Title: 404 errors caused by plugin ‘rewrite’ rules
Last modified: April 15, 2025
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# 404 errors caused by plugin ‘rewrite’ rules
* Resolved [LandyVlad](https://wordpress.org/support/users/landyvlad/)
* (@landyvlad)
* [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-errors-caused-by-plugin-rewrite-rules/)
* I was suddenly getting 404 errors for almost all pages on the website I’m building(
homepage excluded).
* I couldn’t figure it out so I asked my host and it turned out not to be hosting
related but they identified the following:
* “The issue was because of the below code:
`#Begin Really Simple SecurityRewriteEngine onRewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !httpsRewriteCond%{
REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/
$1 [R=301,L]
* I’ve commented these out and the pages are loading”.
* Obviously I want to get the issue fixed at the source, and have the plugin working.
Leaving it commented out is not the solution,
* I’d appreciate guidance in resolving this matter.,
* The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2F404-errors-caused-by-plugin-rewrite-rules%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
to see the link]_
Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
* Plugin Support [Jarno Vos](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jarnovos/)
* (@jarnovos)
* [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-errors-caused-by-plugin-rewrite-rules/#post-18416663)
* Hey [@landyvlad](https://wordpress.org/support/users/landyvlad/),
* Is this the full `.htaccess` file of the affected website, or only the rules
from this plugin which you suspected to be related to the problem?
* Because I think the issue you are experiencing is not specifically caused by
these rules from our plugin, but rather that the default WordPress `.htaccess`
rules are no longer present in your configuration. WordPress relies on `.htaccess`
rules to handle permalinks. If these rules are missing, WordPress can’t route
requests correctly anymore; which will result in 404 errors for all pages except
the homepage.
* Usually this can be resolved easily by navigating to **Settings -> Permalinks**
in the left-hand menu in the WordPress Admin Panel, and clicking the “**Save**”
button on the page once (so, don’t make any changes to the Permalinks settings
themselves; just click the “Save” button once).
* This will write the default WordPress rules back to your .htaccess file and should
fix the issue.
* Kind regards, Jarno
* Thread Starter [LandyVlad](https://wordpress.org/support/users/landyvlad/)
* (@landyvlad)
* [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-errors-caused-by-plugin-rewrite-rules/#post-18417015)
* The below is the htaccess file in my public html directory, as it stands now.
* ```wp-block-code
#Begin Really Simple Security# # RewriteEngine on# RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !https# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/# RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]# #End Really Simple Security# BEGIN WordPress# The directives (lines) between "BEGIN WordPress" and "END WordPress" are# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.RewriteEngine OnRewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]RewriteBase /RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-fRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-dRewriteRule . /index.php [L]# END WordPressphp_value upload_max_filesize 138Mphp_value post_max_size 138Mphp_value max_execution_time 300php_value max_input_time 300# BEGIN LiteSpeed# The directives (lines) between "BEGIN LiteSpeed" and "END LiteSpeed" are# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.SetEnv noabort 1# END LiteSpeed# php -- BEGIN cPanel-generated handler, do not edit# Set the “ea-php80” package as the default “PHP” programming language. AddHandler application/x-httpd-ea-php80 .php .php8 .phtml# php -- END cPanel-generated handler, do not edit
```
* as you can see the Really Simple Security code at the top of the file is commented
out.
* Plugin Support [Jarno Vos](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jarnovos/)
* (@jarnovos)
* [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-errors-caused-by-plugin-rewrite-rules/#post-18417048)
* Hi [@landyvlad](https://wordpress.org/support/users/landyvlad/),
* What I would do is re-enable the rules from Really Simple Security by uncommenting
them, re-save the Permalinks settings as mentioned previously; and check if the
issue is resolved by doing so.
* If not, you can always revert to the ‘standard’ WordPress redirect **(301 PHP
redirect)** instead of the .htaccess redirect, since this seems to be what causes
the issue for you. Navigate to _Security -> Settings -> SSL_ and set it to 301
PHP redirect instead.
* Kind regards, Jarno
* Thread Starter [LandyVlad](https://wordpress.org/support/users/landyvlad/)
* (@landyvlad)
* [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-errors-caused-by-plugin-rewrite-rules/#post-18417169)
* > What I would do is re-enable the rules from Really Simple Security by uncommenting
> them, re-save the Permalinks settings as mentioned previously; and check if
> the issue is resolved by doing so.
* Didn’t work.
* > If not, you can always revert to the ‘standard’ WordPress redirect **(301 PHP
> redirect)** instead of the .htaccess redirect, since this seems to be what
> causes the issue for you. Navigate to _Security -> Settings -> SSL_ and set
> it to 301 PHP redirect instead.
* Did work! Thanks Jamo.
* htaccess file now looks like this
* ```wp-block-code
# BEGIN WordPress# The directives (lines) between "BEGIN WordPress" and "END WordPress" are# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.RewriteEngine OnRewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]RewriteBase /RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-fRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-dRewriteRule . /index.php [L]# END WordPressphp_value upload_max_filesize 138Mphp_value post_max_size 138Mphp_value max_execution_time 300php_value max_input_time 300# BEGIN LiteSpeed# The directives (lines) between "BEGIN LiteSpeed" and "END LiteSpeed" are# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.SetEnv noabort 1# END LiteSpeed# php -- BEGIN cPanel-generated handler, do not edit# Set the “ea-php80” package as the default “PHP” programming language. AddHandler application/x-httpd-ea-php80 .php .php8 .phtml# php -- END cPanel-generated handler, do not edit
```
Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
The topic ‘404 errors caused by plugin ‘rewrite’ rules’ is closed to new replies.
* 
* [Really Simple Security - Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/)
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* [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/really-simple-ssl/)
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* [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/really-simple-ssl/unresolved/)
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## Tags
* [IfModule](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/ifmodule/)
* [RewriteEngine](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/rewriteengine/)
* [rewriterule](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/rewriterule/)
* 4 replies
* 2 participants
* Last reply from: [LandyVlad](https://wordpress.org/support/users/landyvlad/)
* Last activity: [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-errors-caused-by-plugin-rewrite-rules/#post-18417169)
* Status: resolved