HTTP 404 with Post name permalink

Question

Okay so I've just create the first page on this site. It works when I use the default permalink settings.

If I change the permalink settings to use Post name, then I get an HTTP 404.

I'm not sure what's gone wrong or if I've broken anything. Can anyone help me fix?

The site is hosted on apache.

Answer 1

Are you using XAMPP or MAMP? There are a couple of common hiccups with those environments, taken from the WordPress Codex: Fixing Permalink Problems

Users of XAMPP (Windows): Some versions of XAMPP do not enable mod_rewrite by default (though it is compiled in Apache). To enable it — and thus enable WordPress to write the .htaccess file needed to create pretty permalinks — you must open apache/conf/httpd.conf and uncomment the line LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so (i.e., delete the hash/pound sign at the front of the line).

Users of WAMP (Windows): Some versions of WAMP (all versions?) do not enable mod_rewrite or permit following SymLinks by default. To enable the required functionality navigate to the apache/conf/httpd.conf file, open with a text editor and uncomment the line LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so (i.e., delete the hash/pound sign at the front of the line). Then further down in the same file there is a section that starts with the line "Options FollowSymlinks". Change the second line in that section from "AllowOverride none" to AllowOverride all. Save edited httpd.conf and restart all WAMP modules. Your permalinks should now work.

You might also see Permalinks without mod_rewrite if your sandbox doesn't have mod_rewrite available.

Apache

If you are using Apache there are usually two other culprits to broken permalinks: .htaccess isn't being generated (because of permissions settings) or Apache's AllowOverride directive isn't enabled.

First, if you SSH into your server, do you see a generated .htaccess file in the root? If not, WordPress might not have permissions to write that file. It's also possible the file does exist, but that WordPress cannot edit it. In either case, you can chmod that file (and create it if it doesn't exist) to 666.

Next, ensure your Apache config has the following settings:

  <Directory />
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
 </Directory>

Finally, read through the Fixing Permalink Problems section of the WordPress Codex. There are several other tips and suggestions on why permalinks might not work.