While most of the problems with permalinks can be dealt with by a fresh install of Wordpress there are a few things that aren’t. I have recently solved a problem that was not affected by the Wordpress re-install.
The problem is when you get a 404 error page when you click on the permalink.
The first thing to do is to look at your .htaccess file in your blog’s Wordpress root directory, there are many sites that give details about what should be in there that can solve other problems like image uploading but not many about permalinks.
If you have a .htaccess file, rename it to .backup or something different anyway so you can still put it back if breaks other aspects of your site.
Now go to the settings in your blog admin and select permalinks. Select the one you want and confirm it. Now you should have a new .htaccess file and permalinks might be working. This fixed my problem anyway. To fix my friends problem was slightly more complicated because it involved editing Apache’s httpd.conf file. This is easy if you are testing locally because it will be located in the Apache folder (in wamp or xamp or whatever you have installed). If you are editing on the server you might need to contact your hosting provider to find out where it is or even if you are allowed to access it.
Once found you need to search for ‘mod_rewrite’ and make sure there is no ‘#’ at the start of the line. I came across some very useful information on this site. It may help you too.
To start I would like to say that if someone shows you how to do something with an object that said object was not specifically designed to do, make sure they know how to put it back to the way it was.
Also we tried looking for a solution to the problem but Google came up with nothing relevant. So I thought I would contribute the solution to the world.
My dad had just such a problem with Murcielago air scoops affectionately known as bat wings. They are designed to raise out of the sleek lines of the car when you go above 50km/h to increase airflow to the engine. There is a button on the center console of the car to allow you to raise them at your whim but the engine needs to be running and so obviously the key needs to be in.
Someone told my dad how to ‘fool’ the car into keeping the bat wings up without the engine running. So without a second thought, he did it and, it worked – the engine was off and the bat wings were up. So how do you get them down? When you press the button on the center console the dash reads “FAULT”.
Here’s how to do it but more importantly how to PUT IT BACK courtesy of my father.
“Keeping bat wings up to either clean them or pose:
- start engine
- push bat wings up button
- wait for wings to fully extend
- open engine cover
- have somebody ready to switch off battery isolator
- switch of engine with key
- immediately switch off battery isolator
- wings will now stay up regardless of battery switch or ignition position and engine operation
- Bat wings fault light will indicate fault on dash if push button operated
Returning to normal operation:
- turn battery isolator off
- turn battery isolator on
- hold bat wings push button down
- turn on ignition but do not start engine
- wait for bat wings to fully retract
- start engine
- test bat wings open / close with push button
Done
Have fun! Need I say more?
Slylish
Allows you to change the CSS of any page on the web. There is a large community already that have made scripts for you to use. Simply use the ‘find scripts for this page’ feature. Great for removeing text ads from Facebook, Google etc.
ADD IT HERE
Adblock Plus
Removes LOADS of ads from the net by subscribing to a list of known ads. Also has the ‘open blockable items’ feature so you can scroll through every thing that is visible on that page and block it or right click and select ‘block this’. It even has tabs for flash and Java so you can block those ads too.
ADD IT HERE
Adblock Plus: Element Hiding Helper
Similar to that found in the Web Developer toolbar outline function, this allows you to mouse over a webpage and see the outline of the current element and then block it in Adblock Plus.
ADD IT HERE
Adblock Filterset.G Updater
Updates the filterset every 4-7 days.
ADD IT HERE
Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
Allows you to save your Firefox bookmarks to a server and synchronize them up and down. Useful if you have more than one machine or are constantly re-formatting like me.
ADD IT HERE
Web Developer
An invaluable tool for any web developer out there regardless of ability. The tool I use the most is the ‘outline current element’ tool which draws a red line around the element the mouse is over and show the deprecation in the address bar. very helpful for understanding CSS problems.
ADD IT HERE
Google Preview
Shows preiews of pages next to the search result in google. Similar to that already done when YouTube videos appear in the search results. Uses the image taken from google’s webcrawler.
ADD IT HERE
del.icio.us
An integrated system for taging pages in your del.icio.us page. Comes with a menu bar as well as two menu buttons ‘tag this’ and a direct link to your del.icio.us page. Also feature right click integration.
ADD IT HERE
Feel free to list any other plugins that you use and why.
Today I discovered a previously unknown password facility within Firefox 2 that is simply brilliant.
While discussing password security and allowing Firefox to save username and password combinations so you dont have to with a colleague the other day I became aware that if my laptop got stolen… there was a hell of a lot of stuff people could access as Firefox held the login details.
I was about to delete all passwords from the system to ensure security I chanced upon the ‘Master Password’ button in the ‘Security’ tab in the options menu. Once set I assumed it would just protect the passwords stored which, while a step in the right direction, would still allow people to click my bookmarks and bypass the login screens as Firefox retained the login details.
I was wrong, it is in fact very clever. When a master password is set Firefox does indeed protect the saved passwords from being shown in the options menu but it also provides a pop-up box requiring the master password when you click on a site that has saved login details. So for example if I click on Facebook with the master password enabled, Firefox asks me for the master password before loading the page. Once entered Firefox then pre-fills the login details for me to click ‘login’. If I get the master password wrong or click cancel, the page still loads but the login form is empty!
The form only needs to be filled in once per session then all form fields are filled from then on.
