Questions:
  1. I created a .htaccess file, but I cant see it now... where is it ?
  2. What is .htaccess? ...Creating a .htaccess file
  3. .htaccess and FrontPage
Answers:
  1. I created a .htaccess file, but I cant see it now... where is it ?
    We do not allow HIDDEN FILES on our server to be seen any other way except via SSH. If you do not have SSH, then you should not mess with HIDDEN FILES like .htaccess

    Hidden files start with a '.'
  2. What is .htaccess? ...Creating a .htaccess file
    What is .htaccess?

    You should not USE/EDIT your .htaccess file if you do not already have SSH access.
    ALSO, the instructions located here are self-contained... meaning, we DO NOT provide ANY technical instruction or help beyond the instructions show here. .htaccess is a VERY ADVANCED topic, and we WILL NOT assist you in creating or editing your .htaccess file.
    OTHER than custom error pages (which you must create at your OWN RISK, and on your own), there is no REAL need for 99% of all webmasters to need to edit their .htaccess file, because of the fact that we already provide functions to perform common tasks that would have otherwise required you to edit this file.
    Important Note: Do not edit the .htaccess file if you are using MS Frontpage! Frontpage uses the .htaccess file, and editing it may cause errors in your configuration.

    The .htaccess file can be placed in one or more of your /home/username/domainname-www subdirectories. Among other things, this file can be used to restrict access to other files and web pages.

    When a request for a web page is made, the web server first checks for an .htaccess file. The server begins this check by looking for .htaccess in the root of the current web directory, and on down the directory tree until it reaches the the

    directory where the requested file resides. Since the placement of the .htaccess file determines when it is executed, this fact can be used to restrict access only in certain subdirectories.

    Functions

    Restrict access to directories using passwords.

    Redirect hits onto another webpage.

    Control and set the messages generated for various error conditions.

    Edit Mime-types.

    Activate and deactivate various server features.

    To create an .htaccess file, make a text file as described below and upload it as ".htaccess"

    Except for the first function, these will only work for an .htaccess file placed in $-www. Add whichever functions you want to the same file.

    Restricting Access: Password Protection

    The directory you want protected must have an .htaccess file in it that looks like the following

    (do not put the comments in the actual .htaccess file):

    AuthUserFile /home/username/.passwd

    AuthGroupFile /home/username/.group

    AuthName "Protected Space"

    AuthType Basic

    require group users #users is the group of users that you give access to this directory.

    #require user username #if there is only one user in the group, you can substitute this line; remove the #.

    (Other possible groups are administrators, etc)

    Groups and users are stored in the .group file, and passwords are stored in .passwd. The .htaccess file looks for these files in the /home/username/ directory. Do not attempt to edit these manually!

    Redirects

    Redirecting allows you to send the user to, for example, new.html when they attempt to access old.html. To see this

    example in practice, simply add the following line to the .htaccess file:

    Redirect /directoryname/old.html http://domainname.com/directoryname/new.html

    Error Documents


    There are two main styles of error messages you may encounter. The first is the standard form, which looks something like:

    File Not found

    The requested URL domainname.com/filenamme.html was not found on this server.

    The second type comes in a variety of forms, but is customized by the webmaster. For example:

    Sorry

    We're sorry, but the requested URL does not exist. Please e-mail support@domainname.com if you need further assistance.

    Such messages are called error documents, and are web pages designed to give a polite explanation for error conditions. These error conditions generate numbers which are used to refer to the appropriate error condition. Some of the most common messages are as follows:

    Error in Client

    400 Bad syntax

    401 Unauthorized

    402 Not Used (Payment Granted)

    403 Forbidden

    404 Not Found

    Error in Server

    500 Internal Error

    501 Not Implemented

    502 Overloaded

    503 Gateway Timeout

    How to Customize Error Messages for Your Site

    First, create the HTML page you want to use as your error message.

    Upload it to your domainname-www directory.

    Next, go into your .htaccess file (or create one) and add lines which specify the substitution.

    Here are three examples of specifying error documents which will be called for a given error condition (note you can use relative or absolute addressing):

    ErrorDocument 401 http://domainname.com/nopasswd.html

    ErrorDocument 403 /forbidden.html

    ErrorDocument 404 http://www.domainname.com/nofile.html

    Mime Types

    You can add mime types to your .htaccess file with a line like:

    AddType text/html .txt
  3. .htaccess and FrontPage
    If you're running frontpage, you cannot custom-edit the .htaccess file. You'll either
    create a security hole or break frontpage. There are no other options.

    This includes ANY .htaccess file in your domain, including one in the CGI-bin.