I have dealt with the problem myself, but there is also one other thing to keep in mind, if you are under a linux server, you have to be under 777 access mode in order to write the a new .htaccess file.

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i needed this information…..THANK YOUUUUUUUU!

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Just to avoid ending in a mess and not being capable of fix it, the first thing i do when i start a blog is to triple check if i have set up permalinks properly.

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Thanks for this tip, Dan! I need to try this on one of my blogs, but I have always been too scared that I would mess things up. You have some really practical posts here with doable info. Keep it up! Also following you on Twitter.

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Sometimes deleting .htaccess is not possible, depending on server and what other redirections you have setup on it. So maybe manually redirection in .htaccess file could solve your problem. Usually Wordpress gives you the redirection syntax; if not (or if your blog is not made in Wordpress), you could find on net how to make 301 permanent redirection.

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I this Giving WRITE Permission to htacess file s enough ….. What you say ??

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Thanks for the specific directions. I wish I had them before I started blogging. Actually, in the beginning, I found different instructions that made my posts disappear so I reverted to the default.

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You just saved me hours of work. We just bought an old domain and it was kind of messed up so this tip is so relevant.

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That’s a nice solution but how to redirect your traffic to the new links? Also, aren’t you going to lose your pagerank for your pages once a Google pagerank update occur? i dont know but this solution seems to rise a lot of doubts to me!

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I’ve seen a Wordpress plug in that handles the 301 redirect automatically after the permalink change, but I can’t find the note on it. but I’m sure one exists, and it handles the heavy lifting of changing the permalink as well.

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Wow, that was exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I have made this mistake many many times, and never knew how to fix it. But what about links to internal pages? Those links wont work anymore?

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I had a similar problem on a blog and used deans permalinks migration which is a plugin for Wordpress. I tried a few times unsuccessfully to get it to work, then found out you have to get the hosting company to enable mod rewrite on your hosting, worked nicely then.

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Well yes, it is always possible to fix it at anytime, but is it really advisable to change your permalink structure, after 2 years of having a blog, etc? That’s my biggest fear.

-Jean

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Such helpful information, though I would think it would be best to have your web host do the change for you.

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Hey Dan,

Nice post man. Very informative for anyone with a new blog. I noticed in the comments everyone is mentioning the 301 re-directs. I was going to mention this as well but you mentioned this was more the relatively newer blogs.

If anyone out there has an older blog there is a Wordpress plugin that is makes your life so easy if you want to have a 301 redirects automatically.

It seriously is ridiculous how easy this plugin makes it. Go check it out if you need 301 redirects setup.

http://www.deanlee.cn/wordpress/permalinks-migration-plugin/

Again, nice post man!

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I see permalinks on many of the blogs. Technically what does it actually mean?

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Another great post, this information is great for those who are forgetful when starting a new blog.

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I recommend you the Platinum Seo plugin for Wordpress. You can set it to solve permalinks error redirections automatically.

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Thanks for the tips!!!

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WOW!!! This is so easy!!! And i was trying to find solution to this problem for ages… Thanks

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Geez, I am so glad that I found this post. I was trying to find a easy way to do this. Thanks!

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That tips are great it seems very easy now…thanks for that post…

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Simple but good tip! Thanks for sharing!

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everything is fine but what abvout these 2 how /%category%, /%postname%.do i have to make any change or anytjinh in its attributes.thanx

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Any issue related to links require utmost care and attention. Permalinks are what your website is indexed by. Any errors are likely to have a long term impact on your overall ranking of your website on search engines.

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It is very common problem and your information helps me a lot, thnx)

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Thanks, that is very useful. We’ve been caught out by not setting up permalinks in WP at the start of the development process . Also it seems that clients tend to know about permalinks now so it’s exactly the sort of issues you’ll get asked about just before a site is due to go live!

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Thanks for sharing this great info; having permalinks set up correctly can make or break a site looking professional

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permalinks are important aprt of your success and you article gives great tips for this problem

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wow this is really great post…thanx for sharing such a great information…it has add some more knowledge for me….having permalinks set up correctly can make or break a site looking professional

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I have messed up my permalinks structure once and traffic goes down the drain fast. huhuhu

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This is such a great tip; it is so easy to accidentally mess up a permalink, so knowing how to quickly correct it without messing up anything else is GREAT for everyone to know.

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This is a great tip! The one thing that I am not understanding though, is if you delete the .htaccess file, don’t you have to create another one? Being a complete non-techie - how would you create a new one? Also what is the difference between All-in-one-seo-pack plug-in and the platinum-seo-pack? Does anyone know? If I were to install the platinum, would I have to deactivate and uninstall the all-in-one? Really appreciate this post and any responses to my questions!

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ntegrating blog content to my website without putting a whole page with the banners and other links and stuff. I just want the content in it. help!

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Was searching for this one. Thanks

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Great post, thanks for sharing

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Thank you for dircetions - useful tip

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Great advice, I was having real difficulty with this.

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very good advice, something i always have problems with

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Yeah, I too a beginners for blog had a several instruct but this advice keep cool!!!

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Thanks for the advice you gave…
That is very helpful if we encounter problems like this
in our blogging stuffs

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But it depends if you already have other information like mod rewrite on hat .htaccess file.

Thanks for the tip.

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It’s just the small step but bring big effect. .htaccess file is the only annoying file if we want to fix our broken permalink (that’s just my own idea). Thanks for informing,. Good idea shared here. CHEERS!

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I love useful posts this is definitely one of them

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Thanks for the great arricle!
I have had a lot of trouble with permalinks and this helped!
-Matt
PS: Check http://www.divknowledge.com for design news.
=)
-M

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Excellent information - thank you. Most people don’t know how important things that you highlighted are. Thanks for helping spread the good word!

Regards,

Fort Lauderdale Locksmith

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Thanks for the post. There are actually new plugins that help with permalink issues. Unfortunately, they sometimes cause other headaches. Still, I suggest trying them out. Look for them in the Wordpress Codex.

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The one thing to be careful of is that if your blog has been around for awhile you may not want to make the switch at all because of any links you have out there.They do give some instructions in the WordPress codex on how to change the .htaccess file. This fix is mainly for a relatively new blog and not one that has been established for awhile.

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Someone need to fix it. You got that..very nice research and thanks for the solution.

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This article is a life saver. I have a wordpress blog and I changed the parmalink format. And Oh no! all the pages are no longer there. So I followed your steps and it now works!

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I agree with Turning Winds
But I prefer to use my custom blog engine to wordpress

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Thanks! Got an answer from here. I will bookmark this page for reference.

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Sounds really simple so I am going to give it a try.

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Thanks, I’ve had this problem before and didn’t know how to fix it! I find Wordpress a little difficult to use sometimes, and this is really helpful.

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I completely agree with your opinion, thanks.

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I recommend you the Platinum Seo plugin for Wordpress. You can set it to solve permalinks error redirections automatically.

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Thanks man, just what I was looking for. Worked like a charm Thanks so much

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Also it seems that clients tend to know about permalinks now so it’s exactly the sort of issues you’ll get asked about just before a site is due to go live! thanks…

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Another great post, this information is great for those who are forgetful when starting a new blog.

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Thank you, you saved me my headaches with this useful post.

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THANK YOUUUUUUUU!

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Great tip. I got trouble with permalinks and I tried a few times but had to give up.

Thanks for your tips.

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Thank you for sharing this.I have also set permalink in my blog.
Gamefly

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thanks for sharing this really useful article; how many people have had this problem! i know i have..

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Thanks! You saved me my headaches with this useful post.. I will bookmark this page for reference.

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Sometimes deleting .htaccess is not possible, depending on server and what other redirections you have setup on it. So maybe manually redirection in .htaccess file could solve your problem. Usually Wordpress gives you the redirection syntax; if not (or if your blog is not made in Wordpress), you could find on net how to make 301 permanent redirection.

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I completely agree with your opinion, thanks.

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A great tip to figure out messed up permalinks.It is not actually adifficult task.Isn’t it?

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I’ve had this problem before and didn’t know how to fix it! I find Wordpress a little difficult to use sometimes, and this is really helpful.
thanks
Infant Baby Bedding

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To live is to resist

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Yes to live is to resist

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Very useful post! I’ve also had some problems when I wanted to change my permalinks structure. After changing them I lost all the backlinks pointing to my blog.

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I’ve changed permalinks without having a problem finding my posts afterwards. Maybe Wordpress has been updated to handle them better since then. The only problem I found when changing them is Google. “1,200 pages cannot be found” < that was a problem which hurt my rankings a lot.

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i think it was written with a great effort

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Maybe just “find the .htaccess file and delete it” be enough?

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Thank you, it was really intersting to read.

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permalinks are a nightmare. thanks!

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Another way to optimize your permalinks you can change them manually and some keywords in it.

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Thank you for teaching us these information. You don’t have an idea how you’ve help me.

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This is a very useful information. I have bookmark this so that when I have experience messing up with permalinks I will go to this.

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Usually Wordpress gives you the redirection syntax; if not (or if your blog is not made in Wordpress), you could find on net how to make 301 permanent redirection.

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Web yazılım firması olan rakiplerimizi ararken google blog searchte sizin sitenizle karşılaştım. Çok güzel bir paylaşım olmuş. Teşekkür ederim.

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This happened to me only once. When something this bad goes wrong on your blog, you tend to learn quickly never to make that mistake again. Lol.

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I think the best way is setting the permalinks before you post anything.

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Nice tutorial. Thanks for this simple and easy to follow instructions.

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God ,I had such trouble to get my permalinks straight. The tips in this post has made my life easier. Thanks a lot.

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well enjoyed readin this one… will follow for more updates..

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I haven’t experienced this kind of problem before but it is a good thing I have learned this so that when ever I’ll encounter problems with my permalink in my website. I can fix it easily. Thanks for sharing it.

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I’m looking for a management system and hotel reservation.

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I’m also encountering this problem a lot of times. Thanks for sharing your knowledge on how to fix the errors in permalinks. Great post.

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Thans, you helped me a lot.

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Unless you set the 301 pairs of these all of the pages, but not much fun

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I also had the same problem.I had trouble to get my permalinks run well. Thanks for your post this tips made my site run straight.

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Kate…

Buy celebrex…

guzel paylasım tsk.

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this indeed is a great way to fix up blog comments

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Rally many many thanks. At last I got my ans. Thanks for sharing. I am just going try it and fix it.

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Useful tips, a long useful post. Using a catchy title is great, it should be simple and clear. A good advantage of long rich post is that, Long blog posts are much more likely to be linked to a lot more content and hence, a better chance that someone will find something on your page interesting enough that they want to share it with other people.

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Thanks for this tip, Dan! I need to try this on one of my blogs. You have some really practical posts here with doable info. Keep it up!

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Valuable Immigration Process information I found today, thanks a lot, keep on posting.

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Thanks for the helpful tip. I used it on my site.

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I really like your blog, it was very informative.

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Nice blog, very informative. Good Job. Thank You.

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Thanks for the helpful tip

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It’s rather awesome,I have been searching materials relate to these stuffs for my paper.and

it really helps me.Thank you.

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I really like your post, it was very helpful.

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thanks for sharing the post , i helps me a lot

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haha, I had this problem too but I both times the blog was very new and with few articles, so I reposted them. Great tips!

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This problem was killing me for a long time, thanks.

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Thanks from the Wealth Maker,its an ecourse !

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thanks for the back link for my status.net project

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2 weeks ago, I made an awful mistake by changing permalinks without redirecting them. A week ago I discovered that I am losing traffic, keyword position with google and got 96 of not found 404 errors. Out of panick, I reset my permalinks back to my original setting and no long wishing to change it again.
Then I copy the 404 errored urls to the right original links (this is like a puzzle game) and redirected them using wordpress redirection plugin. This was a few days ago.
Now I am losing traffic. What should I do now? delete .htaccess? Will this help with all my messed up permalinks?
Please someone can help me?

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Wow, thanks for the tip, great info on permalinks. I have problems with them before.

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