taryn_

…although perhaps I’m asking too much of the RSS specification itself. In that case, nevermind – I’ll play with the templates to get closer to what I want.

Yes, MAK – I had the exact same problem you did. In fact, I could have written your post myself. I tried every method you did, and met failure at every turn. Nothing but broken permalinks unless I opted for the uglies.

By way of disclaimer, it wasn’t careful thought that led me to scrap everything and start anew – more like a congenitally explosive temperament coupled with susceptibility to regret. In this case, the ending was a happy one.

But, like you, I’m going to follow this thread to see if anyone comes up with a better idea.

Hi MAK –

Well, after spending entirely too many hours sifting through the same messages and falling into the foulest of moods during the endeavor, I can offer this clumsy advice in order to fix mysteriously broken permalinks:

RE-INSTALL WORDPRESS FROM SCRATCH, change the permalink structure once and then don’t mess with it again.

(the caps are for the benefit of those who scan these boards. I’m not yelling, really…)

I deleted everything but wp-content, including the database. Then I uploaded all the WP files anew, stuck in a completely blank .htaccess, and ran install.php.

Then I imported my old database from a backup, and THEN I switched my permalink structure, and now everything’s as it should be.

…fingers crossed.