getting 403 Error after “successful” install

  • Resolved cornisharmory

    (@cornisharmory)


    2 years, 4 months ago

    I had a working website, but it was very hokey, based strictly on .html files I wrote and FTPd to my host /public_html dir. I decided to download a WordPress theme. I downloaded a theme from ThemeForest, but I understood I’d first need to install and set up WordPress before I could deal with any of that.

    I found detailed install instructions on www.remarpro.com, but I also saw that my HostGator Dashboard had a “install WordPress” button, so I did that. I answered a bunch of questions and then said install it. It ran awhile and came back and told me it installed successfully. However, when I look at my hosting server with my FTP client, I could see no new files or directories, either in root or in /public_html.

    I am getting confused by now, but I think I also followed the www.remarpro.com instructions and downloaded a wordpress-6.1.1.zip file from www.remarpro.com. I guess I did that because I could see no changes that the “successful” install from HostGator (via softaculous) had made. I unzipped that into some 1900 files and uploaded them to the root of my host.

    So now what was at least a functional web page now just gets 403 Forbidden errors.

    I also tried deleting all of the ~1900 files, but all I get is 403 errors.

    I got an email from WordPress saying:
    Howdy! Your site at https://cornisharmory.com has been updated automatically to WordPress 6.1.1.
    No further action is needed on your part.

    So after deleting the 1900+ files I copied to the root from WordPress, I went back to my host’s admin page and to it to install again. But it refused, saying it’s already there and I’d have to de-install is first. Bu they give no clue as to how to de-install.

    So now I am totally lost. I see no new files or directories on my host’s FTP site, but somehow they/WordPress think it’s installed.

    Any suggestions abot how to clear up this mess and move on to the next step, which will be somehow adding the new “theme” to my WordPress install?

    • This topic was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Jan Dembowski.

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Thread Starter cornisharmory

    (@cornisharmory)

    Using my host’s cPanel, I can see that I have a database. Whether it got created from all this or was there all along, I have no idea. If I go to DATABASES and click on either the MySQL Databases or if I click on phpMyAdmin, it tells me I have a database named <username>_wp42 and it has 22 tables, each with a status of “OK”. Some tables have 25 rows, some have 0. The “WP” in the names tells me it probably got created with the WordPress installation. Maybe that’s all the installation was supposed to do (which would be why I saw no new files or dirs after the install) and now I still need to copy those 1900 files into root?
    According to more reading, I’m thinking perhaps “root” is actually /public_html on this server.
    And maybe do some editing of the wp-config.php file? Supposedly the install put the info I supplied during installation into a wp-config.php file, but I didn’t see any sign of in on the server, either in / or /public_html
    This is what the help file for Editing wp-config.php says:
    The WordPress setup process will create a wp-config.php file for you based on the information you provide in the installation process.
    But I see no sign that it created one.

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by cornisharmory.
    Thread Starter cornisharmory

    (@cornisharmory)

    Apparently, the WP install screwed up something on my host server. I spent 2 grueling hours on chat with HostGator support and got absolutely nowhere. We completely de-installed WP twice, and the problem is now still there. It also killed another web site I have on the same server. He made many excuses, including that my site was hacked and I’d have to pay their “cleaning” service to fix the hacked files. That’s absurd – the site was working fine just minutes before I did the WP install.
    I don’t know yet if this is true or not, but he also claimed that I could not have any of my previous .html on the site, and that I’d have to delete all my old files for WP to work. But i did that and no help. He deleted the WP install and I reinstalled my html files, but none of it works any more – all 403 errors, even with no WP and just my old html that was working before this. So I will have to call or chat with them again and hope I get someone who knows something. At this point, I don’t even care about WP – I just want my old web site to work.

    Thread Starter cornisharmory

    (@cornisharmory)

    A phone call to daytime HostGator solved the issue. It took about 40 minutes, but apparently it was some corrupted file from the first install. Now I’m getting WP on my main site, plus the subordinate other site is still running its html OK.
    I sure wish I’d left last night’s ignorant bozo an even lower rating, due to all his absurd, made-up excuses for the failure.

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