There are many tools of the trade in the world of Web site development, but very few have as many good uses as your .htaccess file. What, you don’t have one? I’ll admit, information on these little darlings are confusing to some and hard to find. Hence the reason why we need an explanation of what it is and what it can do for you.

Inside your Web hosting space, you know you have folders, HTML documents, and other things that make your Web site work. Think of this file as just another addition to the many thing you have inside there. It usually sits inside your root directory, such as “/public_html/” and has more than a few good uses. You might already have a .htaccess file in your root directory.

If so, all you need to do is edit that one. Just remember that if it is in your root directory, that it will effect all folders and documents inside that directory. If you want to over ride that, then you will have to make a new .htaccess file inside the directory in question.

For an example, if you want what is in the .htaccess file to effect everything but your “photos” folder then you would have to create a new .htaccess file inside your “photos” folder.

How can you create one? Well, depending on the FTP program you are using it should be as easy as creating a new document, then renaming it .htaccess. Note that it has nothing coming before the dot. If you have anything in front of the dot, then it will not be read by the Web hosting server as a .htaccess file. The server will not know what to do with it.

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