Help Needed With .htaccess File

[edgarf76]

Hi Guys, I am having trouble finding good tutorials to create and edit the .htaccess file for wordpress. The reason I am trying to edit my .htaccess page is to redirect my 404s.. I have been googling and looking on youtube and it brings me to the same place, which is the permalink page. This is the best tutorial I have found using wordpress and filezilla and they suggest changing the settings to 755 in filezilla?

http://youtu.be/0SOw2HhMpCo



I have adjusted the permalink page when I first made my sites, to the post name setting. I cannot find the .htaccess file in wordpress, I do see it in filezilla though. Can anyone help me find a better tutorial to learn how to use and edit the .htaccess file please. I would really appreaciate it. Thank You

[universal4]

There is no htaccess folder, only an htaccess file.

Rick
Universal4

[edgarf76]

I misstyped, I can see the file. I just don't know how to access is through wordpress. The tutorials are telling me to go to the permalink page. I am trying to find better tutorials.

[universal4]

Ftp the file, edit it with notepad and ftp it back up.

Test the redirect, if it doesn't work correctly you likely have the syntax wrong, if you get stuck, just ask here many of us can help make suggestions.

Rick
Universal4

[universal4]

Also, when you save the file, make sure you change the drop down from text file type to *.*

Otherwise it changes the file type and will add .txt to the extension.

If you keep getting stuck, let me know and we could set up a skype chat or something and I could help get you pointed in the right direction.

Rick
Universal4

[edgarf76]

Thank You! I thought I had to go into the actual file and put my links that are 404's in. I need to read this over tomorrow morning to comprehend it. Thank You Again!

[lots0]

Wordpress has a complicated .htaccess, be sure NOT to change any of the existing code and add your redirects at the bottom below the existing code, separated by one empty line.

[Rostick]

Just make sure to make a BACKUP of the file before editing it. Otherwise you could have a bad day.

i`m trying to comprehend .htaccess too, for some mod_rewrites, but no success so far

[edgarf76]

Thank you guys, so far so good! special thank you to @ultimatepokerbonus for walking me through the process! I put the 301 redirects in between the code, I was getting a 500 error otherwise, maybe it is the way I have it set up.

On another note, Speaking of backing data up. I have heard there are wordpress plugins that can back up my site instead of downloading through filezilla. For instance when I have to update wordpress, I back up through filezilla. Can any one recomend a good plugin for wordpress that takes care of backing up the data easier and more efficient? Thank You Guys again!

[universal4]

Here is one that a friend of mine recommended.
http://wordpress.org/plugins/snapshot-backup/

He has successfully used it to recover from screwing something up and said it was fairly easy to figure out. I have helped him on his sites in the past and it is easy to grab snapshots or backups before making changes.

I am always willing to look at others if anyone else has recommendations, but referrals of backup programs are more powerful if you have used them to recover from a mistake, or at leasted tested them in a failure scenario.

Rick
Universal4

edited to add: I do NOT know if this plugin backs up the htaccess, it's always good to grab that manually anyway, since in some situations a mistake in it could stop you from being able to log back in.

[rak]

The reason I am trying to edit my .htaccess page is to redirect my 404s..

Or you can avoid the Htaccess edit and use a wordpress plugin to handle your 404 redirects to pages

xhttp://wordpress.org/plugins/redirection/

Redirection is a WordPress plugin to manage 301 redirections and keep track of 404 errors without requiring knowledge of Apache .htaccess files.

[universal4]

htaccess is faster than any plugin would be, and the search engine bots see the redirect immediately and do not have to query a database first for the answer since the webserver provides the answer immediately.

Rick
Universal4

[edgarf76]

Thank you guys, so far so good with redirecting my 404's using the htacess. I have not tried the plugin for backing up. I wasnt sure which way to go as far as backing it up to my pc or to the cloud. Thanks Again Guys!