WCTO:Dev 2012: Getting started with .htaccess for WordPress

An introduction on how to configure your .htaccess file to do more than what WordPress provides by default. The talk will cover basics like setting up a preferred URL, and redirecting old page URLs for better SEO. How to optimize your site's files using gzip will also be covered, as well as preventing image hot linking, and more. A sample .htaccess file will be provided to all attendees. A useful introduction to a very important file for any shared hosting environment.

Transcript

1. November 3, 2012 Getting started with .htaccess for WordPress WordCamp Toronto: Developers 2012
2. Shannon Smith Web Developer at Café Noir Design www.cafenoirdesign.com @cafenoirdesign
3. What We’ll Cover ✤ Introduction ✤ Getting Started ✤ .htaccess for SEO ✤ .htaccess for Security ✤ .htaccess for Optimization ✤ Resources ✤ Closing
4. Introduction
5. What Is an .htaccess File? .htaccess files (or “distributed configuration files”) provide a way to make configuration changes on a per-directory basis Official Apache Documentation
6. In English, Please? .htaccess is a configuration file for use on web servers running the Apache Web Server software
7. Why Do We Care? Photo: Linus Bohman
8. What Does It Look Like?
9. Where Is It?
10. When Can We Use .htaccess ? ✤ Apache Web Server software ✤ Linux/Unix server ✤ Shared Hosting
11. But...Measure Twice, Cut Once Photo:Kari
12. Getting Started
13. Basic Syntax
14. Commenting
15. Enable Basic Rewriting
16. Allow URL Rewriting
17. Rewrite Base
18. Match a Regex String
19. Use Conditionals
20. Rewrite URLs
21. A Basic mod_rewrite Command RewriteRule Pattern Substitution [Flag(s)]
22. That’s It!
23. Troubleshooting
24. Why Isn’t It Working? “I don’t see anything." Your Text Editor Photo:Emilio Labrador
25. Why Isn’t It Working? “Are you sure you spelled that correctly?" Your English Teacher
26. Why Isn’t It Working? “You can’t do that." Apache Photo:Achim Hepp
27. Why Isn’t It Working? “Welcome." The Infinite Loop Photo:smittenkittenorig
28. Why Isn’t It Working? “We don’t allow that for security reasons". Your Hosting Provider Photo:Sam Howzit
29. .htaccess for SEO
30. Basic Rules of SEO ✤ Don’t repeat yourself ✤ Don’t repeat yourself ✤ Don’t repeat yourself Photo: jerebu
31. Redirect a Single Page
32. To www or Not to www
33. Redirect Additional Domain Names
34. .htaccess for Security
35. Hide Your Files
36. Hide Your Server Information
37. Block Bad Referring Sites
38. Block Site Rippers
39. .htaccess for Optimization
40. Prevent Image Hotlinking
41. File Compression
42. Set Caching Limits
43. Use Asset Versioning <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css?v=2">
44. Turn Off ETags
45. Resources
46. Resources ✤ Official Apache Documentation http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/howto/htaccess.html ✤ .htaccess made easy by Jeff Starr http://htaccessbook.com ✤ Protect your WordPress site with .htaccess (.net magazine) http://www.netmagazine.com/tutorials/protect-your-wordpress-site-htaccess ✤ Comprehensive guide to .htaccess http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/htaccess.shtml ✤ The Ultimate Guide to .htaccess Files (Nettuts) http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/the-ultimate-guide-to-htaccess-files/ ✤ Practical Mod_Rewrite for Web Developers http://www.snipe.net/2009/02/practical-mod_rewrite/ ✤ mod_rewrite Cheat Sheet http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/mod_rewrite-cheat-sheet/ ✤ Stupid htaccess Tricks http://perishablepress.com/stupid-htaccess-tricks/
47. Closing
48. Shannon Smith Web Developer at Café Noir Design https://speakerdeck.com/u/cafenoirdesign www.cafenoirdesign.com @cafenoirdesign