the [ .htacess ] file in my [ public_html ] folder is 6 KiB in size with 220 lines of code - could you find the extra 'space' character that Apache did not like - after you found which [ .htacess ] it was in ?
how would a average user - of a x10hosting's free-hosting account - know what to look for ?
if you do that - it could kill you site or make more errors - the [ .htacess ] file(s) is there for a reason
and to all folders below the one it is in
Apache could like your [ .htacess ] file - and you could receive a "500 Internal Server Error" for some other reason
"500 Internal Server Error" is a generic error message, given when no more specific message is suitable. There are a number of causes for a 500 Internal Server Error to display in your web browser
x10hosting's free-hosting accounts do not have access to Apache's (server) log files
Yes, the 500 internet server error message can appear for any reason, what I was saying is that it is server related which means the .htacess file could be to do with it.
At the moment, xo2 is down so I cannot check CPanel for the server log, though I think I saw it somewhere..
I was going to say that .htaccess would apply to the folders within the directory but I thought that it would be an obvious pick-up to some users.
It is more of if you can be bothered and if you know how the commands should be laid out, there could be obvious bad formatting which can just be removed or something. I have said to rename or comment certain lines of the file, not delete the actual file. That means that they don't have to go into the file and do changes if it is large (assuming that it is a CMS), they can wait for a member of staff can sort it out as an option (if they say on the forums of course).
Saying that removing a .htaccess file or changing commands for it to work would kill the site is like saying that you can't solve it at all. I have plenty of sites and some don't have a .htaccess file at all and yet still worked.
You can track down the troubling file using some logic. See which directories are having the error, rename a file in a directory to see if that removes that 500 error (of course rename it back) and then have a look at it if it is the suspect.