Title: Big problem after Permalink update Last modified: August 30, 2016 --- # Big problem after Permalink update * [Astrix](https://wordpress.org/support/users/astrix/) * (@astrix) * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/) * Hello, * I’m running a website on which permalinks are set as “post name” I had an article with the permalink like : “Potatoe” * I then published another article with permalink “Apple” * After publishing, I changed the permalink of the first article from “Potatoe” to “Coconut” and the second article from “Apple” to “Potatoe”. * Now, when I click on the second article which now has the “Potatoe” permalink, it’s loading the other article who used the “Potatoe” permalink first and now has “Coconut” permalink. * So basically, when I click anywhere (on the homepage or from category) on the second article’s link, which is now : * [http://www.sitename.com/potatoe](http://www.sitename.com/potatoe) * It’s redirecting automatically to [http://www.sitename.com/coconut](http://www.sitename.com/coconut) and loading the first article… * I tried updating the permalink structure in WordPress settings with no luck… * Note that if I update the second article’s permalink from “Potatoe” to “Potatoe1” or anything different than “Potatoe”, it’s now loading the correct article… * What’s wrong ? * I tried deactivating every add on, changed my theme… no fix. * Is this a bug from the new version of WordPress ? * Thank you ! Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total) * [Adeline](https://wordpress.org/support/users/adeline/) * (@adeline) * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865554) * After changing each pages permalink, have you tried clearing your browsers cache or doing a hard refresh on your browser? * Another way to see if your permalinks have been updated is to open up another browser to see the changes. * Thread Starter [Astrix](https://wordpress.org/support/users/astrix/) * (@astrix) * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865562) * Tried with a fresh install of wordpress 4.4 with a new empty database, published new articles on an empty wordpress theme, tried changing permalinks just like previously, same result happened ! * I tried unlogging and visit the site as a visitor, cleared cache, and cookies on my browser, changed browser : no fix. * Could it be hosting server related with permalinks being cached somewhere or is it an issue inside wordpress 4.4 ? * [girlieworks](https://wordpress.org/support/users/girlieworks/) * (@girlieworks) * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865568) * It’s due to [this change](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/34659) (specifically, the removal of the `is_404() &&` bit). * Whether or not the devs _intended_ for that to be the outcome, I don’t rightfully know (but I could certainly see _why_ it would be intentional: to avoid breaking URLs, old slugs should always redirect to their “replacement” slugs). * Thread Starter [Astrix](https://wordpress.org/support/users/astrix/) * (@astrix) * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865572) * Thanks for pointing this out ! * But in the end, it gives a really weird redirecting. An article A using the exact same slug that was previously used by another article B first (before being changed) should not link to the article B when clicked on ! * Is there a way to notify any dev of wordpress about this ? I’m still not sure if it’s 100% wordpress related but I don’t see how my hosting service would cause this to happen ?! * Thank you both for helping * [girlieworks](https://wordpress.org/support/users/girlieworks/) * (@girlieworks) * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865612) * > An article A using the exact same slug that was previously used by another > article B first (before being changed) should not link to the article B when > clicked on ! * Well, that’s where there’s room for debate. 🙂 * If you believe that Article B must _always_ be found based on its original slug, then you can’t _also_ allow its original slug to be used for Article A. * > Is there a way to notify any dev of wordpress about this ? * There are instructions [here](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/reporting-bugs/) for reporting bugs (if that’s what you mean). * > I’m still not sure if it’s 100% wordpress related but I don’t see how my hosting > service would cause this to happen ?! * Based on my own testing, I’m 100% certain that it is WordPress which is responsible for this behavior, not your hosting service. * [neotechnomad](https://wordpress.org/support/users/neotechnomad/) * (@neotechnomad) * [10 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865614) * Just wondering… when you changed the name of the first article, did you change its “post slug” as well? * [mel2337](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mel2337/) * (@mel2337) * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865632) 1. WOW i am dealing with the same thing… I implemented the above fix (changed the second article’s permalink to something new and it worked) but how am I supposed to find the countless other times I’ve done this (my permalinks are all exact except for the date posted, and many times those dates have been switched around, or just typed over the old one) I’ve done this before? * Thread Starter [Astrix](https://wordpress.org/support/users/astrix/) * (@astrix) * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865730) * The issue is actually worse than I expected !! * I tried posting a article named for example : * “This is an article” * It gave me this post permalink : * [http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article](http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article) * I published it. Fine, it was online and working. * I then deleted the article permanently. * I tried creating a new article with the EXACT SAME name “this is an article” * It gave this permalink again : [http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article](http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article) * Then, guess what ? * I get an error 404 which says there is nothing found here !! * The article is noted as “published” in the article menu and the article slug is this-is-an-article I double checked, everything is right. But this wordpress version remembers the “ghost” from the old article which had the same name… * If I change the permalink manually to [http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article-1](http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article-1) or anything else than [http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article](http://www.sitename.com/this-is-an-article), then it displays the article fine… * Why that ?! * Am I the only one ? * Thread Starter [Astrix](https://wordpress.org/support/users/astrix/) * (@astrix) * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865731) * Well this permalink glitch is not so new apparently ! * [https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-am-i-getting-a-404-error-on-a-published-post?replies=6](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-am-i-getting-a-404-error-on-a-published-post?replies=6) * But I would like to know where are “ghost” permalinks stored in the database ? * Thread Starter [Astrix](https://wordpress.org/support/users/astrix/) * (@astrix) * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865735) * WELL, found a solution for this issue ! * It was actually YOAST SEO plugin which caused the issue. Well, not directly, but it was preventing permalinks from being reset ! * I had to deactivate YOAST SEO before setting permalinks back to default (like p=12) * Then, setting post name after again, and the article is now opening fine ! * [Adeline](https://wordpress.org/support/users/adeline/) * (@adeline) * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865746) * [@astrix](https://wordpress.org/support/users/astrix/) – Thanks for letting us know the outcome of this issue! Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total) The topic ‘Big problem after Permalink update’ is closed to new replies. * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 11 replies * 5 participants * Last reply from: [Adeline](https://wordpress.org/support/users/adeline/) * Last activity: [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/big-problem-after-permalink-update/#post-6865746) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics