[kevinh]

Originally Posted by Paul M

vBulletin does not need an .htaccess file, so you must have some serious set-up issues if it fails without one.

It does if you have vbSEO installed and enabled, which I do

--------------- Added [DATE]1471660809[/DATE] at [TIME]1471660809[/TIME] ---------------

Originally Posted by TheLastSuperman

Okay so try:
- Leave .htaccess alone, if it was renamed then rename it back to original name .htaccess.
- Disable hooks via the code you add to config.php.
- Login to admincp.
- Disable vBSEO. (DO NOT UNINSTALL if you're even considering going to DBSEO, if you uninstall all your old url hierarchy and other settings will be lost).

At this point the site started working.

I had been trying to get into the vbSEO control panel to disable it - I forgot I could just disable it from Products in Admincp!

However, I have now lost all my SEO friendly URLs, and my site did have a very good SERP ranking so I really need to do something about this.

Originally Posted by TheLastSuperman

- Change Friendly URLs setting via: Admincp > Settings > Options > Friendly URLs > *Set this to "Standard URLs" and save.

Do I still need to do this bit if I am considering going to DBSEO?

I'd never heard of DBSEO so I need to investigate this.

Thanks for all your help!