How to Generate The Default WordPress .htaccess File?

Worldwide, WordPress is a well-liked blogging platform. Web developers are also likely to use WordPress as a blogging platform for their job, given its widespread popularity and user-friendliness. You will probably interact with the.htaccess file if you are using WordPress. Here’s more about WordPress.htaccess files: what they are, how they work, and how to create them.

What Is An .htaccess File?

The.htaccess file in your WordPress installation may go unnoticed until you need to interact with it. This is because, by default, the file is hidden and located in the project’s root directory, assuming it is present at all. There is nothing special about the.htaccess file within WordPress. Actually, the.htaccess file can be used by any website that makes use of the Apache web server. The primary configuration file for the server is the.htaccess file itself. When the server needs to start a website, it searches for the.htaccess file and runs it if it is found in the project’s root directory.

.htaccess file’s objective is to reconfigure some specific settings of the Apache web server. Therefore, this file is useful if some features of the server have to be turned on or off.

For instance, a typical scenario of work for the .htaccess file is to create redirects from the non-www URLs to the www URLs and vice versa. Other utilizations of this file comprise of setting privileges for some files, blocking the bots or adding the MIME types. The .htaccess file is particularly useful for managing the security settings of your WordPress installation. All these features are significant during the process of WordPress development, as you will have to configure and tweak the settings according to your requirements.

How To Generate The Default WordPress .htaccess File?

When you download and install WordPress on the Apache web server, it should consist of the .htaccess file by default. As mentioned earlier, the .htaccess file is hidden, therefore in order to view it; you will have to enable the option – ‘Show Hidden Files’ in your file system. In some situations, your WordPress installation might not contain the .htaccess file or it might get deleted by mistake; in this case, you will have to generate the .htaccess file.

The process of generating the .htaccess file on cPanel is mentioned below; you also have the option of creating this file on your computer and then uploading it on the web server through FTP client.

• Login to WordPress and go to the root directory of your installation. Generally, the root directory is named ‘public_html’.
• Once you are inside this directory, create a new text file and name it .htaccess.
• Open this file in any text editor. The .htaccess file comprises of a few lines of code that show the default settings of the web server.
• Copy this code and paste it on the new .htaccess file that you created.
• Save the file and exit.

You have now successfully generated your own .htaccess file. Visit your WordPress website to check if the file is working perfectly. If the .htaccess file is configured incorrectly, it might result in 500 internal error.

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Conclusion

The.htaccess file is essential to the correct operation of WordPress websites. Additionally, it offers insight into the web server’s extra capabilities, particularly those that pertain to the security settings.