ok, I downloaded Drupal, transfered all my files to my hosting account, set up a mysql database, imported the tables just fine per the instructions, edited the everything the instructions said to edit..
this is what my settings.php file looks like

<?php
// $Id: settings.php,v 1.27 2006/04/24 19:25:37 dries Exp $

/**
* @file
* Drupal site-specific configuration file.
*
* The configuration file to be loaded is based upon the rules below.
*
* The configuration directory will be discovered by stripping the
* website's hostname from left to right and pathname from right to
* left. The first configuration file found will be used and any
* others will be ignored. If no other configuration file is found
* then the default configuration file at 'sites/default' will be used.
*
* For example, for a fictitious site installed at
* http://www.drupal.org/mysite/test/, the 'settings.php'
* is searched in the following directories:
*
* 1. sites/www.drupal.org.mysite.test
* 2. sites/drupal.org.mysite.test
* 3. sites/org.mysite.test
*
* 4. sites/www.drupal.org.mysite
* 5. sites/drupal.org.mysite
* 6. sites/org.mysite
*
* 7. sites/www.drupal.org
* 8. sites/drupal.org
* 9. sites/org
*
* 10. sites/default
*
* If you are installing on a non-standard port number, prefix the
* hostname with that number. For example,
* http://www.drupal.org:8080/mysite/test/ could be loaded from
* sites/8080.www.drupal.org.mysite.test/.
*/

/**
* Database settings:
*
* Note that the $db_url variable gets parsed using PHP's built-in
* URL parser (i.e. using the "parse_url()" function) so make sure
* not to confuse the parser. If your username, password
* or database name contain characters used to delineate
* $db_url parts, you can escape them via URI hex encodings:
*
* : = %3a / = %2f @ = %40
* + = %2b ( = %28 ) = %29
* ? = %3f = = %3d & = %26
*
* To specify multiple connections to be used in your site (i.e. for
* complex custom modules) you can also specify an associative array
* of $db_url variables with the 'default' element used until otherwise
* requested.
*
* You can optionally set prefixes for some or all database table names
* by using the $db_prefix setting. If a prefix is specified, the table
* name will be prepended with its value. Be sure to use valid database
* characters only, usually alphanumeric and underscore. If no prefixes
* are desired, leave it as an empty string ''.
*
* To have all database names prefixed, set $db_prefix as a string:
*
* $db_prefix = 'main_';
*
* To provide prefixes for specific tables, set $db_prefix as an array.
* The array's keys are the table names and the values are the prefixes.
* The 'default' element holds the prefix for any tables not specified
* elsewhere in the array. Example:
*
* $db_prefix = array(
* 'default' => 'main_',
* 'users' => 'shared_',
* 'sessions' => 'shared_',
* 'role' => 'shared_',
* 'authmap' => 'shared_',
* 'sequences' => 'shared_',
* );
*
* Database URL format:
* $db_url = 'mysql://username:password@localhost/databasename';
* $db_url = 'mysqli://username:password@localhost/databasename';
* $db_url = 'pgsql://username:password@localhost/databasename';
*/
$db_url = 'mysql://jbodary24:br1gits3@localhost/jbodary24';
$db_prefix = '';

/**
* Base URL (optional).
*
* If you are experiencing issues with different site domains,
* uncomment the Base URL statement below (remove the leading hash sign)
* and fill in the URL to your Drupal installation.
*
* You might also want to force users to use a given domain.
* See the .htaccess file for more information.
*
* Examples:
* $base_url = 'http://www.example.com';
* $base_url = 'http://www.example.com:8888';
* $base_url = 'http://www.example.com/drupal';
* $base_url = 'https://www.example.com:8888/drupal';
*
* It is not allowed to have a trailing slash; Drupal will add it
* for you.
*/
# $base_url = 'http://www.example.com'; // NO trailing slash!

/**
* PHP settings:
*
* To see what PHP settings are possible, including whether they can
* be set at runtime (ie., when ini_set() occurs), read the PHP
* documentation at http://www.php.net/manual/en/ini.php#ini.list
* and take a look at the .htaccess file to see which non-runtime
* settings are used there. Settings defined here should not be
* duplicated there so as to avoid conflict issues.
*/
ini_set('arg_separator.output', '&');
ini_set('magic_quotes_runtime', 0);
ini_set('magic_quotes_sybase', 0);
ini_set('session.cache_expire', 200000);
ini_set('session.cache_limiter', 'none');
ini_set('session.cookie_lifetime', 2000000);
ini_set('session.gc_maxlifetime', 200000);
ini_set('session.save_handler', 'user');
ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1);
ini_set('session.use_trans_sid', 0);
ini_set('url_rewriter.tags', '');

/**
* Variable overrides:
*
* To override specific entries in the 'variable' table for this site,
* set them here. You usually don't need to use this feature. This is
* useful in a configuration file for a vhost or directory, rather than
* the default settings.php. Any configuration setting from the 'variable'
* table can be given a new value.
*
* Remove the leading hash signs to enable.
*/
# $conf = array(
# 'site_name' => 'My Drupal site',
# 'theme_default' => 'pushbutton',
# 'anonymous' => 'Visitor'
# );

so, when I go to http://mywebsite/

I get this
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server.

Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache/1.3.33 Server at AppStuff Port 80

Comments

somes’s picture

try changing

# $base_url = 'http://www.example.com'; // NO trailing slash!

to your site

ie

www.mysite.com

jbodary’s picture

gives me the same error unfortunitly
the only thing I can think of is that my domain name has not transfered over yet, so I am using the actual numerical address for the server that I use to log in for ftp, does that matter?

somes’s picture

put up a test.html page if you cant see this then your site might be waiting to tranfer but usually this happens in a few hours Ive seen it in 30 mins in cases

the only changes that you have to make to the basic settings file is the database and the base url

jbodary’s picture

huh, wont let me access the test.html either, I guess I will give it a few hours and see if it makes any difference. If not I will re-post.. thanks!

eagereyes’s picture

Did you remove the # at the beginning of that line? That marks a comment, and has to go if you want to use the line. Just asking because it wasn't mentioned before, and might be the reason why you don't see a difference.

EagerEyes.org

eagereyes’s picture

Remove the username and password from the posting! You should never post that anywhere, and it's not relevant to your question.

EagerEyes.org

jbodary’s picture

heh, oops... thanks for pointing that out, I didnt even think about it...

gtorino’s picture

The error you're seeing is from the Apache server, so the problem is in your Apache config. Check out 14 and 15 at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/misc/FAQ.html#forbidden.

If your DocumentRoot is the same as your drupal directory, you probably don't need to uncomment and fill out the # $base_url = 'http://www.example.com'; line.

jbodary’s picture

Not to sound like a complete idiot (I am) but I am not sure how to access that, I'm not running my own server, I am using a hosting account through godaddy

trevelyan’s picture

If you cannot view a test HTML file after uploading it to the server AND the test HTML file has read permissions, you are definitely dealing with an Apache issue.

Send a note to your hosting company asking them why you can't view the test HTML file. When that is fixed, you should be clear with Drupal too.