“Not Your Usual” Changing Permalink from postname to Custom gives 404

Problem
This is not your average classic 404 after changing Permalink from postname to custom /%category%/%postname%/ so, please read on. I have been working on this now for three days straight and it’s driving my nuts. I really need to grow the site in many areas and blog posts is one of those which MUST have a custom structure.

What I see
Usually, when changing the Permalink structure from Post name to Custom Structure /%category%/%postname%/ all 19 of the posts give the classic 404.

I DO NOTICE the most recent post has a strange URL in that it’s rootcategory/subcategory/rootcategory/postname and here’s the example:

https://goexploregreece.com/all-greece/food-and-drink-all-greece/unusual-greek-food-you-must-try-when-in-greece/

This should be:
https://goexploregreece.com/all-greece/food-and-drink/unusual-greek-food-you-must-try-when-in-greece/

All the other posts (18) after this show the correct category/subcategory/postname and here’s an example:

https://goexploregreece.com/athens/things-to-do/top-things-to-see-at-the-acropolis-museum/

** I am always able to go back to Post name without any issues **
*** changing to Custom Structure /%postname%/ works without any issues ***


What have I done so far to try and fix the issue
I’ve performed multiple combinations of the following, including everything you see and then all at once.

Permalinks
Saved the current and/or new structure several times before/during/after

** I am always able to go back to Post name without any issues **

Theme
Changed current them of Astra to Hello, 2021, 2022

Plugins
Disabled individually and then all plugins except for Elementor and Elementor Pro

Posts
Exported all 19, deleted them permanently, then imported

Deleted all 19 and added new ones

.htaccess
chmod’d permissions from 0644 to 0666

Edited to give bare bones of:
# BEGIN WordPress
# The directives (lines) between “BEGIN WordPress” and “END WordPress” are
# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.
# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule .* – [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

SYSTEM INFO
Server Environment
Operating System: Linux
Software: LiteSpeed
MySQL version: MariaDB Server v10.4.28
PHP Version: 7.4.33
PHP Memory Limit: 512M
PHP Max Input Vars: 10000
PHP Max Post Size: 64M
GD Installed: Yes
ZIP Installed: Yes
Write Permissions: All right
Elementor Library: Connected

WordPress Environment
Version: 6.2
Site URL: https://goexploregreece.com
Home URL: https://goexploregreece.com
WP Multisite: No
Max Upload Size: 64 MB
Memory limit: 40M
Max Memory limit: 512M
Permalink Structure: /%postname%/ ***and when changed to custom it shows /%category%/%postname%/ ***
Language: en-GB
Timezone: 1

Active Plugins
Code Snippets – 3.3.0 By Code Snippets Pro
Custom Taxonomy Order – 3.4.4 By Marcel Pol
Elementor – 3.12.2 By Elementor.com
Elementor Pro – 3.12.3 By Elementor.com
JetBlocks For Elementor – 1.3.5 By Crocoblock
JetElements For Elementor – 2.6.9 By Crocoblock
JetEngine – 3.1.5 By Crocoblock
JetPopup – 2.0.0 By Crocoblock
JetSearch – 3.0.3 By Crocoblock
JetSmartFilters – 3.1.1 By Crocoblock
Map Block for Google Maps – 1.32 By WebFactory Ltd
Photo Gallery – 1.8.15 By Photo Gallery Team
Rank Math SEO – 1.0.114 By Rank Math
Site Kit by Google – 1.99.0 By Google
Wordfence Security – 7.9.2 By Wordfence
WPS Hide Login – 1.9.8 By WPServeur, NicolasKulka, wpformation


Elementor Experiments
Optimised DOM Output: Inactive
Improved asset loading: Inactive
Improved CSS Loading: Active
Inline Font Icons: Inactive
Accessibility improvements: Inactive
Additional Custom Breakpoints: Inactive
admin_menu_rearrangement: Inactive by default
Flexbox Container: Active
Upgrade Swiper Library: Inactive by default
Default to New Theme Builder: Active
Editor Top Bar: Inactive by default
Landing pages: Inactive
Nested Elements: Inactive by default
Lazy Load Background Images: Inactive by default
Page Transitions: Inactive
Notes: Active by default
Loop: Active
Form Submissions: Active
Scroll Snap: Active
Menu: Inactive by default

• This topic was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Steven Stern (sterndata).