Upgrading from vBSEO 3.0 RC6.0 to RC8.0

i'm trying to upgrade from vBSEO 3.0 RC6.0 to RC8.0
i've gone through the upgrade instructions but when trying to D. i just get a http 403 page Forbidden

I'm guessing it's something to do with the htaccess file?

A. Visit your vBSEO CP (forums/vbseocp.php) and backup your current settings:

1. Click on the 'XML' link for vbseo_all.xml and save a backup of your setup file.

B. Go to your ADMIN CP > 'Plugin System' > 'Manage Products'

1. Click on [Add/Import Product]
2. Browse to the 'docs' folder of this installation and open 'crawlability_vbseo.xml', set 'Allow Overwrite' to 'Yes', click 'Import'

C. Upload (and replace) ALL files included in the 'upload' folder to your forum root folder in BINARY mode.
Note: Ensure you upload a file named .htaccess (located in your 'upload' folder) to your forum root folder. In some machines, this file is not visible. If this is your case, find the htaccess.txt file in the 'docs' folder and (1) upload it to your root folder first and (2) rename it to .htaccess
D. Visit your vBSEO CP (forums/vbseocp.php) and restore current settings:

1. Click on the 'Browse' button within the 'Upload a Settings (.xml) File' box.
2. Upload your previously saved vbseo_all.xml settings file.

30 minutes later

htaccess i had in the first place

# Comment the following line (add '#' at the beginning)
# to disable mod_rewrite functions.
# Please note: you still need to disable the hack in
# the vBSEO control panel to stop url rewrites.
RewriteEngine On
# Some servers require the Rewritebase directive to be
# enabled (remove '#' at the beginning to activate)
# Please note: when enabled, you must include the path
# to your root vBulletin folder (i.e. RewriteBase /forums)
RewriteBase /forums
#RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.yourdomain.com
#RewriteRule (.*) http://www.yourdomain.com/forums/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap).*.(xml|txt)(.gz)?)$ vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !(admincp/|modcp/|chat|cron)
RewriteRule ^(.*.php)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !.(jpg|gif)$
RewriteRule ^(archive/.*)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !(admincp|modcp|clientscript|cpstyles|images)/
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

new one

# Comment the following line (add '#' at the beginning)
# to disable mod_rewrite functions.
# Please note: you still need to disable the hack in
# the vBSEO control panel to stop url rewrites.
RewriteEngine On
# Some servers require the Rewritebase directive to be
# enabled (remove '#' at the beginning to activate)
# Please note: when enabled, you must include the path
# to your root vB folder (i.e. RewriteBase /forums)
#RewriteBase /
#RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.yourdomain.com
#RewriteRule (.*) http://www.yourdomain.com/forums/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap_).*.(xml|txt)(.gz)?)$ vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(admincp/|modcp/|chat|cron)
RewriteRule ^(.*.php)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !.(jpg|gif)$
RewriteRule ^(archive/.*)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !^(admincp|modcp|clientscript|cpstyles|images)/
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]

Please try to restore your original .htaccess file.

ok i've restored it.

still nothing though

link removed:

Try and set the CHMOD of that file to 644. I think that will solve the problem, hopefully, as it is a permission error thing.

it's already set as 644

Well then, did you restore your original .htaccess file just like Oleg said?

i see on the root of vb a folder named ionCube though i upgraded with the Zend version because it was recommened

guess i've buggered it up now eh

Originally Posted by Darkblade

Well then, did you restore your original .htaccess file just like Oleg said?

i did yes, i uploaded the original .htaccess file back onto the host.

Originally Posted by Chris Powell

i see on the root of vb a folder named ionCube though i upgraded with the Zend version because it was recommened

guess i've buggered it up now eh

Then in that case, I recommend you to remove the "ioncube" folder and all its files since you're no longer using that version. Try that and lemme know if it works.

I just removed it. still the same though

Damn I'm not sure where the problem is so just wait for Oleg/Keith's respond.

lol, call yourself a hacker *pffft

no worries though. im going out now...will check back later

Could you please open a support ticket with ftp/admincp access for troubleshooting?