[wp-hackers] So, this whole .htaccess thing...

[Charles]

> It would be helpful if you offered an alternative solution.  [...]
> It doesn't seem fair to blame WordPress for using the file, with a
> "how dare you!" air...

Ha!  You can tell I'm in "how dare you!" mode when I use the <armsAkimbo>
tag.   :O)

Seriously, the solution I offered yesterday was to implement a router that
handled all requests, then constraining the use of .htaccess to route all
requests to that router.  The .htaccess file in this case might look like
this:

	RewriteEngine on
	RewriteRule !\.(js|ico|gif|jpg|png|css)$ index.php

I noticed that you're using CakePHP, and CakePHP (like most frameworks)
works the way I'm describing -- minimal .htaccess changes plus a router to
handle requests.  IMHO, using .htaccess for more than minimal server
configuration is a practice that should be avoided if possible.

I believe that replacing the use of .htaccess with a flexible, extensible
router would (1) make WordPress more portable (to IIS, for example), (2)
make WordPress easier to use (I learned quickly that one mistake in an
.htaccess file can take down your site, or worse, create unexpected and
hard-to-debug results), and (3) make WordPress more reliable (if plug-ins
didn't have to mess with plaintext files to extend/enhance routing).

This is my last post on this particular topic.  I mostly just wanted to put
the thought into people's heads for now.

-- Charles

P.S.  Great plug-ins and cheat sheet, Sean!


-----Original Message-----
From: wp-hackers-bounces at lists.automattic.com
[mailto:wp-hackers-bounces at lists.automattic.com] On Behalf Of Sean Hickey
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 11:25 AM
To: wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
Subject: Re: [wp-hackers] So, this whole .htaccess thing...

Charles,
It would be helpful if you offered an alternative solution.  All the content
management systems that I know of use the .htaccess file to provide pretty
URLs.  It doesn't seem fair to blame WordPress for using the file, with a
"how dare you!" air, when that's the standard all across the web.

- Sean
--
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