Public pages gone; database intact

I’m panicking. In an effort to fix a plugin issue (with Ravatars plugin not displaying pictures), I screwed up my .htaccess file and didn’t have a backup. My site disappeared from public view. I backed up my database (I have a bunch of backups from this month), and after trying everything I could think of, I completely uninstalled WordPress and reinstalled it from scratch, then restored my database. My site still shows my “Server go boom” error page. I have no idea what I’ve done or how to fix it.

I can access the admin panel just fine. All of my post and page content is intact, but nothing is displaying at any link that isn’t part of admin. I’m at wits end and despairing because I know it can be hard to get an answer here. Please, if you don’t want to type an answer, consider giving some pointers for search terms that will help me find the right answers. There are so many unanswered posts in this forum that it’s very difficult to find a workable solution for issues requiring ingenuity or serious tech expertise.

Thanks very much for reading.