htaccess file

Hello @nonemauro

Thank you for reaching out and I am happy to help!

If you have had the W3 Total Cache installed, there may be some residual rules in the .htaccess file if the plugin was not removed propperly

You can manyally remove the rules added by the W3 Total Cache. Please make sure to make a backup of the original .htaccess file before doing this.

If you can share the content of the .htaccess I can tell you which part shold be removed

Thanks!

Hi @vmarko I appreciate you taking a look at our .htaccess file, you will find it below. Please let me know which parts need to be removed.

# BEGIN W3TC CDN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
</IfModule>
# END W3TC CDN
# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
AddType text/css .css
AddType text/x-component .htc
AddType application/x-javascript .js
AddType application/javascript .js2
AddType text/javascript .js3
AddType text/x-js .js4
AddType text/html .html .htm
AddType text/richtext .rtf .rtx
AddType text/plain .txt
AddType text/xsd .xsd
AddType text/xsl .xsl
AddType text/xml .xml
AddType video/asf .asf .asx .wax .wmv .wmx
AddType video/avi .avi
AddType image/avif .avif
AddType image/avif-sequence .avifs
AddType image/bmp .bmp
AddType application/java .class
AddType video/divx .divx
AddType application/msword .doc .docx
AddType application/vnd.ms-fontobject .eot
AddType application/x-msdownload .exe
AddType image/gif .gif
AddType application/x-gzip .gz .gzip
AddType image/x-icon .ico
AddType image/jpeg .jpg .jpeg .jpe
AddType image/webp .webp
AddType application/json .json
AddType application/vnd.ms-access .mdb
AddType audio/midi .mid .midi
AddType video/quicktime .mov .qt
AddType audio/mpeg .mp3 .m4a
AddType video/mp4 .mp4 .m4v
AddType video/mpeg .mpeg .mpg .mpe
AddType video/webm .webm
AddType application/vnd.ms-project .mpp
AddType application/x-font-otf .otf
AddType application/vnd.ms-opentype ._otf
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database .odb
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart .odc
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula .odf
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics .odg
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation .odp
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet .ods
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text .odt
AddType audio/ogg .ogg
AddType video/ogg .ogv
AddType application/pdf .pdf
AddType image/png .png
AddType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint .pot .pps .ppt .pptx
AddType audio/x-realaudio .ra .ram
AddType image/svg+xml .svg .svgz
AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf
AddType application/x-tar .tar
AddType image/tiff .tif .tiff
AddType application/x-font-ttf .ttf .ttc
AddType application/vnd.ms-opentype ._ttf
AddType audio/wav .wav
AddType audio/wma .wma
AddType application/vnd.ms-write .wri
AddType application/font-woff .woff
AddType application/font-woff2 .woff2
AddType application/vnd.ms-excel .xla .xls .xlsx .xlt .xlw
AddType application/zip .zip
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType text/css A31536000
ExpiresByType text/x-component A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A31536000
ExpiresByType application/javascript A31536000
ExpiresByType text/javascript A31536000
ExpiresByType text/x-js A31536000
ExpiresByType text/html A3600
ExpiresByType text/richtext A3600
ExpiresByType text/plain A3600
ExpiresByType text/xsd A3600
ExpiresByType text/xsl A3600
ExpiresByType text/xml A3600
ExpiresByType video/asf A31536000
ExpiresByType video/avi A31536000
ExpiresByType image/avif A31536000
ExpiresByType image/avif-sequence A31536000
ExpiresByType image/bmp A31536000
ExpiresByType application/java A31536000
ExpiresByType video/divx A31536000
ExpiresByType application/msword A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-msdownload A31536000
ExpiresByType image/gif A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-gzip A31536000
ExpiresByType image/x-icon A31536000
ExpiresByType image/jpeg A31536000
ExpiresByType image/webp A31536000
ExpiresByType application/json A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-access A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/midi A31536000
ExpiresByType video/quicktime A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/mpeg A31536000
ExpiresByType video/mp4 A31536000
ExpiresByType video/mpeg A31536000
ExpiresByType video/webm A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-project A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-font-otf A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-opentype A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/ogg A31536000
ExpiresByType video/ogg A31536000
ExpiresByType application/pdf A31536000
ExpiresByType image/png A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/x-realaudio A31536000
ExpiresByType image/svg+xml A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-tar A31536000
ExpiresByType image/tiff A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-opentype A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/wav A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/wma A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-write A31536000
ExpiresByType application/font-woff A31536000
ExpiresByType application/font-woff2 A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-excel A31536000
ExpiresByType application/zip A31536000
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_brotli.c>
AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS text/css text/x-component application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript text/x-js text/html text/richtext text/plain text/xsd text/xsl text/xml image/bmp application/java application/msword application/vnd.ms-fontobject application/x-msdownload image/x-icon application/json application/vnd.ms-access video/webm application/vnd.ms-project application/x-font-otf application/vnd.ms-opentype application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text audio/ogg application/pdf application/vnd.ms-powerpoint image/svg+xml application/x-shockwave-flash image/tiff application/x-font-ttf application/vnd.ms-opentype audio/wav application/vnd.ms-write application/font-woff application/font-woff2 application/vnd.ms-excel
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
# BROTLI_COMPRESS by extension
AddOutputFilter BROTLI_COMPRESS js css htm html xml
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/x-component application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript text/x-js text/html text/richtext text/plain text/xsd text/xsl text/xml image/bmp application/java application/msword application/vnd.ms-fontobject application/x-msdownload image/x-icon application/json application/vnd.ms-access video/webm application/vnd.ms-project application/x-font-otf application/vnd.ms-opentype application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text audio/ogg application/pdf application/vnd.ms-powerpoint image/svg+xml application/x-shockwave-flash image/tiff application/x-font-ttf application/vnd.ms-opentype audio/wav application/vnd.ms-write application/font-woff application/font-woff2 application/vnd.ms-excel
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
# DEFLATE by extension
AddOutputFilter DEFLATE js css htm html xml
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch "\.(css|htc|less|js|js2|js3|js4|CSS|HTC|LESS|JS|JS2|JS3|JS4)$">
FileETag MTime Size
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Pragma "public"
Header append Cache-Control "public"
Header unset Set-Cookie
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(html|htm|rtf|rtx|txt|xsd|xsl|xml|HTML|HTM|RTF|RTX|TXT|XSD|XSL|XML)$">
FileETag MTime Size
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Pragma "public"
Header append Cache-Control "public"
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|avif|avifs|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|webp|json|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|webm|mpp|otf|_otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|ogv|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|_ttf|wav|wma|wri|woff|woff2|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip|ASF|ASX|WAX|WMV|WMX|AVI|AVIF|AVIFS|BMP|CLASS|DIVX|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|GIF|GZ|GZIP|ICO|JPG|JPEG|JPE|WEBP|JSON|MDB|MID|MIDI|MOV|QT|MP3|M4A|MP4|M4V|MPEG|MPG|MPE|WEBM|MPP|OTF|_OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|OGV|PDF|PNG|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|RA|RAM|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TAR|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|_TTF|WAV|WMA|WRI|WOFF|WOFF2|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW|ZIP)$">
FileETag MTime Size
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Pragma "public"
Header append Cache-Control "public"
Header unset Set-Cookie
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Referrer-Policy "no-referrer-when-downgrade"
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Browser Cache

Hello @nonemauro

Thank you for your feedback.
Yes, these are residual rules and you can remove those. However, please note that if you are not using any other plugin for optimization, the rules that are adding compression and the browser Caching will no longer apply once this is removed.

Thanks!

@vmarko My knowledge with .htaccess files is very limited, as I do not have much experience editing them.. would it be possible to walk me through exactly what needs to stay and what can be removed?

We do not use any other plugin for adding compression or browser Caching at this time.

Hello @nonemauro

Thank you for your feedback.
Simply remove anything that starts with # BEGIN W3TC everything between that and the # END W3TC

Those are the rules added by the W3 Total Cache.

Thanks!

@vmarko Sounds easy enough! However, that’s the entire file.

Hello @nonemauro

Thank you for your feedback.
It seems that your website is hostied on a server that is using Nginx+Apache. Meaning that your the entire .htaccess is created by the W3 Total Cache as the Nginx is handling other files.

So please make a copy of the .htaccess file and delete it completly since the nginx.conf is handling everything.

Thanks!

@vmarko oh I see.. you are correct in that we are using Nginx+Apache… I will go ahead and delete the .htaccess file after I make a backup of it.

So just to understand.. since our website is hosted on a server that is using Nginx+Apache, does that mean the .htaccess file is obsolete?

Hello @nonemauro

In this case yes. Because the Nginx is handling everything based on your hosting settings.
If you decide to use some optimization later, like re-using the W3 Total Cache again which also detects the .htaccess

Thanks!

@vmarko Thanks! You’ve been a great help!

I am wondering if you could help me with another issue which could be related to the .htaccess file and Nginx.

We are getting 404 error pages when we upload a PDF to a directory called /policies via FTP, see here: https://www.cdsbeo.on.ca/policies/413-Progressive_Discipline.pdf

It’s odd because other pdf files in that folder load just fine, see here: https://www.cdsbeo.on.ca/policies/404-Use_of_Service_Animals_in_Schools.pdf

And the permissions are set the same for both files. Could this issue be caused by our .htaccess file or Nginx ?

Hello @nonemauro

Thank you for your feedback.
This is out of the W3TC scope and you should check with your hosting provider why this throws 404.
I am unusre how and if it’s related to your config file

Thanks!

@vmarko It’s a strange issue since we believe the permissions are set correctly, so my next assumption was that the .htaccess file might be the cause.