My site is public visibility but asks for login

Hi smmarketie,

I understand your concern about the website asking users for a login despite being set to public and not password-protected. It’s great that you’ve taken proactive steps like clearing the cache and updating pages.

Considering your situation, it’s advisable to check the .htaccess file for any rules that might inadvertently be affecting access. Follow these steps to address this.

1. Review the content and remove suspicious code in .htaccess
   • Before making any changes, create a backup of your current .htaccess file to ensure you can revert to the original state if needed.
   • Open the .htaccess file and look for any lines of code that might be restricting access. Focus on sections related to authentication or custom rules that could cause the login prompt.
   • If you find any suspicious code, comment it out or remove it. Commenting is safer for reference. For example:apache # Example of commented-out line # RewriteRule ^restricted-page$ - [L]
   • Save the changes to the .htaccess file.
   • After editing the .htaccess file, clear your browser cache and any caching plugins or services you use.
   • Visit your website and check if the issue with prompting for login credentials is resolved.

If, after these steps, the problem persists or if you have any concerns, please let me know. I’m here to assist further.

Best regards,

Alexander

did you recently migrate your site from a development or staging environment?

have you contacted your webhosting vendor?

do you have any plugins that might be interfering?

Hi Lisa (@contentiskey). No I haven’t migrated the site. It’s new. I haven’t contacted the host company yet. How would I know a plugin is causing the issue?

Hi @smmarketie,

If you’re experiencing issues with your new site and suspect that a plugin might be causing the problem, here’s a quick way to identify the culprit:

1. Use the Browser Console
   • Open your website in a web browser.
   • Right-click on the page and select “Inspect” or “Inspect Element” to open the browser’s developer tools.
   • Go to the “Console” tab.
   • Look for any error messages or warnings. A misbehaving plugin might trigger error messages in the console, helping you identify the issue.
2. Deactivate Plugins
   • In your WordPress dashboard, go to the “Plugins” section.
   • Deactivate all plugins at once.
   • Check if the issue is resolved. If it is, reactivate each plugin one by one until the problem reoccurs. This way, you can identify the specific plugin causing the issue.

By using these methods, you can pinpoint if a plugin is causing the issue and take appropriate action, whether it’s reaching out to the plugin developer for support, finding an alternative plugin, or troubleshooting further.

If the problem persists or if you need more assistance, feel free to reach out.

Kind regards,

Alexander

• This reply was modified 12 months ago by Alexander.

• which plugins do you have installed?
• maybe your webhost has something set to block visitor access to a new site?
• did this issue start recently or did it happen as you were setting up the site?
• you could deactivate each plugin 1-by-1 to see if the issue gets resolved.

Hi Alexander (@alextonio22), this is what it looks like. what do I fix?

1. # SGS XMLRPC Disable Service
2. <Files xmlrpc.php>
3. order deny,allow
4. deny from all
5. </Files>
6. # SGS XMLRPC Disable Service END
7. # BEGIN WordPress
8. # The directives (lines) between “BEGIN WordPress” and “END WordPress” are
9. # dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.
10. # Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.
11. <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
12. RewriteEngine On
13. RewriteRule .* – [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
14. RewriteBase /
15. RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
16. RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
17. RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
18. RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
19. </IfModule>
20. # END WordPress
21. # SGO Unset Vary
22.   Header unset Vary
23. # SGO Unset Vary END

Alexander (@alextonio22) and lisa (@contentiskey)

I can’t check the plugins via the browsers because it is blocked from loading from the sign in pop-up.

check plugins using webhosting file manager area – not web browser.

have you been able to contact your webhosting support team?

• This reply was modified 12 months ago by lisa.

Alexander?(@alextonio22) and?lisa?(@contentiskey)

The storm clouds parted and the angels began to sing. My URL was password-protected. Removed it and bingo, it’s visible. Thank you for your guidance.

• This reply was modified 12 months ago by Stephanie.