I’m struggling to create an About page. I created an About page in Designer by simply clicking on Create New Page. I then selected the template. Added a Contact form and that’s it. I also have a menu set that includes an About page item that is set to Link to Page > About.
When I click on the About menu item I get a 404. When I go into my ftp, there is no About directory. So I get why I"m getting a 404. What I’m not getting is why wasn’t an About page directory or php page created when I created the About page in the Designer.
This seems super basic and I’m a bit embarrassed that I haven’t been able to figure it out. Is there something I need to do in Lightroom / Publisher to make this happen?
Hi @scottblackman, Backlight’s ‘pages’ use dynamic links that work with the .htaccess file.
My first thought was that the .htaccess file is either missing or not working on your site, however even the fallback link is failing. That’s the link that should work whether .htaccess is there or not: blackmanphoto.com/?page=about
Can you double-check that the identifier field in your About page’s setting is set to about ? You can find that by visiting Backlight > Designer > Pages, clicking the ‘About’ hyperlink then clicking ‘Edit Properties’.
Here’s my htaccess content. And I confess, to be somewhat confused about where the .htacess file should be. I seem to have them not just at the root of my site, but in most of my page folders. Is that correct?
RewriteEngine On
############################################################################
# Edit this section for servers using FastCGI
# For FastCGI (or seeing the error message 'No input file specified.':
# add # to the start of the next line
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond $0#%{REQUEST_URI} ([^#]*)#(.*)\1$
# For FastCGI (or seeing the error message 'No input file specified.':
# add # to the start of the next line and remove # from the line after)
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [E=BASE:%2]
#RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [E=BASE:]
############################################################################
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [E=QS:mod_rewrite=on]
RewriteRule ^([^\/]*)-single.php$ %{ENV:BASE}single.php?%{ENV:QS}&id=$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^([^\/]*)feed\/?$ %{ENV:BASE}feed.php?%{ENV:QS} [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^([^\/.]*).css$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS}&extension=css&name=$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^([^\/.]*).js$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS}&extension=js&name=$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^([^\/.]*).gif$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS}&extension=gif&name=$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^([^\/.]*).png$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS}&extension=png&name=$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^([^\/.]*).jpg$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS}&extension=jpg&name=$1 [QSA,L]
#RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !mod_rewrite=on
#RewriteRule ^index.php$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS} [QSA,L]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !mod_rewrite=on
RewriteRule ^mobile.php$ %{ENV:BASE}mobile.php?%{ENV:QS} [QSA,L]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !mod_rewrite=on
RewriteRule ^(.*)download.php %{ENV:BASE}download.php?%{ENV:QS} [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS} [QSA,L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ %{ENV:BASE}index.php?%{ENV:QS}&page=$1 [QSA,L]
Hi @scottblackman, the .htaccess file looks correct. I wonder if the index.php file at the top of your site is the one that ships with Backlight? Have you changed this file or used another file, such as one intended for a gallery?
I fully confess I have been evolving this website since WAY early versions of Matt’s plug-ins. I fear I’ve potentially let things get a little out of control and probably need to do some serious clean up.
One thing I guess I’m trying to understand is whether or not an About directory should have been automatically created at the root of my site or if I needed to do that manually? It’s not impossible to think that I may have mistakenly deleted the About directory. My sense, however, is that it’s not just a simple matter of recreating that folder. I’m assuming something in the intelligence of Backlight can tell if a folder was created manually or not. Or said differently, maybe Backlight can’t ‘repair’ that About directory if I mucked it up somehow.
Clearly speculating here. Obvious a rather uninformed perspective at this point.
Hi @scottblackman, thanks for sticking around with us for this long!
The ‘about’ and other pages work dynamically. Essentially, the server detects that in the URL and sends it through to the index.php file as a parameter. Backlight then processes it as the ‘About’ page. At least that’s how it’s meant to work. There’s not meant to be an actual ‘about’ folder or file, so you’re not missing anything.
Would you be able to provide me with a Backlight admin login and FTP access so that I try to work out what’s going on? The best way is via direct message. You should be able to message me after clicking on my profile picture.
Hi @scottblackman, thanks for the access. I found that the index.php at the top of your site was quite old. I’m not sure which version of Backlight it’s from or even if it was from Backlight.
I’ve renamed it to index_OLD2.php and uploaded the latest index.php. Your About page is now working.
The only files and directories that need to be left for a Backlight site are index.php, .htaccess, backlight and each of the gallery directories you have (e.g. ‘galleries’, ‘travel’ and so on). I suggest if you’re trying to clean things up that you create a directory called something like archive and then move the extra files and directories into there. If anything’s missing or broken you can move them back.
Within the backlight directory, the only items that are needed are:
data
modules
installer
index.php
.htaccess
env.php.skel
custom
Following the same approach as above, I suggest creating an archive directory inside backlight so that you have backlight/archive and then moving these into backlight/archive:
cart
client-response
publisher
Please be careful not to touch or remove anything else from inside backlight.
Ben I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to not only look into my issues, but to solve it as well. And your suggestion on clean up are also greatly appreciated!
Thanks to all the community leaders who help us all keep this great set of tools working so flawlessly. Not sure what I’d do without Backlight!
