Here’s what you need to know.
Q: What is a .htaccess file?
A: htaccess is short for Hypertext Access, and is a configuration file used by Apache-based web servers that controls the directory that it “lives” in–as well as all the subdirectories underneath that directory.
Q: How to find the .htaccess file?
A: The file can be accessed through either your
cPanel > File Manager (Show hidden files)
OR
FTP / SFTP, which you can create through your cPanel. (Recommended) 🙂
My NOTES: (Lines with the hashtag ‘#’ symbol are comments.)
## When you are trying to redirect visitors from your old URL.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^old-domain.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.old-domain.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://new-domain.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC]
## Codes below will help with improving Speed and SEO
# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} libwww-perl.*
RewriteRule .* – [F,L]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress
## KEEP ALIVE
Header set Connection keep-alive
## End of Keep alive
#Add this line of code to .htaccess file (for expires tag error removal)
# Enable expirations
ExpiresActive On
# Default directive
ExpiresDefault “access plus 1 month”
# My favicon
ExpiresByType image/x-icon “access plus 1 year”
# Images
ExpiresByType image/gif “access plus 1 month”
ExpiresByType image/png “access plus 1 month”
ExpiresByType image/jpg “access plus 1 month”
ExpiresByType image/jpeg “access plus 1 month”
# CSS
ExpiresByType text/css “access 1 month”
# Javascript
ExpiresByType application/javascript “access plus 1 year”
# BEGIN GZIP
mod_gzip_on Yes
mod_gzip_dechunk Yes
mod_gzip_item_include file \.(html?|txt|css|js|php|pl)$
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^application/x-javascript.*
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^text/.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude rspheader ^Content-Encoding:.*gzip.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude mime ^image/.*
mod_gzip_item_include handler ^cgi-script$
# END GZIP
# START – Disable server signature #
ServerSignature Off
# END – Disable server signature #
If you have questions or need any help understanding and implementing these changes, please let me know at delice@wpquicksupport.com
