Error 406 when I try to update my sidebar

What did you do right before this started happening? Stuff like this doesn’t just happen “all of a sudden”, for no reason. Something had to have triggered it. Did you edit and upload a file? Activate a plugin? Change permissions on something?

Is your host running mod_security?

HandySolo, is there a way for me to find that out short of contacting them? They’re not real good about replying …

I just found out that another person who also has a Word Press blog on my domain began having the same problem at about the same time – with the same file (sidebar.php)

We do not have the same themes.

To answer DoodleBee, I haven’t done much with my blog since that started, however when it started, I was *always* uploading something, or making changes, or adding plugins … or what have you … however, I remember at the time that I had not just made any additions.

I’ve never had any problem troubleshooting difficult plugins … and when they don’t work, I get rid of them. I don’t remember what I was doing at the time of the first error 406, but I know that if I had just done something I was at all unfamiliar with, I would have known where the new issues were originating from. At the time, the error was completely mystifying … and I just haven’t had time to try to track it down and squash it before now.

Thanks for your time. I hope one of you has seen this before and can aim me in the right direction.

Funny – I googled the issue. Found a post in the MT forums where the same thing happened to someone else (they were updating their sidebar, and got the same error – different program – how weird!)

What worked for this lady was the following code placed into the .htaccess file:

<FilesMatch "(mt.cgi)">
 SecFilterEngine Off
</FilesMatch>

mt.cgi is the file that processes MoveableType files (I used to have an MT blog for the longest time) – so my guess would be to replace that with index.php, maybe?

Anyway, it turned out it was something with their host – messing with mod-security for some reason (someone said that something in the sidebar that she put in triggered the server a “bad code” – insecure on some level – and stopped the output).

Another page – Microsoft – says that this error is returned when the file in question has no extension.

…and another – on the Mambo forum (which uses PHP) – this verifies it’s something to do with mod_security and is a hosting issue.

Hopefully something there helps you out. Perhaps try commenting out all of the sidebar code, and commenting it back in line-by-line to see which line of code it is? But definitely contact your host.

DoodleBee – I found the same search earlier today, and had already made an .htaccess file and placed it in the directory – but it didn’t work.

The same search turned up ‘/tmp’ and ‘/etc/’ as causing errors, and needing to remove the forward slash at the beginning of the addy … one person substituted the ASCII value. My side bar is HUGE (double side bar, and it’s FULL) but I haven’t been able to find any addresses that begin with forward slash.

I think they may have been talking about files other than the files which weren’t uploading though … perhaps akin to our wp-admin files. I’m not sure.

There’s just too little information to go on. :o(

already made an .htaccess file and placed it in the directory – but it didn’t work.

which directory?

In the end, I’d contact the host. It’s something with the server settings.

You don’t need to google: there are 29 hits for that error message here in the forum ??