HTACCESS stands for Hypertext Access. It is a directory-level configuration file used on Apache web servers.

By customizing the htaccess file, you can get the most out of your website’s functionality and can improve your search engine rankings through search engine optimization (SEO).

There are two common ways to access your .htaccess file :

1. File Manager : Login to your hosting account to access and modify your files. You can do this by using your web based File Manager.

2. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) : You can access through an FTP client software. I prefer Filezilla.

Browse to the root of your publicly viewable folder. This is mostly named as public_html or www. In this folder only your homepage located.

If you are already familiar with .htaccess, you can try these :

1. How To Create 301 URL Redirection?

How to Create A HTACESS file :

In some cases you won’t have an .htaccess file in that folder. You don’t need to worry for it. Creating a .htaccess is far simple.

1. Open Notepad or any other editor

2. Type the required code

3. Save it with an extension .htaccess

Note :

• There should be no text before the period. It has to be exactly “.htaccess”.

• It can also be saved without anything in it. HTACCESS file can also be a blank file.

Correct Permissions :

It is very important that your .htaccess file have the correct permissions for preventing others from modifying the file and take full control of your website/blog.

The permissions should be set at 644, rw-r-r. You can check the permissions by right clicking on the file and choosing permissions or CHMOD with the help of FTP Client Software.

Now you have created your .htaccess file. Watch out some worthy tutorials in upcoming posts to make your blog/website secure !