Introduction

If you have surfed the web for more than a couple months, I am sure you have heard of this exotic and powerful file humbly known as .htaccess. Although the more commonly known utilities for .htaccess are password protected directories, custom error pages and directory indexes, the file is also practical for many other web site functions and features.

This article journeys beyond the commonalities of the file and interrogates other features that may be lesser known to webmasters. For those who are not intimate or experienced with .htaccess, we spring into action from the very basics of the file.

Our agenda for today is as follows:

• .htaccess naming conventions and file creation
  
• What is the .htaccess file?
  
• Uses of the .htaccess file