Why is my .htaccess file not OK?

If you are running Question2Answer under the Apache web server, the .htaccess file serves a special purpose. It enables neat URLs to be used by automatically re-mapping incoming page requests to the index.php script in the main Question2Answer directory.

The successful operation of .htaccess depends on the setup of your server and site. If you are being told that neat URLs are not available in the administration center, you should review the solutions below.

Possible reasons why .htaccess is not working

1. You are not running the Apache web server. In this case, you should read your web server's documentation on how to perform URL rewriting, and reproduce the behavior of .htaccess as appropriate.

2. You have not installed the .htaccess file, or it was accidentally renamed. Note that on Unix-based systems (Mac/Linux), files starting with a period are hidden by default. Check the settings in your file browser. On the command line you can use ls -a to view hidden files.

3. Apache has been configured to ignore .htaccess files in the directory where you installed Question2Answer. You can fix this in your Apache configuration or by asking your hosting provider. Specifically you want the directive AllowOverride All to be included in the appropriate <Directory> section of your Apache configuration file. Alternatively you can copy the contents of the .htaccess file to that section.

4. Question2Answer is accessed through a subdirectory on your website domain. Depending on your Apache configuration, you may need to uncomment the RewriteBase / directive inside the .htaccess file by removing the preceding #. You may also need to add the subdirectory name after the / slash in this directive. You can read more about RewriteBase here.

5. Apache's rewriting module has not been activated. Ensure that mod_rewrite is being loaded in Apache's configuration file.

If none of the above work, it might help to search for .htaccess at the Question2Answer Q&A.