Sharepoint 2010 404 Error after Renaming Subsite

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We are still in the process of rolling out SharePoint, but we’ve got the server up and running and the primary site is working. We set it up as sharepoint.mydomain.com. I then created a new site called ‘Help Center’ and it’s URL was sharepoint.mydomain.com/help_center. After adding a bunch of content, and starting to plan to roll it out we decided to change the URL to sharepoint.crowholdings.com/help (just because we are picky like that). I did this by going to the site (at the original URL), going to Site Settings>Title, Description, and Icon, and in the URL name box I changed ‘help_center’ to ‘help’ and clicked OK. That’s when all hell broke loose. I got an error, and unfortunately I did-not capture it before moving on so I don’t remember exactly what it said – but I noticed that in the address bar it was still showing the old URL (/help_center/) so I tried changing it to the new URL (/help/) but then I got a 404 error. I tried IISReset, and even rebooted the server – but I still get a 404 error every time I try to access the page. Back on my primary site, the URL on the Help Center tab has been updated to the new URL (sharepoint.mydomain.com/help/SitePages/Home.aspx), but when I click it I just get the 404 error. I can’t access the site with the new URL or the old URL.

I can still see the site and all of it's assets in the site manager, but I still get the 404 error when I try to access any of the site settings from the menu (site settings, people and groups, advanced permissions, or general settings). If I try changing the URL in the address bar from the new name to the old name, i get a different error that just says 'file not found'.

I also tried using the stsadm commands (referenced here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263508.aspx), but I get the following errors:

  • When I try using the NEW name, I get the error: The site
    sharepoint.mydomain.com/newsite could not be found in the Web
    application SPWebApplication Name=sharepoint.mydomain.com.
  • When I try using the OLD name, I get the error: 0x80070002There is no Web named "/oldsite".

Any other suggetions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! ][Q][

Here's a similar post, but none of the proposed solutions worked for me: Sharepoint 404 error after renaming subsite

Best Answer

This is definitely odd. As you used another URL once - you only changed the sub site's name (+URL) and did not change host headers and the site collection the sub site resided in before?

You can use SharePoint Designer to make sure that your site is still in place - can you use SharePoint Designer? Does it throw an error when you try to connect it to ...<yoururl>.../help, or do you have to use .../help_site?

What you did not mention, but should always be your first step: Check the ULS Logs. You can find them here: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\LOGS. A perfect tool to view them is the ULSViewer from Microsoft. You most likely will find more information than just the 404.

Furthermore I would try to inspect the site (SPWeb to be clear) e.g. via PowerShell or via SharePoint Manager. Check out the SPWeb.AbsoluteUrl and all other URL related properties and check whether anything seems odd. In Powershell you would get a site like so:

$help = Get-SPWeb http://sharepoint/help
$help | get-members

With get-members you will see all the methods and properties available to check out.

Your behavior definitely is not normal and you will need to do a bit more digging. I would start with the ULS logs.

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