[Plugin: podPress] Server returned HTTP Error 403: Forbidden

Here is the working htaccess fix. This will be included in the next relase of BPS. In the meantime i have this fix listed on my plugin compatibility and testing page. I had no idea this thread was going on, but I could not have solved the issue much sooner anyway. You know how it is. 😉 Until i can figure out how to clone myself that is. LOL

# podPress rewrite ?feed=podcast as /feed/podcast/
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed/podcast/$1? [R=301,L]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=podcast [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/podcast/$1? [R=301,L]

Thanks,
Regards,
Ed

The htaccess code is not set in stone meaning you would just follow the same principle following the standard ?feed=podcast format.

Yes BPS works with Pretty Permalinks. I am using the most recommended PP links for optimum performance plus the other bennies >>> /%post_id%/%category%/%postname%/ and I have also tested with the PP links that you are using.

BPS has built-in File Editing, File Uploading and Downloading to make the whole editing and backup process faster. Since I’m a professional developer, designer and coder I kind of built the BPS plugin with myself in mind. 😉 I like having total control over an app where i can edit and change major functionality on the fly without having to dig around in code that is intertwined in multiple functions. Now most people are just regular users so they would obviously prefer everything automated and already done for them. At some point BPS will be designed to accomodate both developers and regular folks by adding the option to choose to allow manual control or just automate everything. So to answer your question directly in your case yes you would have to make the initial edits then perform a backup so that on the next BPS upgrade you would have a copy of your edits. This is a bit clunky I know. I still have not figured out what the optimum universal scenario should be to work in at least 90% of all WP cases. It is impossible to get this to 100%. I have looked at it every which way possible and well it is just not possible due to the wide variety of variations of setups and many other factors. The whole thing would be simplified from the user’s end if multiple versions of BPS was available for several different possible setups. The subfolder issue will be automated at some point – BPS will detect your subfolder and just automatically write the folder name to the required htaccess files. Like i said I started building from a developers viewpoint and needs so now i need to also add a totally automated no brainer option for regular folks. I understand that even one edit can confuse people because they don’t know BPS inside and out like i do. so total auto pilot mode will be offered soon. probably in the next release after this next one. And for people who just want the BPs filters they can just grab those and stick them in their existing htaccess file. To date BPS has been successfully hacked once out of somewhere in the neighborhood of 300,000 attempts. 😉 Thanks.

Hi Tim,
ok first off let me explain exactly what caused the problem with the podcast feed so that we are both on the same page. ?feed=podcast was being seen by the BPS filters as an external request that was forbidden instead of an internal request that would not be an issue at all. I was unable to use an htaccess skip rule to skip the filters so I created a query string match rule to “override” the filters for this particular query string. The question mark is the primary part of the string that BPS is reacting to. I didn’t dig very deep into your coding to see why this was occurring and instead just tried a simple logical fix which worked.

So i have some minor grey areas about podPress since i have not gone through all the coding and have not set up any actual feeds. I understand the Permalink and slug part of the equation completely (and really like that you have added the feature to add a custom slug – very smart ;))

The issue that is currently occurring will be a moot point in the future with BPS because i will adding coding to perform htaccess rule writing based on plugin detection. ie if podpress is detected write these rules X,Y and Z. This becomes more complex if someone installs podPress after BPS and then adds a custom feed. For now though manual editing is still going to be required for at least the next 2 version releases of BPS.

htaccess rules are processed in milliseconds (even if you have an htaccess file that is thousands of code lines long) so the amount of rules is not a factor whatsoever. Therefore it would be best to break up the podPress rules instead of trying to include them all in a single section or code segment.

This example would be nice and tidy, but obviously it would not work for many reasons. ie multiple individual feeds, etc.

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=podcast [NC, OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=enhancedpodcast [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=torrent [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=premimum [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug/$1? [R=301,L]

so…

This is the way it should be done to factor in the widest possible range of scenarios.

# podPress rewrite ?feed=podcast as feed=podcast
# If you are using a custom slug then add the slug name to the rewriterule
# RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug-name/$1? [R=301,L]
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed=podcast/$1? [R=301]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=podcast [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/podcast/$1? [R=301,L]

# podPress rewrite ?feed=enhancedpodcast as feed=enhancedpodcast
# If you are using a custom slug then add the slug name to the rewriterule
# RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug-name/$1? [R=301,L]
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed=enhancedpodcast/$1? [R=301]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=enhancedpodcast [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/enhancedpodcast/$1? [R=301,L]

# podPress rewrite ?feed=torrent as feed=torrent
# If you are using a custom slug then add the slug name to the rewriterule
# RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug-name/$1? [R=301,L]
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed=torrent/$1? [R=301]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=torrent [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/torrent/$1? [R=301,L]

I don’t think the playlist.xspf will be an issue at all, but when i get a chance i will actually set up an actual podcast and play around with it.
Thanks,
Ed

Rats there are typos in the code examples and the comment is closed for editing phooey.

correct coding examples:

# podPress rewrite ?feed=podcast as /feed/podcast
# If you are using a custom slug then add the slug name to the rewriterule
# RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug-name/$1? [R=301,L]
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed/podcast/$1? [R=301]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=podcast [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/podcast/$1? [R=301,L]

# podPress rewrite ?feed=enhancedpodcast as /feed/enhancedpodcast
# If you are using a custom slug then add the slug name to the rewriterule
# RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug-name/$1? [R=301,L]
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed/enhancedpodcast/$1? [R=301]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=enhancedpodcast [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/enhancedpodcast/$1? [R=301,L]

# podPress rewrite ?feed=torrent as /feed/torrent
# If you are using a custom slug then add the slug name to the rewriterule
# RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug-name/$1? [R=301,L]
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed/torrent/$1? [R=301]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=torrent [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/torrent/$1? [R=301,L]

# podPress rewrite ?feed=premium as /feed/premium
# If you are using a custom slug then add the slug name to the rewriterule
# RewriteRule (.*) /feed/custom-slug-name/$1? [R=301,L]
# If you have WordPress installed in a subfolder you will need to add the
# subfolder name to the RewriteRule (.*) /blog/feed/premium/$1? [R=301]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} feed=premimum [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /feed/premium/$1? [R=301,L]

Tim,
Cool. Yeah i took a minute to look at what was really going on behind and the scenes with podPress and followed the hook. 😉 Very nice coding work my friend. 🙂 I took a look at the rewriterules viewer. That could come in handy for troubleshooting permalink structure issues down the road. Might have to add it to my tool belt. 😉 Yeah this default and manual edit method is ok for now, but ideally fully automated and seamless is the way to go. Hopefully i will have all that completed in a month or so. Thanks.
Regards,
Ed