“About” isn’t and never will be a directory. It’s a permalink to a page generated dynamically by php, drawing on data in the database. Edit the “About” page in the WordPress editor: Administration Panels « WordPress Codex
And leave the permissions alone, or you’ll be vulnerable to hacking.
Thread Starter
yebaws
(@yebaws)
Sorry, don’t get this…. when my browser follows a link to http://www.mywebsite.com/about/ it goes to that folder and looks for a default file there. The folder isn’t there (I can see that this is the case when I ftp the site) and there is no file there, so 404 error – no other possible outcome. The only way that that link could call another file would be if there was a .htaccess file in the base directory that told it to do do. There isn’t. What now?
when my browser follows a link to http://www.mywebsite.com/about/ it goes to that folder and looks for a default file there.
That’s only on static htm/html sites.
so 404 error – no other possible outcome
I think you need to stop thinking of WP as serving up static files and get your head around the fact that it serves up dynamic pages generated on-the-fly. Until (and unless) you set up custom permalinks, you don’t need an .htaccess file. WP carries out all of the basic redirection.
What’s happening is you need to reset permalinks in WordPress and regenerate the .htaccess file that rewrites URLs so the “About” page doesn’t 404. See Using Permalinks « WordPress Codex.
That doesn’t mean you’re going to suddenly find an “About’ folder. WordPress works on dynamic html, generated by php, in conjunction with a database.
Thread Starter
yebaws
(@yebaws)
um, I think maybe my problem is that I don’t have mod_rewrite on my server. Assuming that I can’t get it installed, what’s the easiest workaround?
Think I do need an .htaccess file though for permalinks – if I call http://www.mywebsite.com/about/ in my browser and nothing is in that dir, then there’s nothing to do any redirection for me…
um, I think maybe my problem is that I don’t have mod_rewrite on my server. Assuming that I can’t get it installed, what’s the easiest workaround?
Think I do need an .htaccess file though for permalinks – if I call http://www.mywebsite.com/about/ in my browser and nothing is in that dir, then there’s nothing to do any redirection for me…
before we can answer that question, you need to indicate what sort of hosting set up you have
windows or not?
.htaccess files arent used on IIS hosts, for example. neither is mod_rewrite
Post your URL; I can check server reponse headers from here, if you don’t know if you’re on Windows or Linux.
I’m thinking Linux, due to earlier talk on permissions. I can’t think of a linux server that wouldn’t have mod rewrite.
Thread Starter
yebaws
(@yebaws)
Linux. I’ve asked my ISP about the mod and await a reply. I now recall that I’ve had a similar problem with perma links on another site on the server. Here’s the URL (substitute xx’s):
hxxp://www.permabusiness.com/
Still waiting for my client to set up an admin login for me so that I can actually get into it (he has changed the login that I set it up with)
Thread Starter
yebaws
(@yebaws)
seems mod-rewrite is installed. I think the problem is the missing .htaccess file. Not sure why wordpress didn’t create this?
Thread Starter
yebaws
(@yebaws)
fixed now – I just had to upload an empty .htaccess file.
Thanks for your help.
