Host migration: Can’t save permalink

@sadlion

Try talking to GoDaddy support – they are usually quite good at fixing such errors.

You can also search for .htaccess files that can be telling apache not to execute php files.

I think that’s it.

All of my other exports are named https://www.domain.com-xxx but this particular one is always missing the www in front of the name. Could that be the problem?

Found the problem. This drove me crazy for two days! I hope writing down the solution will help others and save people some time.

The problem was with the plugin Ad Inserter

It was writing a line of code in the .htaccess right between:

# BEGIN WordPress
<<<HERE>>>
<IfModule mod_expires.c>

THERE IS DEFINITELY A COMPATIBILITY ISSUE WITH THE All-in-One WP Migration AND THE Ad Inserter plugin.

Causing the new server not to hold the .php files. After the migration, when trying to access the website or clicking on any link on the site or dashboard the browser would just try to download the file.

It seems to be working now. Fingers crossed!

Thank you @sadlion
You can also notify the author of Ad Inserter plugin.
They will want to fix this issue.

Hello,

I am the author of Ad Inserter plugin.

I’m pretty sure this plugin has nothing to do with the problems mentioned above.
The plugin does not write to .htaccess file.

Hello Igor and thank you for taking the time to look into this.

You created an amazing plugin. Ad Inserter is awesome.

I am sorry if I mistakenly singled out your plugin but it was the only thing I could come up with.

Here is the .htaccess file. The second line is the extra one.

# BEGIN WordPress
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php70s .php
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/jpg “access plus 6 hours”
ExpiresByType image/jpeg “access plus 6 hours”

Since I did not have Ad Inserter installed on any other site and all other migrations worked fine, I assumed it was the culprit.

I am probably mistaken.

Thank you for clarifying that!

I am experiencing the exact same issue. Can you describe what you ended up doing that resolved the issue for you?

Nevermind, I figured it out. In case anyone else experiences the same issue: I discovered that the original host (BlueHost) had installed several hidden “Must-Use” plugins, probably with the 1-click WP install. When I moved the site to the client’s HostGator account, these plugins started causing the issue. I simply FTPed into the site, deleted these plugins, and the issue disappeared.

@dreadpiratebonney
Please open a separate forum post next time.
I do not follow posts that are marked as resolved.
Thank you!

@dreadpiratebonney

Yes, the problem is with Bluehost. I explained how I resolved my issue in my posts. Perhaps you missed it. Here is a quick re-cap.

PROBLEM: after moving from Bluehost to GoDaddy hosting the migration would not allow me to save permalinks since every link on the dashboard or website would cause the browser to download a PHP file.

CAUSE: Bluehost (and most likely one of the plug-ins it installed with the WordPress installation) was writing an extra line in the .htaccess file.

This line: AddHandler application/x-httpd-php70s .php

It looks something like this in the .htaccess file

# BEGIN WordPress
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php70s .php
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/jpg “access plus 6 hours”
ExpiresByType image/jpeg “access plus 6 hours”

SOLUTION: Edit the .htaccess file so it looks like this:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/jpg “access plus 6 hours”
ExpiresByType image/jpeg “access plus 6 hours”

SOLVED!

Goodbye forever Bluehost. I am so glad you’re out of my life! I can’t believe you are the #1 host recommended for WordPress! My sites were always down 3 to 4 times a week.

Yeah, I tried editing the .htaccess file but as soon as I would go to the Permalinks page it would rewrite that line that I had just edited out.

I wasn’t until I actually removed the BlueHost “must-use” plugins that the .htaccess file would stay edited.

Thanks for your follow up!

I run thru the same issue, i spend a week trying to figure it out, until i run into this thread, and yes deleting the bluehost mu-plugin fix my issue.

I am having the same issue migrating a site from Bluehost to GoDaddy, but I am still unable to save the permalinks changes after deleting the Bluehost plugins like Mojo Marketplace, etc. After reading this thread I deleted the old backup, logged into the site to be migrated, deleted the Bluehost plugins, exported a new backup, and tried to import the new backup into a new install of WordPress (not the install that had failed previously) but I still have the same issue. Am I missing a step, or can anyone suggest something else that might help? Thanks!

I had to FTP into my site to even see all of the extra BlueHost plugins. They weren’t accessible or visible from the WordPress dashboard.