Multisite on 1and1 (403 forbidden errors on wp-content theme images)

The site comes up but can’t see the main domain…

What’s in your .htaccess?

The .htaccess is standard multisite.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]

# uploaded files
RewriteRule ^files/(.+) wp-includes/ms-files.php?file=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
RewriteRule . index.php [L]

I can access the main site and I can access the new subdomain based site I created. Problem is that none of the theme styles or images show up on the subdomains. They all generate a 403 error. The index page shows up fine, just those assets missing.

This exact setup works on another hosting setup with no such problems.

Okay…

Try putting this at the very top of your .htaccess

AddHandler x-mapp-php5 .php

You may also need to try this:

Options -MultiViews

No, hasn’t had any effect.

There is a .htaccess file further up the filesystem with the php5 handler.

403 is permissions on the server, but that’s just weird… did you ask 1and1?

That’s my next step!

I’ve manually created the subdomains in 1and1 and pointed that to the same filesystem location.

Where did you create the sub-domains, in WordPress or both WordPress & your web hosting manager (example cPanel)? Because if you created them in your web hosting manager they would overwrite WordPress files. The sub-domain just needs to be *.YOURSITE.COM as a wildcard in your web hosting manager and then it should link up to WordPress using the .htaccess file which is installed in the main directory of where WordPress is located.

Your .htaccess file should look like this:

# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]

# uploaded files
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?files/(.+) wp-includes/ms-files.php?file=$2 [L]

# add a trailing slash to /wp-admin
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?wp-admin$ $1wp-admin/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
RewriteRule  ^[_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/(wp-(content|admin|includes).*) $1 [L]
RewriteRule  ^[_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/(.*\.php)$ $1 [L]
RewriteRule . index.php [L]
# END WordPress

I hope this helped you.

I don’t think you can create wildcard subdomains on 1and1 hosting.

The problem is fixed now. In the 1and1 control panel there is an option in the upload tools section to set certain directories to be world executable, that fixed the problem.

Thanks

Ben – That’s the .htaccess for subfolders ?? Subdomains is the one WPsites had above.