Editing .htaccess (section)

{{short description|Directory-level configuration file}}
[[File:Htaccess.jpg|thumb|alt=.htaccess file|.htaccess file]]
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An '''.htaccess''' (''[[hypertext]] access'') file is a [[directory (file systems)|directory]]-level [[configuration file]] supported by several [[web server]]s, used for configuration of [[website]]-access issues, such as [[URL redirection]], [[URL shortening]], [[computer access control|access control]] (for different [[web page]]s and files), and more. The 'dot' ([[Full stop|period]] or [[full stop]]) before the file name makes it a [[Hidden file and hidden directory|hidden file]] in [[Unix]]-based environments.

A site could have more than one <kbd>.htaccess</kbd> file, and the files are placed inside the web tree (i.e. inside directories and their sub-directories), and hence their other name ''distributed configuration files''.<ref>[https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/howto/htaccess.html Apache HTTP Server Tutorial: .htaccess files - Guide at Apache.org.]</ref>

<kbd>.htaccess</kbd> files act as a subset of the server's global configuration file (like <kbd>[[httpd.conf]]</kbd>) for the directory that they are in, or all sub-directories.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/core.html#allowoverride | title = AllowOverride Directive | access-date = 2009-03-02}}</ref>

The original purpose of <kbd>.htaccess</kbd>—reflected in its name—was to allow per-directory access control by, for example, requiring a password to access [[World Wide Web]] content. More commonly, however, the <kbd>.htaccess</kbd> files define or override many other configuration settings such as content type, [[character set]], [[Common Gateway Interface]] handlers, etc.