Files you cannot see by default.
WHAT THEY ARE
Files whose names begin with a full stop.
The most important is .htaccess.
WHY THEY ARE HIDDEN
Convention. They are configuration rather than content.
THE PROBLEM
FTP clients and File Manager hide them by default.
People migrate a site, miss .htaccess, and permalinks stop working.
HOW TO SHOW THEM
File Manager: Settings, then show hidden files.
FTP clients: a setting, usually under preferences or view options.
Enable it once and leave it on.
WHAT HIDDEN FILES YOU MAY HAVE
.htaccess: web server configuration .htpasswd: passwords for protected directories .user.ini: PHP settings Various application configuration files
WHAT TO DO WHEN MIGRATING
Enable hidden files before downloading anything.
This is the most common omission in a manual migration.
WHAT NOT TO DELETE
Anything beginning with a full stop that you did not create, without checking.
