Quote Originally Posted by DrByte View Post
Wow ... how did I miss *that*.
Nothing stands out immediately; however, I would try the following:

1. Check your server's errorlog to find out exactly why the 403 error is being delivered.

2. Turn off the SEO module and remove all but the first 3 lines of your public_html/.htaccess file ... just for a few minutes while you test accessing from WSO site again.
Did everything you suggested

1. the error log doesn't show a 403 forbidden error being thrown. it only shows "file does not exist" errors for favicon.ico and some content that was removed from my server months ago.

2.turned off the module and edited the htaccess file as suggested for over fifteen minutes. no change at all.