ok heres my situation. I recently got web hosting from a popular company (not sure I can mention the name). I got the hosting for a game I play. It's a first person shooter that requires several different files. The game allows clients to be able to download the files from an outside (http) source. Now in the past I have set this up with no problems, but this time theres a problem. It seems that the company I used blocks directory listing of files, which is needed for what I want. I called my company asking if they could fix this, all they said was "You need to create a .htaccess file for this to work". That was as much help as they could be. So seeing as I know NOTHINg of .htaccess files I browsed the net.

From what I make of it, I just open up notepad add a line of text Options +Indexes Click SAVE AS and title it .htaccess then upload it and edit the file name, cause windows does not allow blank names, so it becomes .htaccess.txt... Now I did this with no luck, so I'm guessing I am doing something wrong.. heres my questions:

Is that the correct way to make a .htaccess file?

Where should the .htaccess file be placed? The files I need are in a folder, so the directory path would look something like this http://www.anysite.com/Foldername/ And then there should be a list of files and other folders (The file/folder structure has to remain in tact)

Is there an easier way to do what I'm looking to do?

If I haven't made myself clear and you have any questions, please feel free to ask..

Thanks in advance for any help you can be

Options +Indexes is the entry you need in a .htaccess in your document_root, i.e the / part of your site.

Google for "Options + Indexes" for ideas on whys and wherefores

This post has been edited by Peter1968: Mar 10 2007, 05:28 AM

Looks right to me. You place the .htaccess in the topmost directory you want it to affect. .htaccess works on per directory basis. That is, it affects the directory it's in and those below that one in the file structure. It doesn't work upwards.

I think you can save as .htaccess by quoting the file name in the save box. Or you could rename the disk file. My personal find it that associating the "extension" with a program makes Windows agree to saving the normal way.

But thats the thing.. I did all that and it's still not working.. Thats where I'm lost.. Not sure if I'm allowed to post a link here, but I believe I can post a URL to a screen shot (I hope anyway)..

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4241/zzzzzzzzzzzcc6.jpg

As you can see here, thats the message I get when I try to go to the folder via the HTTP path..

maybe this might help. the server is a windows server, It has the root folder, ion which the folder I am trying to access is in. In the folder I want to access there are 5 other folders as well as other files... Not sure if any of that makes a difference, but figured adding it couldn't hurt..

What is the server software your host uses? Basically, if your host has AllowOverrides enables in the httpd.conf then you should be able to set per directory/site configs with .htaccess

Apache's lowdown on Options anyway.
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/core.html#options

Not really sure where to look for this.. All I can say is that the hosting company I am using is godaddy and I have ASP.Net Runtime Version 1.1

I'm new to all this, altho I have a grasp on the concept, as far as making this work, well thats the problem. If someone can give me a step by step on exactly how to do this, I would be very thankful.

Tell us the URL of your site and one of us will tell you what your server software is pretty quickly. My example is for pache. If your site runs IIS, which if it uses .NET, I suspect it does, then you'd need to check out IIS's documentation.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...5.mspx?mfr=true

Maybe the place to start.

That should be Apache.

www.ricksfiles.com Thats my URL, the files that I am trying to access are located in a sub folder called cstrike (http://www.ricksfiles.com/cstrike).... Thanx for your help..

Here's the answer for what server is being used:Anyone have experience with MS IIS?

Since when does IIS use .htaccess?

Or doesn't 'company' above refer to the hosting company? If your host told you to do that on an IIS server you are entitled to tell him where he can stick his htaccess file.

I'm da IIS expert!
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324064

Thats what the guy told me.. He even told me they couldn't help me with the htaccess file, just told me what it was called.. Thats why I turned to a community that would know about this. Seeing as I know nothing about htaccess... So what should I do? Suggestions? Step by step instructions? Baseball bat to go down to the company and "reason" with them? lol anything at this point would help..

My sympathies. :-D

Thank you, Darin.


See my aother post above.


Yeah. That or move to another host. I'd recommend a Linux host. You can use .htaccess then, you know.

Well if thats the case I could always just call them and have it switched to a linux server.. is that what I should do?

I think you missed my post above about how to do it on ISS. The link to the info:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324064
Click the Configuring Folder Settings link.

Regarding your host, so they have both IIS and Linux servers? I guess it could have been a mistake to tell you to use htaccess then. Clumsy though, especially since it should have been clear to them that you don't know these things.

Ok I clicked the link. I appreciate all the help you are trying to be, but to be honest, reading that page is like handing a English book to a 10 year old Japanese child.. I have no real clue about any of that. Thats why I asked for a step by step..

I don't know "where" to do that if you aren't actually in the same room as the server. Do you have some kind of Control panel and does it have similar options?

IIS isn't as bad as some of the copyleft zealots and MS haters would have you believe it is. Properly configured, it can be as robust and as fast as Apache on Unix, and likewise, properly secured, it can be just as secure.

Though, personally, I'll stick with Apache.