The file '.htaccess' is used by the apache webserver to allow you as the site owner to control some of the more powerful options on the sever without having to modify system owned files.

Other FAQ entries will tell you about things you can do with the file however there are some general rules when it come to .htaccess files...

• You can have more than one .htaccess file as they follow the directory hierarchy with a file affecting all directories below it and files in a subdirectory maybe changing those options.
• .htaccess files must be ftp'd as ascii files.
• Comments can be made in a file by starting a line with hash (#).