How can I configure my website so that the trailing ".html" isn't required in URLs?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to remove .html from URL

i have created a website in a software I own. The software uploads the site through an FTP server. For some reason, all the pages have .html at the end. My problem is if the user says www.mydomain.com/live instead of www.mydomain.com/live.html, they get a 404 error. How do I fix this to where they do not have to add .html at the end of the pages?

What web server are you running (IIS, Apache, etc.)? – Michael Petrotta Jul 22 '12 at 00:15 — Michael Petrotta, Jul 22 '12 at 00:15
i am not sure...i am using bluehost's FTP server – Hunter Mitchell Jul 22 '12 at 00:26 — Hunter Mitchell, Jul 22 '12 at 00:26

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '12 at 00:13

1

You can do this with a simple .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.html

answered Jul 22 '12 at 00:13

Niet the Dark Absol

311,322
76
447
566

so, how do i add this to my site... – Hunter Mitchell Jul 22 '12 at 00:14
Just [create a `.htaccess` file](http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/htaccess.html). – tiwo Jul 22 '12 at 00:15
sorry, but how. I am 16 and have absolutly never heard of that type of file... – Hunter Mitchell Jul 22 '12 at 00:17
Tiwo very kindly linked to the documentation. It's right there in the first paragraph under What they are/How to use them. – Jezen Thomas Jul 22 '12 at 00:19
ha, wow i did not even see the link – Hunter Mitchell Jul 22 '12 at 00:21
so, do i just upload it to my ftp...the file? – Hunter Mitchell Jul 22 '12 at 00:22
The documentation explains that, @Elite, in the *What they are/How to use them* section. You are running Apache, right? – Michael Petrotta Jul 22 '12 at 00:24
What do you mean....i am using bluehost's FTP server – Hunter Mitchell Jul 22 '12 at 00:25
In the end, .html files are hosted (almost always) by an HTTP server, also known as a web server. Bluehost uses Apache, which supports .htaccess files, so that's good. – Michael Petrotta Jul 22 '12 at 00:29
ok, thanks...also, why are people trying to close my question...i have found everyone's answers helpful! – Hunter Mitchell Jul 22 '12 at 00:31
@EliteGamer Your question is being voted as an Exact Duplicate of the countless other "how do you make a url without an extension"-type questions. – Niet the Dark Absol Jul 22 '12 at 00:32
Also, technically, this isn't an on-topic question on Stack Overflow. There are [better sites for this](http://webmasters.stackexchange.com/), but **DON'T ASK THERE**. There are hundreds of dupes of this question. Just search for .htaccess. – Michael Petrotta Jul 22 '12 at 00:34

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '12 at 00:16

1

Another possibility is this: put the content into live/index.html. Then, requests to /live are usually redirected to /live/, which is then served from live/index.html.

answered Jul 22 '12 at 00:16

tiwo

2,916
1
19
31

How can I configure my website so that the trailing ".html" isn't required in URLs?

2 Answers2