subject: Redirecting Web Pages With .htaccess [print this page] There are many different things that you need to be aware of when it comes to successful web hosting and web site management. No matter what you are trying to do with the site, you need to have traffic coming to your site. If you have traffic, you can be a profitable business or if you are looking to spread the word about yourself or your message, traffic is essential too. However, if you have traffic heading to your pages and you need to move pages, you can run the risk of losing all of this traffic from search engines and feeds so it is vital to know how to keep hold of your traffic. Looking at redirecting web pages with .htaccess is an important tool in any web hosts arsenal when it comes to having a site they are happy with and is functioning in the manner they want it to.
Every time a web guest or even a spider requests access to a web page, your web server will look for the .htaccess file. This file is the place which holds all of the instructions to carry out the request and will also hold security information, information about redirection and process details on how to deal with errors. As you can see, this is an important file and it can have a huge impact on the smooth operation of your web site.
It is important to bear in mind that .htaccess is an extremely powerful configuration file. If a user was to make even a very small or simple error of syntax (for example, missing a space), it could result in content being displayed incorrectly or not being displayed at all. An issue which can make this problem even trickier to rectify is the fact that the .htaccess is a system file that is hidden. This means that you need to configure the FTP client to ensure it can show hidden files. This may be an option you need to search for depending on your control panel software but it is commonly found in the preference or options of your program.
The first step when aiming to redirect web pages with .htaccess is to set up a blank text file in your standard text editing software (Notepad is suitable) and then save the file as htaccess.txt. The reason that the file needs to be saved as a .txt file is the fact that a number of operating systems and indeed FTP applications may find it impossible to view or read these .htaccess files. It is not a default option for many systems so be sure to change this to be on the safe side. Once the file has been uploaded to your server, it will be possible to rename the file as a .htaccess file.
