.htaccess files are configuration files on Apache servers that let you set some options like URL rewriting with mod_rewrite, how different filetypes are handled, banning of IP addresses, and other options.

Interesting link of the day: htaccess tips and tricks:

htaccess tricks

I found a script from the book Wicked Cool Shell Scripts that quickly extracts useful data from Apache log files.

I'm not sure what license the script is under so I can't reprint it here, but it's worth checking out.

Are you curious where Google goes when it spiders your Web site? There are several GNU tools that can quickly give you useful information.

These tips will probably work on any Unix-based operating system including Mac OS X and BSD, as well as GNU / Linux. I am using them on Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake. If you are using Windows, consider getting Cygwin or using a live CD.

There are two problems in Drupal 4.7 that may cause problems with search engine spiders.

Drupal .htaccess: Redirecting to www

If you don't know what URL canonicalization is, read this first.

.htaccess Files

An .htaccess file is a special kind of file that you can use to perform useful tasks like redirects and URL rewriting on the Apache server.