Title: “Forbidden” errors in admin area
Last modified: August 18, 2016

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# “Forbidden” errors in admin area

 *  Resolved [mikeleeuk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeleeuk/)
 * (@mikeleeuk)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/)
 * I am currently testing a site with a WordPress blog, and continually uninstalling
   and reinstalling WordPress in order to do so.
 * Recently I downloaded and installed WordPress as normal but I am getting “Forbidden”
   errors in various parts of the admin area.
 * Missing content on the dashboard doesn’t bother me, but I am unable to add custom
   fields which I really need to do for my new site.
 * Can anybody think of any fixes to try? If not, would there be any security reasons
   not to downgrade to 2.1.3?
 * I’d really rather fix the problem, but I suppose downgrading is always an option…
 * Thanks. 🙂

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-568960)
 * Downgrading is, usually, the worst option.
    If there were changes to the database
   structure in the newer version, and you don’t have a DB backup… it’s almost impossible.
   However, I don’t see what is “downgrading” in the case of a non-existent blog?
 * When you get forbidden: did you check the file permissions?
 *  Thread Starter [mikeleeuk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeleeuk/)
 * (@mikeleeuk)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-568984)
 * It’s not “non-existent”, I’m just not opening the site yet.
 * And, as I said, I have been reinstalling WordPress – so I clear the database 
   every time anyway.
 * How do I check file permissions?
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-568986)
 * Hmmm… Making a new install – wipes out whatever was there = non-existent.
 * [http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions](http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions)
 *  Thread Starter [mikeleeuk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeleeuk/)
 * (@mikeleeuk)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-568989)
 * Fair enough, I mean “installing an older version” and not downgrading, then…
 * Anyway, I changed the permissions on index.php to 666, and wp-content (and its
   subfolders) to 777, and now I get an “Internal Server Error” and can’t view my
   blog at all.
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-568993)
 * Normally, files should be 644 and folder 755.
 *  Thread Starter [mikeleeuk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeleeuk/)
 * (@mikeleeuk)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-568996)
 * Okay, I’ve changed the permissions again and the internal server error has gone.
 * The forbidden errors are still showing up, though.
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-568998)
 * Is that “forbidden’ as in 403 error or WP’s own error saying you cannot do that
   operation?
 *  Thread Starter [mikeleeuk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeleeuk/)
 * (@mikeleeuk)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-569001)
 * 403, I assume, although it doesn’t say that.
 * The three errors on the dashboard say “You don’t have permission to access /2007/
   news/wp-admin/index-extra.php on this server. Additionally, a 404 Not Found error
   was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.”
 * I also came across one referring to admin-ajax.php when I tried to add custom
   fields to a post.
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-569003)
 * You could have saved a lot of tinkering (time and bandwith) – IF you provided
   from the beginning the exact error:
    [http://wordpress.org/support/topic/117944?replies=23](http://wordpress.org/support/topic/117944?replies=23)
 *  Thread Starter [mikeleeuk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeleeuk/)
 * (@mikeleeuk)
 * [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-569013)
 * Sorry about that, I’ve added an .htaccess file and it works fine now.
 * Thanks for your help. 🙂

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

The topic ‘“Forbidden” errors in admin area’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [admin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/admin/)
 * [area](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/area/)
 * [control](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/control/)
 * [errors](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/errors/)
 * [forbidden](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/forbidden/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 10 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [mikeleeuk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeleeuk/)
 * Last activity: [19 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/forbidden-errors-in-admin-area/#post-569013)
 * Status: resolved

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