A working homepage does not prove that article URLs work. This sequence helps after a planned URL change or migration. It does not replace a backup or recommend changing the entire site's structure as a precaution.
Step by step
- Record three affected old URLs, their intended new destinations and one unchanged comparison article. Before further changes, back up the site and record the previous permalink settings. Prefer a separate test copy for experiments.
- Open the article in the dashboard and check its publication status, actual slug and displayed address. Draft or private content is not available to signed-out visitors like a public article.
- Open the current address while signed out. In the browser's network tools, inspect the document request's status and final URL. An ordinary-looking error page can return HTTP 404; a redirect can end at the wrong destination.
- Under Settings → Permalinks, compare the saved structure with the documented intended state. Do not select another structure merely as an experiment. Resaving the unchanged settings can help with rewrite-rule problems; test this in the copy first, then check again.
- If current addresses work but old ones do not, plan a specific permanent redirect from each old address to its matching successor. Do not send every error page to the homepage. Also check internal links, category archives and language variants where applicable.
Check the result
Test every old and new sample address and an unchanged article while signed out. Record status, redirect chain and destination content. If many pretty URLs still fail despite correct settings, send these findings to the host: Apache and Nginx configurations differ.
Undo and limitations
If things worsen, carefully restore the recorded setting or a tested backup. Do not overwrite server rules or .htaccess speculatively. Clearing a browser cache cannot repair a missing resource; investigate upstream caches too without masking other errors.