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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.