Help help help!

[rivkat]

Okay, I have this nifty CMS on my site, but I've screwed it up somehow. I can add and delete stories, but when I try to edit them I get the message "You don't have permission to access /cms/index.php on this server." Not sure how this can be true, because I still have adding/deleting access, but apparently it is. Does anyone have an idea about how a CMS-ignorant person might go about fixing the problem?

Comments

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

What CMS are you using? I don't really have enough info to help, but my initial thought would be to check the server permissions of the file(s) or folder(s) the data is stored in (cms/index.php maybe). You can change the permission of a file via FTP; it might need to be publicly writable for your CMS to work? Do you have a server expert who can help?

[cschick.livejournal.com]

This. It's probably permissions on the particular file, especially if you can do everything else.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure I know how to do this, but I may be able to find a person who knows how to do it.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Here's a tutorial that might help. (http://www.stadtaus.com/en/tutorials/chmod-ftp-file-permissions.php) Good luck!

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I followed all the steps and am still getting "You don't have permission to access /cms/index.php on this server," so I'm now more confused than ever; the tutorial mentioned permissions for .txt files and this is a .php file, but I have no idea whether that would make a difference. I am trying to contact the person who put my site together, but it was a long time ago. Why oh why did I decide I wanted pretty instead of hand-cranked?

[cschick.livejournal.com]

Permissions are permissions, no matter what the file type. All files have the same set of basic access/read/write permissions. If I was having a problem with accessing a file via the web, my first solution is to set the file to permissions 777 (read, write, execute all groups) to see if it's a permissions issue.

Did you do anything before you started getting the error? Also, does the error in the web browser have a number associated with it?

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I sure did! I stupidly decided that I would change the admin password, since the person who did set up my site has moved on and in theory no longer needed it. I have changed it back, to no avail (though I can still log in and delete things). It's a 403 Forbidden error.

[cschick.livejournal.com]

Ok, do you have two accounts (an admin account and a standard account that you use to upload/etc) or just one account (the admin account)?

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

No, just the one account that I have used to upload all my fiction. The login info for the ftp server is different, but that hasn't changed at all. (Sorry if I'm giving you irrelevancies; this is the problem with not knowing what you don't know.)

[cschick.livejournal.com]

I just popped over to your site, and it's not a straight permissions problem because everything is driven off of index.php. So index.php has the correct permissions.

Hmm. I'd check your login permissions (make sure that you still have edit enabled on your account). Do you have an admin screen somewhere?

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

When I log in, the "Administration" screen offers me the options to change username & password in Admin Settings, then Site Settings (title, email, theme), then time, cookie/cookie domain, ratings for stories, and per page settings. As far as I can remember, that's what it's always looked like.

ETA: Okay, trial and error produced this rather odd result: I actually can upload stuff, as long as it's short. Long stories produce errors. I can live with that by using chapters, I guess, but it will make editing past stories a pain.

[cschick.livejournal.com]

It sounds like your system screwed up something in the database, related to account permissions. The password change probably did it, but that's not your fault--the system should be able to handle such a thing.

If you can track down the guy who originally set it up, he's probably the best one to fix it. If you are willing to give me access to the server (this would be the login/password you use for ftp--via e-mail or we can talk via IM later) I might be able to fix it, but I probably wouldn't be able to get around to looking at it until this weekend.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I really appreciate the time and generosity you've shown! I will see if I hear from her, and if I don't I may bother you again, but I'm not likely to try to post anything for a bit so I certainly wouldn't try until the weekend.

[brownbetty]

It could be that your server is just overloaded and producing weird errors, in which case, you might find it works if you try again at a different time of day.

You might contact your hosting. It could be them and not you.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I am wondering, completely ignorantly, about the length of time a connection needs to be open to post a longer story. Maybe it is timing out somehow? The posting has always been relatively slow.

[brownbetty]

It may not be the connection, but rather an internal php setting. You'll have some kind of php timeout which is meant to prevent some accidentally huge process from eating up all the system resources. If you have access to php.ini, it will be set there, (but it wouldn't be unusual for you not to have access; it's the sort of thing sysadmin don't like users to touch.)

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

My FL knows all! Thanks.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Well, crap. I was able to log in via ftp, but I don't have the first clue what the file should look like, and it keeps changing. Are you aware of any tutorials for really foolish people that might help?