Wordpress menus and pages redirect to 404 content not found. How I fixed it.

TL;DR the PHP version was upgraded without my knowledge. I removed the upgrade reference in .htaccess (or downgraded it) to fix the problem.


 I found that all wordpress content on my site were suddenly redirecting to an empty content page (error 404). I had set all 404 to redirect to the home page so all links were redirecting to the home page.

This was alarming because I had not made any changes or updated the website. This was a cpanel hosting package.

Many searches online pointed me to the permalink options in the admin area but that did not resolve my problem. Also it was suggested the issue resided in the .htaccess file in my hosting. 

What I eventually did after the solution to the problem had eluded me for a whole day was to compare the current htaccess file with a backup htaccess file using a text comparison tool. I soon discovered my php had been upgraded to a higher version by my hosting provider without my being notified. I found this code in the HTACCESS file



# php -- BEGIN cPanel-generated handler, do not edit

# Set the “ea-php80” package as the default “PHP” programming language.

<IfModule mime_module>

AddHandler application/x-httpd-ea-php80___lsphp .php .php8 .phtml

</IfModule>

# php -- END cPanel-generated handler, do not edit


I replaced the HTACCESS file with the backup and all was well again. So basically reverting to the previous php version fixed the issue. 

I would however recommend that you consider this method a temporary solution as you would need to eventually upgrade to a newer php version eventually. At best, use this solution to buy time and then work on a staging site to ensure the site will not break when php is updated.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Mysterious Subframe Bushings: When Your Vehicle Clunks And Swerves And You've Done It All With No Resolution.

Image
Let me take you on a journey—a journey of frustration, mystery, and one miraculous discovery that had me simultaneously shaking my head and laughing out loud. It all began with my trusty (or so I thought) sedan, which started making some suspicious clunks and clanks that would make even a 1920s jalopy sound like a luxury ride.   The Symptoms That Launched a Thousand Google Searches It started innocently enough—uneven tire wear. “No big deal,” I thought, “probably just an alignment issue.” But soon after, I began noticing other strange things: the steering wheel felt like it was having its own dance party, shaking and vibrating whenever I hit the highway. As I drove, the car began pulling to one side, as if it had a magnetic attraction to ditches. All this was accompanied by a lovely soundtrack of clunks and knocking sounds, especially when I made turns or hit a bump.   Naturally, I did what anyone in my situation would do—I became an internet detective . I scoured ev...
Read more

Dusk To Dawn Photocell Wiring Guide - Automating Your Outdoor Light

Image
  Photocells: The Magic of Automatic Lights Have you ever wondered how those fancy outdoor lights turn on and off automatically? It's all thanks to a little device called a photocell, or light sensor. Photocells are clever little gadgets that can detect changes in light levels and trigger an electrical switch accordingly. So, how do you connect a photocell to a power source and a light bulb to automate your lights? Here's a quick guide: Identify the wires. Photocells typically have three wires: a live wire (often black), a load wire (often red), and a neutral wire (often white). The live wire connects to the power source, the load wire connects to the light bulb, and the neutral wire connects to both the power source and the light bulb. Connect the live wire. Connect the live wire from the power source to the live wire on the photocell. Connect the load wire. Connect the load wire from the photocell to the live wire on the light bulb. Connect the neutral wire. Connect t...
Read more

Easy Step By Step Guide to Using Google NotebookLM - A Personalized Research Assistant.

Image
About NotebookLM Google's NotebookLM is a rather interesting AI powered product. It is unique in the sense that this AI focuses on the data you have personally provided it, unlike other general AI chat products that respond based on their training data and other data they can access from the internet if they have access. NotebookLM will basically digest your content in such a way that you can ask the AI questions about what information it found in the content. At the time of this writing, the AI supports pdf documents, website links and videos from Youtube. In addition to responding to your custom and specific questions about the content you have supplied, it can generate the following: A Summary of the content A Briefing document A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document A Podcast deep-dive audio discussion between to AI hosts. (Probably the most interesting aspect of NotebookLM) What Is The Use of NotebookLM NotebookLM can be useful for evaluating and digesting any information,...
Read more