404 Error when site is opened to general public but works fine when logged in

Question

We started getting a 404 error on a new site using Joomla 3.5. It is not open to the public yet. When testing it we just found that when we do open the site to the public it gives us a 404 error. When we are logged in and go to home page it works fine. As soon as we log out and go back to home page it gives the 404 error.

We have cleared the cache and checked the menus, etc. All are working fine until we open the site to the public.

I could use some help please.

Answer 1

It sounds like your default "Home" menu item (marked with a star in the list of menu items) is set to the wrong access level.

Make sure the menu item is set to "Public" access.

In addition, if the menu item points to a single article, the article must also be set to public access.

Update:
It's also possible that there is a problem with your ACL (Access Control List) settings, since the page works fine when logged in as administrator, but not for guest users. It's hard to say exactly what's wrong without seeing the site, but if possible I suggest creating a separate installation of Joomla and compare the settings.

Here are some places in the admin area where you might want to check the settings:

• Users → Manage → (Options button in upper right corner)

  Make sure "Guest User Group" is set to "Guests"
  

• Users → Access Levels

  Check that your viewing access levels are similar to this screenshot, particularly for Public and Guest:

  

• Check if you have any third-party extensions installed that affects access levels, like membership extensions or similar. If so, disable the extension in Extensions → Manage → Manage (don't uninstall, just disable by clicking the green checkmark.

• Update Joomla and all your extensions.
  This might not solve the issue, but you should always use the latest version of Joomla (currently 3.6.2) and all extensions, they contain security and bug fixes.

Answer 2

It seems that you are blocking access to the public using an .htaccess rule and also using configuration settings.

Go to the "System" - "Global Configuration" and, in the "Site" tab, change the "Site Offline" value to "No". The reason why you were able to see the website when you are logged in is because logged in admins can still see the website even when it's set to be offline.