403 Forbidden

It could be something tripping up mod_security rules - I had this and my host whitelisted the offending rules and kept the on record for other EE site owners just in case.

What I did was to trigger the 403, make a note of the date/time it happened, then tell you web host the date/time, they should then be able to look the logs to see which rules were tripped and disable them for you.

If your host doesn’t play ball then look at moving away, it’s a straightforward for server admins to do.

Thanks Rob, I sent to the server administrator a print screen with the date and time when the error occurred to see what happens. Very strange web hosting

I’m having the same problem and was wondering if you ever figured out the issue?

Hi tlcheung, Unfortunately it’s been two years since then and I don’t even remember what site it was. But it was definitely fixed and almost certainly a server configuration issue

Thanks for the answer! I knew it was a long shot. I’m having the same problem with namecheap hosting and was hoping to troubleshoot so I’d know what to ask them. Always a learning experience

Hi tlcheung

Did you resolve the issue with Namecheap?

Thanks

Hi Cogs So weird, yes I did get it resolved and then I forgot about it until today when I am having the same problem with a different installation also on namecheap and I can’t remember how it got solved, although I’m pretty sure it was done on the host end. I’ll respond with the solution if I can get it fixed this time

So after talking to the online support at Namecheap we agreed that something was triggering the mod_security rules. When I had the problem 6 months ago the support person was able to find and whitelist the problem. The guy this time wasn’t so lucky and we ended with the suggestion of turning off mod_security until the site is built and then turning it back on (it’s a solution but not a very good one.) I’d like to say I have ee installed on a few different hosts but I’ve only had this problem on Namecheap.

I was wondering if you ever found a solution because I’m experiencing the same issue 1v1 battle

heravinluc – yes … sort of. Mod security checks to make sure your website is protected from unwanted activity. Something about writing HTML in the ee templates triggers it, and Mod security won’t let you save the template. I’ve installed ee on a number of different hosts (all of whom use Mod security), but I’ve only experienced this problem with NameCheap. What host are you using? You can turn Mod security on and off in the cPanel, but the host tech support is needed to create a whitelist of the offending behavior. I had one NameCheap tech who was able to correctly identify the problem and whitelist it. The 2nd time it happened, on a different account the tech was not able to whitelist the trigger and suggested turning off Mod security while creating the template and turning it back on after – obviously a solution, although not a great one.