multiple 400 bad request errors

Try deactivating all plugins. If that resolves the issue, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause.

If that does not resolve the issue, try switching to the Twenty Fourteen theme to rule-out a theme-specific issue (theme functions can interfere like plugins).

If that does not resolve the issue, it’s possible that a .htaccess rule could be the source of the problem. To check for this, access your server via FTP or SFTP and rename the .htaccess file. If you can’t find a .htaccess file, make sure that you have set your FTP or SFTP client to view invisible files.

Thanks for the advice James – I have already tried to resolve the issue (which has only manifested itself in the site that I have created from scratch in the Twenty Fourteen theme – the other site I have was created in Twenty Eleven) by turning off all the plugins. When I deactivated all the plugins I still had no use of the links which still returned the ‘bad request’ error.

One thing I was worried about when setting up the site was the .htaccess file which I located in the wp-database folder under the content folder for the site but I got to that result in a slightly different way to the process I had followed when setting up the site in Twenty Eleven.

Are you able to give me a little more guidance on the .htaccess issue? I am hoping that I won’t need to go back to square one or that if I do, I can work out how to strip away all the db files and can effect a ‘clean’ re-install.

Are you able to give me a little more guidance on the .htaccess issue?

Have you tried renaming the file yet as directed above? This is referring to the .htaccess file in the same directory as WordPress’s main index.php file. We need to know if that makes a difference before we proceed any further.

James hi

Thanks for your help.

I wasn’t quite sure what you meant by:

‘If that does not resolve the issue, it’s possible that a .htaccess rule could be the source of the problem. To check for this, access your server via FTP or SFTP and rename the .htaccess file. If you can’t find a .htaccess file, make sure that you have set your FTP or SFTP client to view invisible files.’

I currently have .htaccess file in public_html/domain_name/wp-content/backup-db having followed the instructions of a guide to WP design which starts from a position of using the Twenty Eleven theme for the initial set up and design – I am wondering whether this is creating a conflict with the Twenty Fourteen theme in some way? I have loaded additional (social media linkage) plugins which aren’t working either.

Hope that you, or anyone else coming across this topic can advise me – very much the ‘rookie’ blogger.

Thanks

Oh – the File Manager (FTP site?) in my cPanel has the ‘view invisible files’ option checked.

I mean the .htaccess file in your root directory, at /public_html/domain_name/.htaccess

When I checked the files before (when trying to resolve this issue) I found an ‘.htaccess’ file at that level and wondered if I had incorrectly located the .htaccess file that I had previously moved there. I moved that file to the folder I had been instructed to move it to (by my WP book) leaving no .htaccess file at the level that you mention.

I have therefore copied back the moved file and renamed it .htaccess1. This has not resolved the problem (I may just have confused the entire build I realise).

Apologies – I am somewhat in the dark – a beginner, as I say.

Any thoughts? (keep them clean please!) ; )

Ok, so there was until 6 hours ago, no .htaccess file in your root directory, at /public_html/domain_name/.htaccess?

If so, please remove the file you just moved there. .htaccess files are just text files that contain rules which govern how files operate in certainly directories, so moving or copying a file from another directory probably made things worse.

At this point, I recommend getting in touch with your hosting provider. They should have access to tools which will identify the problem more quickly than the guesswork we can do here.