[SOLVED] Wordpress 403/404 Errors: You don't have permission to access /wp-admin/themes.php on this server

Wordpress 403/404 Errors: You don't have permission to access /wp-admin/themes.php on this server

Some background:

I set up six blogs this week, all using WordPress 2.92, installed with Fantastico on a baby Croc plan with HostGator.

I used the same theme (heatmap 2.5.4) and plugins for each blog.

They were all up and running, with no issues at all.

I went to create a new blog this morning, using the same setup, and when I try to change the theme settings, I got the following error:

Forbidden
    
You don't have permission to access /wp-admin/themes.php on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Apache/2.2.15 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.15 OpenSSL/0.9.8n DAV/2 mod_fcgid/2.3.5 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at http://www.example.com Port 80

I tried uninstalling WP and doing a clean install, but I still had the same issue with a clean installation.

So I went back and checked the six other blogs that I had set up over the last week or so, and they are also now giving me 403 or 404 errors when trying to change theme settings, and every time there's an error it points to either themes.php or functions.php

At this point, I'm at my wit's end trying to figure out what the problem is. Hostgator support looked at it and thought maybe it was a permissions issue but they reset those and I'm still having the problem.

At first, I thought the problem might have been related to a plugin I recently installed on the previous six blogs that morning (ByREV Fix Missed Schedule Plugin) to deal with a missed schedule bug with WP 2.92, and that maybe that had mucked things up. But then I checked a blog I built months ago, which also uses the same theme and plugins, and now it is also encountering the same problem.

Any ideas? I tried deleting my htaccess, uploading a blank one, and uploading one with this snippet I found on the hostgator forum:

    # BEGIN WordPress
    <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
    </IfModule>
    
    # END WordPress

Nothing has worked. I still get 403 or 404 errors every time. Everything was working perfectly yesterday so I know this setup DOES WORK, I've just mucked something up somewhere and I'm clueless about what it is.

I read a related thread here and tried chmoding the wp-content folder to 0755 and still having the issue.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Solution

The first error you're getting - permissions - is the most indicative. Bump wp-content and wp-admin to 777 and try it, and if it works, then change them both back to 755 and see if it still works. What are you using to change folder permissions? An FTP client?