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You should update your .htaccess now.

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If your directory permissions start off a little too tight, Wordpress might start off with an empty .htaccess file. The first symptom I noticed was 404 results on archives and comments. After much random browsing, I blundered across this solution:

  • Visit the Permalink options page (Options > Permalinks)
  • Hit the Update Permalink Structure button
  • Observe “You should update your .htaccess now” message at the top of the page
  • Express great frustration that you’re not being told with what you should update .htaccess now
  • Scroll down to the bottom of the page
  • Thwack self on forehead

I might still try out Justin Blanton’s Smart Archives plugin, but at least now I’ve got the archives — and comments — working.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 13th, 2006 at 10:44 am and is filed under Wordpress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

14 Responses to “You should update your .htaccess now.”

  1. Bobbie Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 2:38 am

    I love you. Something as so simple! I need to open my eyes.

  2. Alex Says:
    June 15th, 2007 at 11:00 pm

    Ahahah
    Many thanks man!

  3. Joshua McLaughlin Says:
    August 6th, 2007 at 10:26 pm

    Quote: Thwack self on forehead.

    DONE!

  4. Bill Stagg Says:
    November 5th, 2007 at 1:57 pm

    Thanks for the tip. This is really an interface problem. WP should have either placed an anchor link or indicated that a message was below ;)

  5. Aaron Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 4:28 am

    pwnt! I did the same thing :P

  6. Zone at ZoneDate.com Says:
    November 25th, 2007 at 11:44 am

    I had been racking my brain for almost an hour trying to figure this out until I did a Google search for that entire phrase, in quotes, and your blog entry obviously comes up.
    THANK YOU for posting that information! That message should direct you to scroll to the bottom of the page, because when you see “You should update your .htaccess now”, the first thing I thought was “$#%@! Update it? WITH WHAT?! %$#%$#@!!”

  7. marc cramer Says:
    November 29th, 2007 at 11:50 am

    consider me thwacked………

    thanks garth (and see you in la ;))

  8. Qrystal Says:
    December 3rd, 2007 at 1:20 am

    Steps 1-3… check.

    Step 4… Grrr… why isn’t this easier? Grrr…. (and after finally typing the exact message into search engine, and encountering this post)… oh, good, so being frustrated was part of the instructions.

    Step 5… Scroll down? Huh? OH!!!

    Step 6… Ow.

  9. Doh Says:
    January 18th, 2008 at 9:19 am

    Doh!

    Thanks a lot. They should have put that up the top! Might have stood a chance there instead of losing the 10 minutes it took to find your lovely site.

    Good luck!

  10. terrie Says:
    April 28th, 2008 at 12:15 am

    Thank you so much — I was baffled until I found your post. <thwack>

  11. Web 2.0 Blog Says:
    May 24th, 2008 at 12:47 am

    Thanks for clearing that up. You’d think an established company like Wordpress wouldn’t have such obvious usability problems.

  12. Matt Says:
    May 28th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    So very glad I’m not the only one.

    Thanks for pointing this out :)

  13. Jorah Says:
    June 23rd, 2008 at 7:34 am

    Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  14. micgui Says:
    June 25th, 2008 at 11:25 pm

    Thanks so much. I thought I would lose my mind thinking how to do it ehehe… You are so great…

    Cheers! XD

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