Server Configuration

H5BP includes a .htaccess file for the Apache HTTP
server If you are not using Apache
as your web server.

A .htaccess (hypertext access) file is an Apache HTTP server configuration file

The .htaccess file is mostly used for

• Rewriting URLs
• Controlling cache
• Authentication
• Server-side includes
• Redirects
• Gzipping
• If you have access to the main server configuration file (usually called httpd. conf).
• You should add the logic from the .htaccess file.
• For example, a <Directory> section in the main configuration file.
• This is usually the recommended way, as using .htaccess files slows down Apache!

The .htaccess is used for

• Allowing cross-origin access to web fonts
• CORS header for images when browsers request it
• Enable 404.html as 404 error document
• Making the website experience better for IE users better
• Media UTF-8 as character encoding for text/html and text/plain
• Enabling the rewrite URLs engine
• Forcing or removing the www. at the beginning of a URL
• It blocks access to directories without a default document
• It blocks access to files that can expose sensitive information.
• It reduces MIME type security risks
• It forces compressing (gzipping)
• It tells the browser whether they should request a specific file from the
  server or whether they should grab it from the browser’s cache

When using .htaccess we recommend reading all inline comments (the rules after
a #) in the file once. There is a bunch of optional stuff in it.

If you want to know more about the .htaccess file check out the
Apache HTTP server docs or more
specifically the ht access section