Title: 403 Forbidden Error
Last modified: November 1, 2020

---

# 403 Forbidden Error

 *  Resolved [jwestinghouse](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jwestinghouse/)
 * (@jwestinghouse)
 * [5 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/)
 * It seems that I have several pages returning a 403 error when trying to use this
   plugin. I’m guessing this has something to do with the REST API restricting it
   in some way, shape, or form. Now, I know when I try to call the api, I have to
   use the [https://www.domainname.com/whatever_endpoint/](https://www.domainname.com/whatever_endpoint/)
   rather than [https://domainname.com/whatever_endpoint/](https://domainname.com/whatever_endpoint/)
   or it won’t work. Could this be the issue? If so, how can I make it use the [https://www](https://www).
   rather than [https://domainname](https://domainname)?

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

 *  Plugin Author [Hector Cabrera](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hcabrera/)
 * (@hcabrera)
 * [5 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/#post-13607790)
 * Hi [@jwestinghouse](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jwestinghouse/),
 * WordPress Popular Posts doesn’t restrict access to anything on your website so
   this issue is being caused by something else (configuration issues? .htaccess
   rules that need review/tweaking? etc.)
 * I recommend using the [Health Check & Troubleshooting](https://wordpress.org/plugins/health-check/)
   plugin for some basic debugging, it might help you figure out what’s going on.
   Check out the [official documentation](https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/appendix/troubleshooting-using-the-health-check/)
   for more details.
 *  Thread Starter [jwestinghouse](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jwestinghouse/)
 * (@jwestinghouse)
 * [5 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/#post-13611447)
 * So you think I need to add something like this to my HTACCESS file?
 * RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^google.com [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)
   $ [http://www.google.com/$1](http://www.google.com/$1) [L,R=301]
 * I excluded the directory for wordpress popular posts in w3 Total Cache, could
   that be the issue?
 *  Plugin Author [Hector Cabrera](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hcabrera/)
 * (@hcabrera)
 * [5 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/#post-13611807)
 * I’d try ruling out plugin conflicts first. That’s why I suggested using the Health
   Check & Troubleshooting plugin on my previous comment. Messing around with .htaccess
   rules can cause issues if you’re not careful / don’t know what you’re doing (
   redirection issues, SEO issues, etc.)
 * If all this sounds too complicated you may want to consider reaching out to your
   regular developer (or hire one if needed) so they can look into this for you.
 *  Thread Starter [jwestinghouse](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jwestinghouse/)
 * (@jwestinghouse)
 * [5 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/#post-13612098)
 * Yeah, I’m showing no issues with the site health scan. Thank you. I’m guessin’
   I’ll have to look deeper
 *  [normalperson-c6](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cannibal6/)
 * (@cannibal6)
 * [5 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/#post-13620460)
 * [@jwestinghouse](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jwestinghouse/) – I’m just
   browsing here and don’t know the specifics, but whatever the case is here, you
   should definitely decide to use one or the other (www. or not) and stick with
   it.
 * You should also redirect to the https while you’re there, so it’s done in 1 shot
   and your server isn’t doing any more work than it needs to.
 * The code you posted will redirect like this:
    `http://example.com > http://www.
   example.com`
 * You would need to setup another redirect here to get the visitor to go:
    `http://
   www.example.com > https://www.example.com`
 * Below is the basic code that’ll get your visitors to the https quicker and more
   efficiently. And it’s not just website performance, like I said, you’ll have 
   less problems when using the same URL structure everywhere. (And that means forcing
   other people/services to use the URL you want.)
 *     ```
       RewriteEngine on
       RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com [NC]
       RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC]
       ```
   
 *  Plugin Author [Hector Cabrera](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hcabrera/)
 * (@hcabrera)
 * [5 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/#post-13650144)
 * Marking as **resolved** due to inactivity.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

The topic ‘403 Forbidden Error’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/wordpress-popular-posts/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=1232659)
 * [WP Popular Posts](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-popular-posts/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-popular-posts/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-popular-posts/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-popular-posts/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-popular-posts/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-popular-posts/reviews/)

 * 6 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Hector Cabrera](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hcabrera/)
 * Last activity: [5 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/403-forbidden-error-79/#post-13650144)
 * Status: resolved