Message: Error 403 – Forbidden when typing in my url?

Hi pete9071,

The 403 forbidden message usually occurs when you have incorrect file permission or you password protected a directory and enter invalid credentials when attempting to login.

Has WordPress been working for you all along, or did you just attempt to install it and get a 403?

If your host gives you access to view / edit permissions, generally files will have 644 permissions and folders will have 755 permissions.

I searched the WordPress forums for this issue, and most topics seemed to indicate a permissions issue as well, so double check and make sure your folders are set to 755.

Being curious, I’d like to test myself. Can you provide a URL to the page with the issue?

Hi ChristiNi,

Thanks for the quick response. I have only just started trying to install it, so I am pretty new to all this. I haven’t checked the permission of the files am not sure how to do this. Could you explain how to do it please? It would be a massive help. The site is https://www.making-money-online.org

Kind regards, Peter Roberts

Hi pete9071,

Thanks for responding. Depending on your host, there is usually a site management tool that will have a built-in File Manager. If not, you can also view and change your directory and file permissions using an FTP program like FileZilla.

Let me know how this works out, I hope the rest of your install goes smoothly.

Thanks, but I’ve just checked the file permissions on Filezilla and they are all set to 755 and it still doesn’t work. Could it have anything to do with me changing from Blogger to WordPress? I’m not sure if there was a simple thing that I should have done, which wasn’t in the instructions? By the way, my host is 1&1 and I couldn’t find anything about file permissions on this. I don’t know whether you would know how to check them on this site or if it really matters because on Filezilla, it says that the files are set to 755?

Thanks again, Peter Roberts

Hi pete9071,

Sounds like you checked everything out you needed to for the permissions.

Could it have anything to do with me changing from Blogger to WordPress?

It depends on what steps you took to make that change. This might vary if you had a domain pointed to a Blogger account.

1. Export your content from Blogger

2. Install a fresh copy of WordPress on your hosting account (note if you have your domain pointed to your Blogger account, make the necessary changes to use WordPress through your hosting account’s temporary url: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Moving_WordPress

3. Import your content into your new WordPress installation.

Let me know if this helps or if you have any questions.

Hi ChristiNi,

Sorry for the late reply, I have been doing quite alot of overtime recently, so haven’t really had the time to concentrate on this.

I have just exported my content from Blogger, then I installed a fresh copy of WordPress and made the domain destination as my WordPress file. I did have the domain name pointing to my Blogger account, but I changed this back to the default a while back, so I think it should be OK. The part I am struggling with is importing the content into my new WordPress installation. Do I just have to save the content into a folder, then upload it to my site?

Kind regards, Peter Roberts

Hi pete9071,

No apology needed, thanks for getting back to me, I’m happy to help.

Once you log into your WordPress dashboard, click on Tools and then Import. On the Import screen, click on Blogger and install the Blogger Importer and click on Activate Plugin & Run Importer. Then just walk through the steps to import your Blogger posts into your new WordPress installation.

If you have any issues with any broken links, you can install the Redirection Plugin to help you track down and redirect any broken links in your WordPress site.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hello again,

It still hasn’t let me get as far as getting to the WordPress dashboard. I’m not really sure what else I can do. One thing I have noticed is that it still has a Blogger logo at the top of my screen when I go onto my website. Is this a sign that I haven’t done something on my Blogger account that was essential in order to let WordPress work? Would I need to completely delete my Blogger account in order for this to work? I have already cancelled the domain name that I had for my blog and gone back to the default .blogspot domain that given to me. Let me know if you can see where the problem is.

Thanks again, Peter Roberts

Hi pete9071,

It definitely sounds like something is going on with file permissions in your files. I double checked your WHOIS and A record and your domain name point to oneandone, which I assume is your hosting company. I would recommend checking with them and see if they can check the permissions on all your files and folders (including your document root directory).

I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance with this, but I hope this gets you pointed in the right direction.

Thanks, I contacted 1&1 and it turned out that I had the domain pointing to the wrong folder. I should have had it pointing to wordpress/wordpress, but I only had it directed at the folder called wordpress. I wrongly assumed that you should use the primary folder, when in fact, you were supposed to use the sub folder. All is resolved now.

Thanks again, Peter Roberts