Throughout many of these posts, you’ve been asked to access and edit the .htaccess file so now we’re going to look at what it is and how to create and edit it.
It is a very important system file that is in the root directory of your website and is one of the most useful tools you have for improving the speed and performance of your website.
What is .htaccess File?
The .htaccess file is a system file that belongs to Apache server. It is a configuration file which talks to the server and acts as per the instructions in the file.
Basically, it is the way in which the Apache server handles per-directory configuration changes. WordPress uses the .htaccess file to manipulate the way in which Apache serves the files from root and subdirectories.
The (.) at the start of the name signifies that it is a hidden file so, when you need to access it, you need to ensure that your system has ‘Show Hidden Files’ enabled.
How to Create an htaccess File
Most of the time, WordPress will automatically create the file the very first time you decide on your permalink structure.
However, sometimes you may need to do it yourself because WordPress can’t, usually because of read/write issues or create permissions issues with the server. So, here’s how to create it manually:
- Make a text file on your computer
- Copy and then paste the code below into the file:
# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress
- Save the file, changing the file extension to .htaccess instead of .txt
- Use the cPanel file manger to upload it to the root directory of your website.
- Upload it to …/home/yourwebsite/public_html/.htaccess
How to Edit the htaccess File
There are a few ways to access and edit the .htaccess file:
Through cPanel
- Login to the hosting account or straight into cPanel
- Go to File Manager
- In Settings, make sure that “Turn On Hidden File” is enabled
- Locate the root directory for your website
- Look in ‘public_html’ for the .htaccess file
- Right click it and follow the instructions given to edit it
Through Yoast Plugin
Yoast is one of the most popular plugins in WordPress and it allows you to access the .htaccess file and edit it. You could also use WP Htaccess Editor but, before you use any plugin to edit the file, do back up your website first.
Why Use .htaccess to Improve Website Performance?
It is one of the most important files for your website, offering options to enable and/or disable many safety features and change the way the search engine bots are handled.
You can also use it to add URL write/rewrite rules for redirections and it can be used to help safeguard against spammers on your website.
One of the most common uses is to enable GZip compression, or to add Expires Headers, change eTag to leverage browser caching and more. In short it is, as I said, one of the best ways to manage performance and speed.