pm'd you....

Works now.

Problem is/was that you have sef enabled, but probably you haven't renamed htaccess.txt to .htaccess.

Search Engine Friendly URLs No Yes
Use Apache mod_rewrite No Yes

Look for the tooltip for apache mod_rewrite.

thanks, maggoo. i thought it might be something simple like that, but i did rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess.

so, how do i use search friendly urls? i thought sef was supposed to be enabled once you rename to .htaccess.

tx.

Just use standard htaccess, no modifications unless you know what you are doing, and if it doesn't work then maybe consult your host or have a read here Joomla SEO and htaccess files and see what is fitting to your hosting situation.

ok i'll give her a go. thank for your help.

i have officially tried every possible combination, and have watched and followed many joomla tutorials without success.

1. renamed htaccess.txt to .htaccess
2. turned the following ON in global configuration:

SEF URLs ON and OFF
Use Apache mod-rewrite ON and OFF
Add suffix to URLs ON and OFF

3. removed the # before RewriteBase / in .htaccess
4. repeated step 2
5. added zhongwenmovies.com after RewriteBase /
6. repeated step 2
7. added # in front of Options +FollowSymLinks
8. repeated step 2

nothing has worked to resolve the issue. what i'm reading says this could be due to the host's settings. i contacted them. they say apache mod-rewrite is absolutely enabled on their end.

if the folder is zhongwenmovies.com, should i type RewriteBase / zhongwenmovies.com OR RewriteBase / ~zhongwenmovies.com ? or perhaps something else?

please advise.

ty.

Since we can't guess what is what on your server have a look here: Google emaybe the first hit is relevant to your problem.