How To Resolve the 404 error with WordPress Categories

Context

After my fresh WordPress installation on Dreamhost i noticed that clicking on any category in a post turned into a 404 error. After same research and try and error I found an easy way to resolve this. I thought its a good idea sharing this with you as you maybe face the same issue and you maybe search for How To Resolve the 404 error with WordPress Categories.

The below images indicate the problem. Clicking a category for this post turned into a 404 error with WordPress Categories. Instead, I like to see the content of the category, in this case Apple, Internet, Internet Protocol Version 6 – IPv6, Mac or network.

404 error with WordPress Categories after clicking in the above on “Internet”

The good message is, there is an easy way to fix this.

How To Resolve the 404 error with WordPress Categories

You can leverage on the WordPress Settings to fix this issue. Login to your WordPress page and click on “Settings”. The settings will display you multiple options. You like to select “Permalinks” and within these Permalinks you find multiple options to be set. These are segregated into two sections called Common Settings and Optional. To resolve 404 error with WordPress Categories you are interested into the Optional. Within this section you find a field called “Category base” (see below picture). Most likely will find simply a dot “.” in it or something else that could cause the 404 error with WordPress Categories. 

Now, how to resolve the 404 error with WordPress categories:

Step 1: Make a backup of your website

Step 2: Update the field “Category base” by the following: category

Step 3: Update the field “Tag base” by the following: tag

Step 4: Hit the “Save Changes” button.

 

But what if this still not works?

Well, its exactly the issue I have faced. After some research in the Internet I have found out that this most likely related to a plugin called “WP Super Cache Settings”. So lets see what I did to resolve the 404 error with WordPress categories. Click on Settings, and then WP Super Cache. 

You will find multiple options and Buttons. The one that helped me is called “Delete Cache”. Clicking Delete Cache a new menu appeared that looked like the below picture. Two steps were necessary:

Step 1: Backup of the website

Step 2: I did hit “Delete Expired”

 

In my case, this How To Resolve the 404 error with WordPress Categories helped and I am happy again with my blog 🙂 I hope, that my blog helped you too and you did like it.