I’m a public interest lawyer and law professor rather than a computer professional, so I need help on what I thought would be a very simple problem.
I have had several websites up for more than a dozen years. In each case, and under half a dozen different Internet providers, if someone typed into their browser the name of a file in a directory or subdirectory without a .html at the end, the server would nevertheless deliver the proper file.
ACTUAL EXAMPLES FROM MY CURRENT WEBSITE:
a request for http://banzhaf.net/ec2000 would bring up http://banzhaf.net/ec2000.html
a request for http://banzhaf.net/docs/cnn wold return http://banzhaf.net/docs/cnn.html
Now, suddenly, upon switching to a new IP, requests for files without the .html extension result in a “404 file not found” message, but adding the extension produces the proper file.
In an attempt to cure this problem, I added an .htaccess file to my root directory which reads:
Options +Indexes
AddType text/html .shtml
AddHandler server-parsed .html
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes
However, adding this file does nothing to cure the problem. Although my IP support claims that there is no solution, I don’t see why it can’t be cured with a proper .htaccess file.
Perhaps the file I uploaded isn’t worded properly; maybe it has to be put somewhere else; maybe I have to put some line of code in the apache file or directory so that the system will properly act upon my .htacess file, or there is some other problem I don’t understand.
MORE DETAILED INFO CAN BE FOUND AT: http://banzhaf.net/htaccess1.html
I would appreciate any help I can get, and the clearer the better. Thanks!