Protected directory troubleshooting

In the cPanel file manager, I’ve used “Password Protect” to set directory privacy for one of the folders in my public_html site. I toggled on “password protect this directory” and gave the directory a label (name) as requested. Then I “saved.” Next, I created an authorized user and password, and “saved.”

Before protecting the directory, files at the location showed up online on my site. After protecting the directory, the same URLs are giving me a “page not found” error with no login prompt for the authorized user I created. (Turning directory protection off makes those URLs work again.) I’ve tried in several browsers and also cleared caches.

I see in the .htpasswds folder that for that protected directory there exists a “passwd” file after I turned protection on.

What am I doing wrong? Why am I seeing a 404 for files in the directory instead of a login dialogue for the authorized user I created? --Thanks in advance.

P.S. I already consulted the other relevant post in this forum: Directory privacy

Just to ask, are you running Wordpress on your site? I was checking the cPanel forums and this seems to be a common issue with cPanel and Wordpress. If you are running Wordpress, your best bet is to use a Wordpress plugin to password protect directories rather than using cPanel. If you’re not running Wordpress, you can always open a support ticket and I can take a closer look.

Yes, I’m indeed running WordPress (and the folder I’m trying to protect is in the public_html tree for that WP installation). Hmmm, it seems like this is a dead end then. Thanks for the plugin suggestion, which seems like the next step (though loading up a WP site with plugins has its own sustainability issues).