403 Forbidden Error

I can access it too.
Are you using a security plugin that may have blocked your home IP address?
Can you access your .htaccess file via FTP and see if your home IP address is being blocked in any of the rules? (if so, post the rule(s) here).

*stares* *blinks*

I don’t know what any of that means. Security plugin? FTP? .htaccess file? rules?

I’m not sure. One minute I was working happily away on wordpress, next minute I got a 403 Forbidden error.

I tried clearing my cache/cookies and changing my IP address but still get the same error. This is the exact message I get:

You don’t have permission to access /wp-login.php on this server.

Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache Server at https://www.theweeklings.com Port 80

Let’s try again in plain English ??

To explain these terms:

A security plugin is like your Norton or Kaspersky security programme which you would use for your home computer, except it is called a plugin as it is designed specifically for installation and use on WordPress. It scans for viruses and often protects the WordPress site with a firewall.

What can happen is that your IP address, which is a unique internet address for your computer, can be added to a list of IP addresses that are excluded from access. Hence the 403 forbidden message which means that you are not allowed access for some specific reason.

When this exclusion happens in WordPress, the plugins usually add your IP address to list of forbidden IP addresses that lives in a file called the .htaccess file. Think of this file as the front door to any WordPress site, and where any additional locks and alarms can be added.

FTP is another way of accessing the files your site when you can’t get in through the normal https://yoursite.come/wp-login.php route. It can help when you have a problem like this, and you would usually install and use a programme like Filezilla.

Now to the issue:
As you say you are a blogger on this site, and that there are admins, I will assume that you are an author only, and that others manage, run, and own this site. Therefore, you will not have full access to WordPress dashboard (to install and remove plugins and theme), even when you can get access through https://yoursite.come/wp-login.php .

1. Have you tried using using a different browser?
2. Are other bloggers still able to login to the site?
3. Have you tried logging in from another computer?
4. Have the admins checked that your user name is still authorised to login and write/post?
5. Could you ask the admins to “whitelist” your new IP address (this means that it is placed on a list of known safe IPs)?

haha – thanks for the mini-lesson. ??

To answer your questions:
1. I cannot access the site with any browser except TOR
2. All other bloggers and admins can access the site
3. I have not tried logging in from another computer but it’s not the log in that’s the problem on my home comp, it’s the actual site access. From my home computer I cannot even get to the login screen.
4. I can log in from TOR browser and my username/password are still valid on the site.
5. I had my ISP change my IP and I’m still unable to access the site so it would seem that whitelisting my new IP may not work, but I can try.

Is the .htaccess film something that is stored on the hard drive or is it something that can only be accessed through the site?

When I try I can access the site, https://www.yoursite/wp-login.php takes me to a 404 error: Page not found. Is https://www.yoursite/wp-login.php the address you usually use to login, or has it been changed to a different address?

If you can login without any problems through the Tor browser, which as you know anonymises your location with a different IP address, then this suggests that the IP address is the issue.

IP addresses are usually blocked through plugins or directly in the .htaccess file ( which lives on the server where the site is hosted). It is a very sensitive file, should only be modified by someone who knows what they are looking for, and is found in a place called the root level of the site. It can only be accessed by the administrator through the site (using a plugin that allows you to edit it), or through the FTP programme I mentioned earlier.

Some administrators block IP addresses by adding code directly in the htaccess file, but this doesn’t sound likely in your case.

I would suggest:

1. Asking the admins to check the website’s security and firewall plugins, to see if your new IP address is listed as being blocked.

2 Asking the admin to check for your IP address in the .htaccess file if they don’t find it in the plugins.

3. Assuming you are not using a MAC, you could try scanning your local computer for viruses, as there could be something malicious being sent with along with your browsers’ request, which might be triggering the firewall to block you. This online scanner is effective: https://www.eset.co.uk/Antivirus-Utilities/Online-Scanner

4. Asking the admins to disabling the security plugins/firewalls for a few minutes to see if that allows you access, and if so, then to check and adjust the plugin settings until you can gain access.

Also, if anyone else has any suggestions then I’d welcome them to chime in ..

There have been no additional responses on this issue but several months and a brand-new laptop later, I continue to have the problem. Here is some additional information:

I am getting a 403 error whenever I try to access the site for which I write. (www.theweeklings.com) Whenever I try to access the site via my wifi through both my Android phone and my Lenovo (windows 8.1) laptop, I get this message:

You don’t have permission to access / on this server. Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

I AM able to access the site, using my phone, through a 4G connection but I am unable to get to it via my wifi on any other device. The problem, at present, only seems to occur when I try to access https://www.theweeklingscom via my Wifi. Administrators at that site have no trouble accessing it, nor do any of the other writers.

I called my ISP to change my IP address, but that hasn’t solved the problem.

Maybe it’s not just your personal IP but a whole group of IPs that are banned, a group to which your IP belongs.

The admins calling “nope, no idea” is very unconvincing, if they don’t know they ought to be able to find the info or ask their web hosting provider, it’s on their side that there’s a problem.

The fact you can log in by 4G (thus your 4G provider being using an entirely different IP range) but not by wifi (through your “official home” IP) is particularly meaningful.

Let’s talk money : do you object to spending something like ten dollars per month to fix the issue ?
If you don’t, you can simply take a VPN subscription (in my eyes, the best compromise between cost quand quality would be Cyberghost “Snowden Edition” (from 10€ to 30€ – 15 to 45$ let’s say – for a whole year depending on what’s the best coupon code you’ll find, you can pretend to have IPs from USA and 4 European countries).
Through a VPN, you’ll have an entirely different IP, as with Tor, but the browsing will be as fast as if it were the usual through your home connection, and not slow as hell as with Tor.

I called my ISP to change my IP address, but that hasn’t solved the problem. My ISP says it is an issue with the bogen filters at the webhost. How do I get WordPress to correct this?

@tgtommyrocket
You are relying on the goodwill of the site administrators to spend the time to resolve this issue. If they are not prepared to comprehensively investigate, then there is little you can do to fix the problem from the WordPress end. I think @sabinooo has hit the nail on the head by suggesting that your range of IP addresses used by your ISP and accessed through your wifi connection may well be blocked on mass by a WordPress security plugin or the site’s server security settings.

@sabinooo
Given that @tgtommyrocket is only a contributor/editor, and the site administrators are not willing to get to the bottom of this issue, then yours is a very practical solution. The VPN you mention even offer a free version/trial, so @tgtommyrocket could trial it first.

I am having the same problem as @tgtommyrocket, save that this is on iwriter.com. We may have heard of the site, known for article writing services.

However, from the support ticket that I raised, I was only told to stop using proxies to access the iwriter site.

I am apparently confused. Some help?

Hello, I am having a similar problem, I suspect that it has something to do with the Bulletproof Security Plugin I installed I know it altered the htaccess file.

Not sure if it a problem or not. My site shows up fine. but if I do a header checker it shows up as either a 406 or a 403.

Google Webmaster Tools does not show any errors.

@greg : you’re jumping aboard an old discussion and nobody will notice. You need to start your own thread to ask a support question, these are both the forum rules and common sense ??

I am having the same issue. Its seems like a block of IPs are blocked from accessing:

There are 5 sites now that I cannot access:
1. https://delhitraditions.com/
2. https://delhitreats.com
3. https://experiencedelhi.com
4. https://techpmblog.com/
5. https://delhifinds.com/

All throwing a 403 error. Unfortunately this block of IPs includes my work and home computer IPs. The sites are accessible from TOR and from my phone over 3G.

The following sites, thankfully, are still accessible from home and work.
1. https://www.delhishoppingtour.com
2. https://www.vkelectric.com

They are all hosted by the same provider who is saying that no IPs have been blocked on any of these sites. So.. I’m really stumped and this have been happening for over 6 months. Site access over my 3G network somehow got unblocked only a week ago, which is ok but not useful since my home and office IPs are still blocked.

Can anyone give me any pointers on why this is happening? If there is an issue at my find, what can I do to fix it?

–Anubhav

@anubhav_r

This is a 9 month old topic. Although it seems like there may be similarities with your problem, you will get a much better response if you start a new topic.