.htaccess

Important Note: Do not edit the .htaccess file if you are using MS Frontpage! Frontpage uses the .htaccess file, and editing it may cause errors in your configuration. Also, it is recommended that you use the control panel if possible for items like password protected directories.

What is .htaccess?
The .htaccess file can be placed in one or more of your /home/username/domainname-www subdirectories. Among other things, this file can be used to restrict access to other files and web pages.

When a request for a web page is made, the web server first checks for an .htaccess file. The server begins this check by looking for .htaccess in the root of the current web directory, and on down the directory tree until it reaches the the
directory where the requested file resides. Since the placement of the .htaccess file determines when it is executed, this fact can be used to restrict access only in certain subdirectories.

Functions

• Restrict access to directories using passwords.

• Redirect hits onto another webpage.

• Control and set the messages generated for various error conditions.

• Edit Mime-types.

• Activate and deactivate various server features.

To create an .htaccess file, make a text file as described below and upload it as ".htaccess"
Except for the first function, these will only work for an .htaccess file placed in $-www. Add whichever functions you want to the same file.

Restricting Access: Password Protection
The directory you want protected must have an .htaccess file in it that looks like the following (do not put the comments in the actual .htaccess file):

AuthUserFile /home/username/.passwd
AuthGroupFile /home/username/.group
AuthName "Protected Space"
AuthType Basic
<Limit GET>
require group users #users is the group of users that you give access to this directory.
#require user username #if there is only one user in the group, you can substitute this line; remove the #.
</Limit>
(Other possible groups are administrators, etc)

Groups and users are stored in the .group file, and passwords are stored in .passwd. The .htaccess file looks for these files in the /home/username/ directory. Do not attempt to edit these manually! We have a special script you can use to manage your .group and .passwd files (the "webmister" script). Email us to installed it for you.

Redirects
Redirecting allows you to send the user to, for example, new.php when they attempt to access old.php. To see this
example in practice, simply add the following line to the .htaccess file:
Redirect /directoryname/old.php http://domainname.com/directoryname/new.php

Error Documents
There are two main styles of error messages you may encounter. The first is the standard form, which looks something like:

File Not found
The requested URL domainname.com/filenamme.php was not found on this server.

The second type comes in a variety of forms, but is customized by the webmaster. For example:

Sorry
We're sorry, but the requested URL does not exist. Please e-mail support@domainname.com if you need further assistance.

Such messages are called error documents, and are web pages designed to give a polite explanation for error conditions. These error conditions generate numbers which are used to refer to the appropriate error condition. Some of the most common messages are as follows:

Error in Client
400 Bad syntax
401 Unauthorized
402 Not Used (Payment Granted)
403 Forbidden
404 Not Found

Error in Server
500 Internal Error
501 Not Implemented
502 Overloaded
503 Gateway Timeout

How to Customize Error Messages for Your Site
First, create the HTML page you want to use as your error message.
Upload it to your domainname-www directory.

Next, go into your .htaccess file (or create one) and add lines which specify the substitution.

Here are three examples of specifying error documents which will be called for a given error condition (note you can use relative or absolute addressing):

ErrorDocument 401 http://domainname.com/nopasswd.php
ErrorDocument 403 /forbidden.php
ErrorDocument 404 http://www.domainname.com/nofile.php

Mime Types
You can add mime types to your .htaccess file with a line like:
AddType text/html .txt