By installing a WordPress (or other CMS, eg Drupal, Joomla) you would definitely encounter a file called .htaccess. If you wondered what it is and what it is you are in the correct publication.
The .htaccess file is a powerful tool that can secure your website and improve its speed performance. But first you have to understand the basics of the .taccess and then see how you can use it.
What is the .htaccess file?
It's an abbreviation derived from the terms Hypertext Access. It is basically a valuable configuration tool used by Apache Web Servers to control the folders contained and all the subfolders within them.
If you cannot see the file on your server or in the packet hosting you use, is because the dot at the beginning of the name makes it hidden.
To see it you need to connect to the server with someone ftp client (it's a link for the free application Filezilla, εσείς φυσικά μπορείτε να χρησιμοποιήσετε όποιο client you want), that you have him set to display the hidden files.
To edit the file, use the free Windows tool notepad ++ (it will be good for editing files stored on a linux server not to use the classic Windows notepad).
What can you do with a .htaccess file?
- to protect the files in the folder that is located
- to prohibit certain IPs from viewing your site
- to fix links that do not work with redirection to the correct ones
- to remove the category from URLs
- block IP addresses and search engines
- specify whether your website will use www or just the domain name
- to compress your website for faster speed
- remove all question marks (?) from the links on your site
- redirect all your visitors to a different web site, regardless of the URL they type.
- And much more
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