The .htaccess file is a very powerful tool - amongst other things, it allows you to password protect folders, redirect users automatically, use custom error pages, change your file extensions, ban users by IP address, only allow users with certain IP addresses, stop directory listings and use an alternate index file.
Creating the file is easy, you just need enter the appropriate code into a text editor (like notepad). You may run into problems with saving the file because .htaccess is a strange file name (the file actually has no name but a 8 letter file extension). You may need to name it something else (e.g. htaccess.txt) and then upload it to the server using an ftp client program (.htaccess files must be uploaded in ASCII mode, not BINARY). Once you have uploaded the file you can then rename it using your FTP program.
You may need to CHMOD the htaccess file to 644 or (RW-R–R–). This makes the file usable by the server, but prevents it from being read by a browser, which could seriously compromise your security.
For more information on .htaccess files see the Comprehensive guide to .htaccess.
In my next post I’ll be going through some cool things you can do with the .htaccess file
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