Website access problems with Firefox

[Frog]

I have a very simple basic website (Joomla)
Monday, I had a client tell me that she received a "Forbidden" message when trying to reach it.
Her son suggested switching from Firefox to Chrome, and all was fine.

I contacted  my host, Webmasters, and the tech there said that he thought that he found some offending code, and yes, Firefox now worked, but, I lost access to the Catalog, as well as any access to the site itself by other browsers. Obviously a worse situation than before.

Since I didn't change any code, and I don't assume that it was sabotaged by my old host, is this likely just a Firefox update issue?

[royster13]

What version of Joomla......If it was an older one, some of the code went to crap...All my sites died over the weekend....Although yours does sound like a different problem....

[starchild]

If she were able to access in one browser but not the other then she needed to clear her old cache and cookies from the offending browser.. Now that your webmaster probably moved files around-made updates, you have to do the same.. clear your browser cache and cookies

[Frog]

Well, now, I have access to the site on all browsers, but, not to either of my other pages after the main home page. (Catalog and Contact us)
 The tech removed a bunch of code from the htaccess file, which apparently put the kibosh on everything but the home page. (He did email me a copy of it)

Back when this first went up, I added the catalog (San Mar) is a roundabout way of linking to the previous free generic San Mar giveaway website's catalog.
The Contact page, I remember filling in myself, so when I get a minute, I have to go in and see if I can access where I did that, and see if it's still there (and the code removal is the problem now)

The next step will be to add the catalog properly, which I still may need some help with.

[starchild]

If he messed with the htaccess file then he messed with the permissions to the files that you cannot access..

[Frog]

If he messed with the htaccess file then he messed with the permissions to the files that you cannot access..

So, as long as that code is missing, I can't do anything in Joomla to restore the articles, or sections or whatever they are called?

btw, he did say that he can put the code back (or I can but I wouldn't want to risk my interference)
He included the removed code in an email to me, just in case.

Is this .htacess file a product of the Joomla stuff or is it the host's stuff?

[starchild]

The htaccess file among other things sets permissions.. Joomla is a framework built on top of php. So even if the server have theirown  htaccess file, the community that created Joomla could have also included their own that the server would use instead of their own. If I were you I would have pulled down the current file on the server and replace with the original as to troubleshoot because the original was working fine. The original problem was in the browser not the server. But of course after doing that clear cache and history..

[Frog]

The htaccess file among other things sets permissions.. Joomla is a framework built on top of php. So even if the server have theirown  htaccess file, the community that created Joomla could have also included their own that the server would use instead of their own. If I were you I would have pulled down the current file on the server and replace with the original as to troubleshoot because the original was working fine. The original problem was in the browser not the server. But of course after doing that clear cache and history..

Starting to sound like the grown-up's wah-wah talk in Peanuts cartoons. Over my head.
I am having them try to restore the stuff they removed (which he did say is mostly security and spam stuff) to see if that brings back the missing stuff, even if only temporarily.
Webmasters are pretty helpful, but warned me that regular service techs are not too code savvy, and that is offered as a paid service.

[starchild]

I have a feeling it would be back to normal.. (web master- sanmar?? what's a sanmar?? sounds like spam to me).. When you get everything back up and running you should copy the complete working directory and save it to your hard-drive. What you should really have is a local machine running on your computer, like wamp server and have your working website running on it and then deploy a copy to the live server.. If anything goes wrong then you've got a working copy on your computer that you can just switch out and keep it moving. Right now you are fixing the car's engine while it's going 55mph..

[Frog]

I have a feeling it would be back to normal.. (web master- sanmar?? what's a sanmar?? sounds like spam to me).. When you get everything back up and running you should copy the complete working directory and save it to your hard-drive. What you should really have is a local machine running on your computer, like wamp server and have your working website running on it and then deploy a copy to the live server.. If anything goes wrong then you've got a working copy on your computer that you can just switch out and keep it moving. Right now you are fixing the car's engine while it's going 55mph..

Webmasters.com is my host
San Mar is the supplier to whose catalog I linked

[royster13]

Did your host happen to upgrade the version of PHP they are running to a version that no longer works with your version of Joomla.....What version of Joomla are you running?...

[Frog]

Whoo-hoo!

Back up and running on all three major browsers.
At my request, the tech restored the code that he first removed, to bring everything back (Firefox access or not)
He then just ditched a section called "Modified User Agent Blocker", and voila!

Now, I just have to hope that that won't screw up something else down the line.

[starchild]

Webmasters.com is my host
San Mar is the supplier to whose catalog I linked

Right so they could've seen sanmar in there and thought it were spam..

[Frog]

Did your host happen to upgrade the version of PHP they are running to a version that no longer works with your version of Joomla.....What version of Joomla are you running?...

Old, I'm sure, as I have done nothing in years.
1.5.26

It seems to have been a piece of code that didn't like the newest Firefox update.

[royster13]

That might be some of the problem....And chances are moving from "ancient" to "modern" might not go smoothly....I have 6+ sites on Joomla 1.5 something.....I am now rebuilding new sites on 3.3 something....