Why using the htaccess file?

htaccess file is quite useful for the following reasons:

1. If you’re reorganising your site and moving pages around,you can use the .htaccess file to redirect visitors from the old page to the new one.

2. Another function of the .htaccess file is to allow you to serve up pages which include PHP or Server Side Includes (SSI) but whose file name still uses the .htm or .html extension.

3. Allow or prevent directory browsing.

4. Because the server should check the .htaccess file before anything is delivered to the client, you can use it to password protect parts of your site.

5. You can also block various bots with the .htaccess file — for example, you can keep some spammers out, or prevent search engine spiders from indexing your images folder.