset($blog_id) )
       		$blog_id = 1;
   
       	// set memory limits.
       	if ( function_exists( 'memory_get_usage' ) ) {
       		$current_limit = @ini_get( 'memory_limit' );
       		$current_limit_int = intval( $current_limit );
       		if ( false !== strpos( $current_limit, 'G' ) )
       			$current_limit_int *= 1024;
       		$wp_limit_int = intval( WP_MEMORY_LIMIT );
       		if ( false !== strpos( WP_MEMORY_LIMIT, 'G' ) )
       			$wp_limit_int *= 1024;
   
       		if ( -1 != $current_limit && ( -1 == WP_MEMORY_LIMIT || $current_limit_int < $wp_limit_int ) )
       			@ini_set( 'memory_limit', WP_MEMORY_LIMIT );
       	}
   
       	if ( !defined('WP_CONTENT_DIR') )
       		define( 'WP_CONTENT_DIR', ABSPATH . 'wp-content' ); // no trailing slash, full paths only - WP_CONTENT_URL is defined further down
   
       	// Add define('WP_DEBUG', true); to wp-config.php to enable display of notices during development.
       	if ( !defined('WP_DEBUG') )
       		define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );
   
       	// Add define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', null); to wp-config.php use the globally configured setting for
       	// display_errors and not force errors to be displayed. Use false to force display_errors off.
       	if ( !defined('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY') )
       		define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', true );
   
       	// Add define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true); to enable error logging to wp-content/debug.log.
       	if ( !defined('WP_DEBUG_LOG') )
       		define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', false);
   
       	if ( !defined('WP_CACHE') )
       		define('WP_CACHE', false);
   
       	// Add define('SCRIPT_DEBUG', true); to wp-config.php to enable loading of non-minified,
       	// non-concatenated scripts and stylesheets.
       	if ( ! defined( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG' ) ) {
       		if ( ! empty( $GLOBALS['wp_version'] ) ) {
       			$develop_src = false !== strpos( $GLOBALS['wp_version'], '-src' );
       		} else {
       			$develop_src = false;
       		}
   
       		define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', $develop_src );
       	}
   
       	/**
       	 * Private
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('MEDIA_TRASH') )
       		define('MEDIA_TRASH', false);
   
       	if ( !defined('SHORTINIT') )
       		define('SHORTINIT', false);
   
       	// Constants for features added to WP that should short-circuit their plugin implementations
       	define( 'WP_FEATURE_BETTER_PASSWORDS', true );
   
       	/**#@+
       	 * Constants for expressing human-readable intervals
       	 * in their respective number of seconds.
       	 *
       	 * Please note that these values are approximate and are provided for convenience.
       	 * For example, MONTH_IN_SECONDS wrongly assumes every month has 30 days and
       	 * YEAR_IN_SECONDS does not take leap years into account.
       	 *
       	 * If you need more accuracy please consider using the DateTime class (http://php.net/manual/class.datetime.php).
       	 *
       	 * @since 3.5.0
       	 * @since 4.4.0 Introduced <code>MONTH_IN_SECONDS</code>.
       	 */
       	define( 'MINUTE_IN_SECONDS', 60 );
       	define( 'HOUR_IN_SECONDS',   60 * MINUTE_IN_SECONDS );
       	define( 'DAY_IN_SECONDS',    24 * HOUR_IN_SECONDS   );
       	define( 'WEEK_IN_SECONDS',    7 * DAY_IN_SECONDS    );
       	define( 'MONTH_IN_SECONDS',  30 * DAY_IN_SECONDS    );
       	define( 'YEAR_IN_SECONDS',  365 * DAY_IN_SECONDS    );
       	/**#@-*/
   
       	/**#@+
       	 * Constants for expressing human-readable data sizes in their respective number of bytes.
       	 *
       	 * @since 4.4.0
       	 */
       	define( 'KB_IN_BYTES', 1024 );
       	define( 'MB_IN_BYTES', 1024 * KB_IN_BYTES );
       	define( 'GB_IN_BYTES', 1024 * MB_IN_BYTES );
       	define( 'TB_IN_BYTES', 1024 * GB_IN_BYTES );
       	/**#@-*/
       }
   
       /**
        * Defines plugin directory WordPress constants
        *
        * Defines must-use plugin directory constants, which may be overridden in the sunrise.php drop-in
        *
        * @since 3.0.0
        */
       function wp_plugin_directory_constants() {
       	if ( !defined('WP_CONTENT_URL') )
       		define( 'WP_CONTENT_URL', get_option('siteurl') . '/wp-content'); // full url - WP_CONTENT_DIR is defined further up
   
       	/**
       	 * Allows for the plugins directory to be moved from the default location.
       	 *
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('WP_PLUGIN_DIR') )
       		define( 'WP_PLUGIN_DIR', WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/plugins' ); // full path, no trailing slash
   
       	/**
       	 * Allows for the plugins directory to be moved from the default location.
       	 *
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('WP_PLUGIN_URL') )
       		define( 'WP_PLUGIN_URL', WP_CONTENT_URL . '/plugins' ); // full url, no trailing slash
   
       	/**
       	 * Allows for the plugins directory to be moved from the default location.
       	 *
       	 * @since 2.1.0
       	 * @deprecated
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('PLUGINDIR') )
       		define( 'PLUGINDIR', 'wp-content/plugins' ); // Relative to ABSPATH. For back compat.
   
       	/**
       	 * Allows for the mu-plugins directory to be moved from the default location.
       	 *
       	 * @since 2.8.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('WPMU_PLUGIN_DIR') )
       		define( 'WPMU_PLUGIN_DIR', WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/mu-plugins' ); // full path, no trailing slash
   
       	/**
       	 * Allows for the mu-plugins directory to be moved from the default location.
       	 *
       	 * @since 2.8.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('WPMU_PLUGIN_URL') )
       		define( 'WPMU_PLUGIN_URL', WP_CONTENT_URL . '/mu-plugins' ); // full url, no trailing slash
   
       	/**
       	 * Allows for the mu-plugins directory to be moved from the default location.
       	 *
       	 * @since 2.8.0
       	 * @deprecated
       	 */
       	if ( !defined( 'MUPLUGINDIR' ) )
       		define( 'MUPLUGINDIR', 'wp-content/mu-plugins' ); // Relative to ABSPATH. For back compat.
       }
   
       /**
        * Defines cookie related WordPress constants
        *
        * Defines constants after multisite is loaded.
        * @since 3.0.0
        */
       function wp_cookie_constants() {
       	/**
       	 * Used to guarantee unique hash cookies
       	 *
       	 * @since 1.5.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined( 'COOKIEHASH' ) ) {
       		$siteurl = get_site_option( 'siteurl' );
       		if ( $siteurl )
       			define( 'COOKIEHASH', md5( $siteurl ) );
       		else
       			define( 'COOKIEHASH', '' );
       	}
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.0.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('USER_COOKIE') )
       		define('USER_COOKIE', 'wordpressuser_' . COOKIEHASH);
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.0.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('PASS_COOKIE') )
       		define('PASS_COOKIE', 'wordpresspass_' . COOKIEHASH);
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.5.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('AUTH_COOKIE') )
       		define('AUTH_COOKIE', 'wordpress_' . COOKIEHASH);
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('SECURE_AUTH_COOKIE') )
       		define('SECURE_AUTH_COOKIE', 'wordpress_sec_' . COOKIEHASH);
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('LOGGED_IN_COOKIE') )
       		define('LOGGED_IN_COOKIE', 'wordpress_logged_in_' . COOKIEHASH);
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.3.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('TEST_COOKIE') )
       		define('TEST_COOKIE', 'wordpress_test_cookie');
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 1.2.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('COOKIEPATH') )
       		define('COOKIEPATH', preg_replace('|https?://[^/]+|i', '', get_option('home') . '/' ) );
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 1.5.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('SITECOOKIEPATH') )
       		define('SITECOOKIEPATH', preg_replace('|https?://[^/]+|i', '', get_option('siteurl') . '/' ) );
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH') )
       		define( 'ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH', SITECOOKIEPATH . 'wp-admin' );
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('PLUGINS_COOKIE_PATH') )
       		define( 'PLUGINS_COOKIE_PATH', preg_replace('|https?://[^/]+|i', '', WP_PLUGIN_URL)  );
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.0.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('COOKIE_DOMAIN') )
       		define('COOKIE_DOMAIN', false);
       }
   
       /**
        * Defines cookie related WordPress constants
        *
        * @since 3.0.0
        */
       function wp_ssl_constants() {
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined( 'FORCE_SSL_ADMIN' ) ) {
       		if ( 'https' === parse_url( get_option( 'siteurl' ), PHP_URL_SCHEME ) ) {
       			define( 'FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true );
       		} else {
       			define( 'FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', false );
       		}
       	}
       	force_ssl_admin( FORCE_SSL_ADMIN );
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.6.0
       	 * @deprecated 4.0.0
       	 */
       	if ( defined( 'FORCE_SSL_LOGIN' ) && FORCE_SSL_LOGIN ) {
       		force_ssl_admin( true );
       	}
       }
   
       /**
        * Defines functionality related WordPress constants
        *
        * @since 3.0.0
        */
       function wp_functionality_constants() {
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.5.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined( 'AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL' ) )
       		define( 'AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL', 60 );
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 2.9.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined( 'EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS' ) )
       		define( 'EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS', 30 );
   
       	if ( !defined('WP_POST_REVISIONS') )
       		define('WP_POST_REVISIONS', true);
   
       	/**
       	 * @since 3.3.0
       	 */
       	if ( !defined( 'WP_CRON_LOCK_TIMEOUT' ) )
       		define('WP_CRON_LOCK_TIMEOUT', 60);  // In seconds
       }
   
       /**
        * Defines templating related WordPress constants
        *
        * @since 3.0.0
        */
       function wp_templating_constants() {
       	/**
       	 * Filesystem path to the current active template directory
       	 * @since 1.5.0
       	 */
       	define('TEMPLATEPATH', get_template_directory());
   
       	/**
       	 * Filesystem path to the current active template stylesheet directory
       	 * @since 2.1.0
       	 */
       	define('STYLESHEETPATH', get_stylesheet_directory());
   
       	/**
       	 * Slug of the default theme for this install.
       	 * Used as the default theme when installing new sites.
       	 * It will be used as the fallback if the current theme doesn't exist.
       	 *
       	 * @since 3.0.0
       	 * @see WP_Theme::get_core_default_theme()
       	 */
       	if ( !defined('WP_DEFAULT_THEME') )
       		define( 'WP_DEFAULT_THEME', 'twentysixteen' );
   
       }
       ```
   
 * Thanks for any help!
 * _andrew

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [Hardeep Asrani](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hardeepasrani/)
 * (@hardeepasrani)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t_constant_encapsed_string-in/#post-7012365)
 * Hi,
 * Please restore that file with the original WordPress core file, and use this 
   tutorial to change the memory limit instead: [https://docs.woothemes.com/document/increasing-the-wordpress-memory-limit/](https://docs.woothemes.com/document/increasing-the-wordpress-memory-limit/)
 * Let me know. 🙂
 * Regards,
    Hardeep
 *  [CrouchingBruin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/crouchingbruin/)
 * (@crouchingbruin)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t_constant_encapsed_string-in/#post-7012418)
 * You are using the wrong character for the single quote in these lines:
 *     ```
       if ( is_multisite() ) {
       	define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', ‘256M');
       } else {
       	define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', ‘256M');
       }
       ```
   
 * The character before 256M should be the apostrophe character, the same character
   as after the 256M. Are you using the WordPress code editor (**Appearance → Editor**)?
   Make sure you are not using some sort of word processor to change your code, 
   but instead, use a text editor. Or maybe you’re using some sort of special keyboard?
 *  [Hardeep Asrani](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hardeepasrani/)
 * (@hardeepasrani)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t_constant_encapsed_string-in/#post-7012513)
 * Just a note: it’s not safe to edit core WordPress files. So please don’t edit
   anything in /wp-includes/ or /wp-admin/ folder. Please use the wp-config.php 
   fix instead. 🙂

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '');' (T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING)
in …’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [20q2016](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/20q2016/)

 * 3 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Hardeep Asrani](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hardeepasrani/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t_constant_encapsed_string-in/#post-7012513)
 * Status: not resolved

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