I'm having problems with old URL's lead to 404 error pages and have been advised that one solution is to redirect the old URL's to the new pages by editing the .htaccess file and using the command: Redirect 301 /page2/page2.html http://www.typarke.co.uk/camping-holidays/camping-in-tents.html (real example of what I need to achieve). I have had a scout around for .htaccess in the Plesk control panel but cannot find one. Can anyone please help?
you just create one in your httpdocs directory and add what you need. they can be a bit tricky to get right but if you google for what you want to do you should be able to find some examples as it's a pretty common thing to do. Hope that helps.
Thanks very much for your reply. One other thing, does it matter what I call the .htaccess file? Can I call it something like 'redirect.htaccess'? Thanks for your help.
Yes it does, it must be called .htaccess and remember that you need to create it using a text editor such as Wordpad, that will not create spurious formatting characters and the like!
But do I need to add a prefix to .htaccess? I only ask because when I save '.htaccess' on Mac OS the OS hides the file because '.' is reserved for system files. I can view them if I use terminal to show hidden system files and upload it that way I suppose.
Nothing else needed. That is correct, it is a system file and is hidden. When you have copied it across to the server double-check that the file name is still .htaccess.
