Some web hosting companies configure their customers’ sites by default so that they reject requests that match a profile that is deemed to be suspicious. These setups can be particularly vexing, because the connection might work perfectly until one day the content of one of your posts happens to trigger the security warning, and your host shuts down the connection with MarsEdit. One common configuration involves the mod_security package, and involves the tell-tale pressence of the term “humans_21909” in the Network Log for the communication between MarsEdit and your blog.

Bluehost is the hosting company we see this problem with most commonly. If you see “humans_21909” near the bottom of the MarsEdit network log (Window -> Network Log), you may need to get in touch with your web hosting company’s support team so that they can help you to disable this software. Ask them about the possiblity that “mod security” settings are affecting your blog’s connection to MarsEdit, and if possible, include the specific network log response. It should look something like this:

Response content:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<script>document.cookie = "humans_21909=1"; document.location.reload(true)</script>

By any chance are you hosted with Bluhost? The network log shows a tell-tale “humans_21909” that seems to be a common problem for Bluehost customers. Googling for “humans_21909” reveals that many other folks have run into this with different hosts, so maybe they are running the same software that tries to prevent certain accesses to their blog.

We recommend getting in touch with your hosting company and asking them about possible configuration issues with “mod security” that could be limiting access to your blog. Hopefully they can help you sort this out!