database problem, non-funcioning categories, or permalinks

If you suspect .htaccess as a problem, then try deleting that file. Does that change the behavior?

Have you activated any plugins? If so, try de-activating them. Does that change anything?

WordPress maintains a small list of hosting providers.

for some reason i can’t log in with ssh, neither ftp or sftp. i think because of a firewall (norton) that i can’t disable. my only way of accessing the space is through internet explorer ftp. i’m not sure whether it would/does show the .htaccess file. is there a way around this, or shall i just give up and spend more money on another server?

We’re here to help. If you’re willing to work with us, we’re willing to work with you. It might take some time.

It’s entirely your choice whether to give up. If you’re feeling frustrated, it might be worthwhile to cool off for a bit. I know it’s maddening when things don’t work as we want; but it’s only a website. =)

I don’t know if Internet Explorer will show the .htaccess file, either; but you know it’s there so you can manually try to access it. Though whether MSIE will let you delete it is another matter…

i would doubt that moving to a new server would help you…you first need to figure out what is wrong. you should be able to FTP/SSH, etc from your computer. if not, i would work on getting that fixed (sorry i can’t really help as i’m on a mac), but once you can FTP properly to your webserver, skippy is right…remove your .htaccess (it must be an ascii text file to begin with as well). if that fixes that problem, then you are a lot closer to fixing the issue.

unfortunately, i don’t have my own computer right now, so i’m using the family pc that my father has completely locked down with every security measure possible and i can’t change it.

for the time being i am going to get the wireless network card working with the installation of linux i have created, and hopefully i can access my site that way.

back later!

benwoodward: if you can login to your WordPress administration area, click on Options -> Permalinks. Define a permalink structure you want (one of the recommended suggestions should be fine for now), and click Update.

If your .htaccess file is editable, the steps above should make the necessary changes.

Let us know if that works.

Ben, most hosts these days have a cpanel or other type of domain admin access area. All of these (at least the ones I’ve used) have some sort of filemanager where ftp stuff can be done without an ftp program from within the browser. Also, you can edit files from there in your browser. Actually, with the .htaccess file, that’s the only way I can access it. I use ftp but that file doesn’t show on my ftp list. Anyway, if your webhost has cpanel or one of the other types of admin, maybe that’s something that you could use since you can’t reconfigure your dad’s ‘puter.

ok. i’ve got ssh access now, it doesn’t show up any .htaccess file..

i changed the permalink options like you said, and it’s given mod_rewrite rules because apparently my .htaccess file isn’t writable…

hmm… any suggestions?

Because .htaccess is not writable, we can now rule that out as a cause of the problems you mentioned in your original post.

But, if you like, ssh into your host and create a blank. htaccess file. Grant write permission to the file, then try Options -> Permalinks again.

For completeness sake, try access your site’s main page again, and see if things behave as you want them to.

ok.. does anyone know of a good page for beginners ssh? ??
how do i make .htaccess writable with ssh? chmod?
do i use touch .htaccess to create the file…

i think part of the problem may be that i’m using a masked domain..
if i goto the hostspace: – https://benwoodward.nfshost.com/ and hover over links the status bar links to https://www.benwoodward.net/2005/07/06/test2/ for example, but this domain is just a forwarder.. could this be the problem?

ok. i changed the uri for blog adress in the options and now the permalinks give 404’s instead of going back to the homepage…

The domain may be an issue. What do you have set for the URI fields in Options->General?

quickie ssh tutorial:
ssh user@example.com
$ cd public_html/blog/
$ touch .htaccess
$ chmod 777 .htaccess

Go to Options -> Permalinks. Save your permalink settings, and let WordPress construct rewrite rules for you. Then go back to your terminal:

chmod go-w .htaccess

Done. For now, at least.

haha.. i took out the permalink structure and it now works!

it was a uri problem

but no!!! comments aren’t working… could <i>this</i> be to do with .htaccess?

comments are going in but an error page always springs up after submitting them;

Warning: gethostbyaddr(): Address is not a valid IPv4 or IPv6 address in /nfsn/content/benwoodward/htdocs/wp-includes/functions-post.php on line 472

i have found these two posts of revelance in my webhost forums, but i don’t understand!

https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/members/forums/viewtopic.php?t=598&highlight=gethostbyaddr

https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/members/forums/viewtopic.php?t=513&highlight=gethostbyaddr

can anybody make sense of what going on?