Frequently Asked Questions

The NearlyFreeSpeech.NET FAQ (*)

Customization (*)

What canonical name redirection settings are available?

How do I enable directory indexes for my site?

How do I create a website for the sole purpose of forwarding visitors to another website?

When should the rewrite log be used?

How do I change the text displayed for missing pages and other errors?

What should my site's canonical name be?

What is a per-alias document root?

What path should I use for .htpasswd files?

How do I restrict which IP addresses can access my site?

Due to the way our network handles incoming requests, it is not possible to use .htaccess files to block IP addresses from accessing your site; by the time the .htaccess file is considered, the incoming request has already been accepted.

However, we recognize the common desire to restrict accesses in this way. For this reason, we provide the ability to block accesses on a per-site per-IP basis at the edge of our network.

By default, all accesses are allowed. We maintain two lists for each site, an allow list and a deny list, which are processed in the order: allow, deny. Thus, an IP address that appears on both lists will be allowed. Entries to either list can contain either an IP address or a netblock specified in CIDR format (10.20.30.40/24).

You can see and manipulate your site's IP access controls (if any) in the "Config Information" box on the Site Information page.

To see exactly what blocked visitors see, visit blocked.nfshost.com, which blocks all visitors.

See also What do I do if someone is trying to waste my site's bandwidth?

How do I control redirection of HTTP visitors to HTTPS?

Can I set up more than one alias for my site?

How do I make my site fast and scalable?

What is a run script?

How do I change the server type my site uses?