GoDaddy is notoriously buggy when comes to Joomla hosting. But when you turn on SEF, you might have another nasty surprise, instead of your site's pages you might see this:
What you can do?
Basically you need to tweak 2 files: the .htaccess file and the active php.ini file.
The .htaccess file
- From the Joomla Control Panel go to “global setting” and under the Site Tab turn off SEF and Apache (“Use URL rewriting” for 1.7 users).
- Now move your .htaccess file to your computer via FTP if you don’t have this file move htaccess.txt to your pc and open the file.
- Remove any #’s if any from RewriteEngine On and RewriteBase
- Search for Options +FollowSymLinksand add the below right after it.
Options -MultiViews
- Save the file and move it back to your server.
- Turn on SEF and Apache (“Use URL rewriting” for 1.7 users)
- Now Check to see if it is working.
If it still isn’t working or its happening less frequently move on to next file.
The php.ini file
Locate the php.ini file in your WEBROOT directory, open it, and add to it the new line:
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 1
Save the file, upload it, and check, if the site works.