stop wordpress from modifying/removing a specific directive .htaccess - php

Question

I have those lines in the .htaccess file.
# BEGIN WordPress
# The directives (lines) between BEGIN WordPress and END WordPress are
# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.
# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^file-pdf.php$ wp-content/themes/astra-child/filepdf.php [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
The line number 4 is extremely important because this is an alias that, on click, it takes to another file. I MUST maintain this line where she is.
Line N°4
RewriteRule ^file-pdf.php$ wp-content/themes/astra-child/filepdf.php [QSA,L,NC]
I do use just a few plugins, but it happens that this specific line it`s been removed from the .htaccess and this breaks the application functionality.
I have read some points in this online tutorial, i did not find a solution for my case.
online Tutorial
What should I do please to maintain this line in this block of code without to be removed from any plugin update or even the future wordpress releases updates?
As I said. this line is actually an alias that leads to another file and I haven't found a better way to make an alias. So I need to keep this line at that block position. Or use another alternative that I don't know, but that might work.
Thank you so much in advance.
Here it follows the whole code from the .htaccess file in use.
# 1° - Deny access to anyone surfing for it - 15:15 09.03.2021
<files wp-config.php>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>
# BEGIN LSCACHE
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN - Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
<IfModule LiteSpeed>
RewriteEngine on
CacheLookup on
RewriteRule .* - [E=Cache-Control:no-autoflush]
RewriteRule \.litespeed_conf\.dat - [F,L]
### marker FAVICON start ###
RewriteRule favicon\.ico$ - [E=cache-control:max-age=86400]
### marker FAVICON end ###
### marker DROPQS start ###
CacheKeyModify -qs:fbclid
CacheKeyModify -qs:gclid
CacheKeyModify -qs:utm*
CacheKeyModify -qs:_ga
### marker DROPQS end ###
</IfModule>
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN - Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
# END LSCACHE
# BEGIN LSCACHE
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN - Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN - Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
# END LSCACHE
# BEGIN NON_LSCACHE
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN - Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
### marker BROWSER CACHE start ###
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive on
ExpiresByType application/pdf A31557600
ExpiresByType image/x-icon A31557600
ExpiresByType image/vnd.microsoft.icon A31557600
ExpiresByType image/svg+xml A31557600
ExpiresByType image/jpg A31557600
ExpiresByType image/jpeg A31557600
ExpiresByType image/png A31557600
ExpiresByType image/gif A31557600
ExpiresByType image/webp A31557600
ExpiresByType video/ogg A31557600
ExpiresByType audio/ogg A31557600
ExpiresByType video/mp4 A31557600
ExpiresByType video/webm A31557600
ExpiresByType text/css A31557600
ExpiresByType text/javascript A31557600
ExpiresByType application/javascript A31557600
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A31557600
ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf A31557600
ExpiresByType application/x-font-woff A31557600
ExpiresByType application/font-woff A31557600
ExpiresByType application/font-woff2 A31557600
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject A31557600
ExpiresByType font/ttf A31557600
ExpiresByType font/otf A31557600
ExpiresByType font/woff A31557600
ExpiresByType font/woff2 A31557600
</IfModule>
### marker BROWSER CACHE end ###
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN - Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
# END NON_LSCACHE
# BEGIN WordPress
# The directives (lines) between BEGIN WordPress and END WordPress are
# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.
# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^pdf-one.php$ wp-content/themes/astra-child/convertpdf.php [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
# 3° - BEGIN BLOCK THE INCLUDE-ONLY FILES.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^wp-admin/includes/ - [F,L]
RewriteRule !^wp-includes/ - [S=3]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/[^/]+\.php$ - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/js/tinymce/langs/.+\.php - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/theme-compat/ - [F,L]
</IfModule>
# END BLOCK THE INCLUDE-ONLY FILES.
# 4° - BEGIN STOPS BOTS TRYING TO REGISTER IN WORDPRESS SITES THAT HAVE REGISTRATION DISABLED
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^action=register$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^.*registration=disabled$ [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) - [F]
</IfModule>
# 4° - END STOPS BOTS TRYING TO REGISTER IN WORDPRESS SITES THAT HAVE REGISTRATION DISABLED
# 5° - BEGIN BLOCK TRACE & TRACK REQUEST METHODS
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} ^(TRACE|TRACK)$
RewriteRule (.*) - [F]
</IfModule>
# 5° - END BLOCK TRACE & TRACK REQUEST METHODS
# 6° - BEGIN mod_deflate - website faster
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
# Insert filters / compress text, html, javascript, css, xml:
# mod_deflate can be used for Apache v2 and later and is the recommended GZip mechanism to use
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/vtt
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/x-component
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/js
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-httpd-php
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-httpd-fastphp
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/atom+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/json
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/ld+json
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/font-sfnt
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-web-app-manifest+json
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/sfnt
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon
# Exception: Images
SetEnvIfNoCase REQUEST_URI \.(?:gif|jpg|jpeg|png)$ no-gzip dont-vary
# Drop problematic browsers
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch \bMSI[E] !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
</IfModule>
# 6° - END mod_deflate - website faster
# 7° START - EXPIRES CACHING ##
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresDefault "access plus 1 week"
ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/atom+xml "access plus 1 hour"
ExpiresByType application/rdf+xml "access plus 1 hour"
ExpiresByType application/rss+xml "access plus 1 hour"
ExpiresByType application/json "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/ld+json "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/schema+json "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/vnd.geo+json "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/xml "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType text/xml "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/vnd.microsoft.icon "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/html "access plus 1 minute"
ExpiresByType text/javascript "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 months"
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript "access plus 1 months"
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/bmp "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/webp "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType audio/ogg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/mp4 "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/ogg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/webm "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/plain "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/x-component "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/manifest+json "access plus 1 week"
ExpiresByType application/x-web-app-manifest+json "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType text/cache-manifest "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/pdf "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType font/eot "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType font/opentype "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/font-woff "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/font-woff2 "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-font-woff "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType font/woff "access plus 1 month"
</IfModule>
# 7° - END EXPIRES CACHING ##
# 8° - BEGIN Alternative caching using Apache's "mod_headers", if it's installed.
#Caching of common files - ENABLED
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
# 1 Month
<FilesMatch "\.(ico|pdf|flv|jpg|jpeg|png|gif|js|css|swf)$">
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=2592000, public"
</FilesMatch>
# 2 DAYS
<FilesMatch "\.(xml|txt)$">
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=172800, public, must-revalidate"
</FilesMatch>
# 2 HOURS
<FilesMatch "\.(html|htm)$">
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=7200, must-revalidate"
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
# 8° - END Alternative caching using Apache's "mod_headers", if it's installed.
# 9° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
<FilesMatch "\.(js|css|xml|gz|html|ttf)$">
Header append Vary: Accept-Encoding
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
# 9° END
# 10° - BEGIN Set Keep Alive Header
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Connection keep-alive
</IfModule>
# 10° - END Set Keep Alive Header
# 11° - BEGIN If your server don't support ETags deactivate with "None" (and remove header)
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header unset ETag
</IfModule>
FileETag None
</IfModule>
# 11° - END If your server don't support ETags deactivate with "None" (and remove header)
# 14° - BEGIN adding font MIME types
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
AddType application/vnd.ms-fontobject .eot
AddType application/x-font-opentype .otf
AddType image/svg+xml .svg
AddType application/x-font-ttf .ttf
AddType application/font-woff .woff
AddType application/font-woff2 .woff2
</IfModule>
# 14° - END
# 15° BEGIN DS-XML-RPC-API
# BEGIN WordPress
# The directives (lines) between "BEGIN DS-XML-RPC-API" and "END DS-XML-RPC-API" are
# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.
# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.
<Files xmlrpc.php>
order deny,allow
deny from all
Allow from 122.248.245.244/32
Allow from 54.217.201.243/32
Allow from 54.232.116.4/32
Allow from 192.0.80.0/20
Allow from 192.0.96.0/20
Allow from 192.0.112.0/20
Allow from 195.234.108.0/22
Allow from 192.0.96.202/32
Allow from 192.0.98.138/32
Allow from 192.0.102.71/32
Allow from 192.0.102.95/32
</Files>
# 15° END DS-XML-RPC-API
# 16° BEGIN SECURITY POLICIES HEADER PROTOCOL
#
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Content-Security-Policy "
default-src 'self' 5pila.com 'unsafe-inline';
script-src 'unsafe-eval';
# script-src 'self' https://m.addthis.com/live/red_lojson/300lo.json https://s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js https://z.moatads.com/addthismoatframe568911941483/moatframe.js;
# script-src-elem 'self' https://s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js?ver=80f4fcb896a389b28de3cdecff635a74;
script-src 'self' google-analytics.com ajax.googleapis.com;
script-src 'self' https://5pila.com/wp-content/themes/astra-child/assets/js/jquery-3.5.1.min.js?ver=1.0.0;
script-src 'self' https://5pila.com/wp-content/plugins/gdpr-cookie-compliance/dist/scripts/main.js?ver=4.4.6;
script-src 'unsafe-inline';
font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com;
font-src 'self' https://5pila.com/wp-content/themes/astra-child/assets/css/fonts/Roboto-Thin.woff?ver=2.4.5.1592433682;
font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/roboto/v20/KFOkCnqEu92Fr1MmgVxFIzIFKw.woff2;
font-src 'self' https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Raleway:400,300,200,500,600,700;
font-src 'self' https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto+Condensed:300,300italic,regular,italic,700,700italic&subset=latin-ext,greek-ext,cyrillic-ext,greek,vietnamese,latin,cyrillic;
base-uri 'self';
worker-src 'none';
img-src 'self' 5pila.com;
img-src https://5pila.com;
";
</IfModule>
# 16° END SECURITY POLICIES HEADER PROTOCOL
#
## 17° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Permissions-Policy "geolocation=(),midi=(),microphone=(),camera=(),magnetometer=(),gyroscope=(),fullscreen=(self),payment=(),sync-xhr=(),accelerometer=()"
##Header always set Permissions-Policy "geolocation=();midi=();notifications=();push=();sync-xhr=();accelerometer=();gyroscope=(); magnetometer=(); payment=(); camera=(); microphone=();usb=(); xr=();speaker=(self);vibrate=();fullscreen=(self);"
##Header always set Permissions-Policy "geolocation=(), midi=(),accelerometer=(), gyroscope=(), magnetometer=(), payment=(), camera=(), microphone=(), usb=()"
</IfModule>
## 17° END
## 18° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Upgrade-Insecure-Requests: 1
</IfModule>
## 18° END
## 19° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: "unsafe-none"
</IfModule>
## 19° END
## 20° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy "same-origin"
</IfModule>
## 20° END
## 21° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy "same-site"
</IfModule>
## 21° END
## 22° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set NEL "{}"
</IfModule>
## 22° END
## 23° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Report_to "{}"
</IfModule>
## 23° END
## 24° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Expect-CT "max-age=7776000, enforce, report-uri=https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct"
</IfModule>
## 24° END
## 25° BEGIN
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set Alt-Svc h3-27=":443"; ma=86400, h3-28=":443"; ma=86400, h3-29=":443"; ma=86400
</IfModule>
## 25° END
## 26° BEGIN
# off: Esta diretiva desativa a pré-busca de DNS.
# Isso é útil se você não monitora a referência das páginas
# ou se sabe que não deseja vazar informações para esses sites
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set X-DNS-Prefetch-Control "off"
</IfModule>
## 26° END
# END SECURITY POLICIES HEADER PROTOCOL
#
## 27° BEGIN
# BEGIN HARDEN YOUR .HTACCESS AND WP-CONFIG.PHP FILES
<files wp-config.php>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>
## 27° END
## 28° BEGIN
<Files .htaccess>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</Files>
# END HARDEN YOUR .HTACCESS AND WP-CONFIG.PHP FILES
## 28° BEGIN
# 29° BEGIN REDIRECTING HTTP TO HTTPS TRAFFIC ON APACHE
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}
[L,R=301]
</IfModule>
# 29° END REDIRECTING HTTP TO HTTPS TRAFFIC ON APACHE
## 30° BEGIN
# Wordfence WAF
<IfModule LiteSpeed>
php_value auto_prepend_file '/home/pilacom/public_html/wordfence-waf.php'
</IfModule>
<IfModule
lsapi_module>
php_value auto_prepend_file '/home/pilacom/public_html/wordfence-waf.php'
</IfModule>
<Files ".user.ini">
<IfModule
mod_authz_core.c>
Require all denied
</IfModule>
<IfModule !mod_authz_core.c>
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
</IfModule>
</Files>
# 30° END Wordfence WAF
## 31° BEGIN
# Disable Directory Indexing and Browsing
Options -Indexes
## 31° END
# 32° - BEGIN cPanel-generated php ini directives, do not edit
# Manual editing of this file may result in unexpected behavior.
# To make changes to this file, use the cPanel MultiPHP INI Editor (Home >> Software >> MultiPHP INI Editor)
# For more information, read our documentation (https://go.cpanel.net/EA4ModifyINI)
<IfModule php7_module>
php_flag display_errors Off
php_value max_execution_time 30
php_value max_input_time 60
php_value max_input_vars 1000
php_value memory_limit 256M
php_value post_max_size 8M
php_value session.gc_maxlifetime 1440
php_value session.save_path "/var/cpanel/php/sessions/ea-php72"
php_value upload_max_filesize 2M
php_flag zlib.output_compression On
</IfModule>
<IfModule lsapi_module>
php_flag display_errors Off
php_value max_execution_time 30
php_value max_input_time 60
php_value max_input_vars 1000
php_value memory_limit 256M
php_value post_max_size 8M
php_value session.gc_maxlifetime 1440
php_value session.save_path "/var/cpanel/php/sessions/ea-php72"
php_value upload_max_filesize 2M
php_flag zlib.output_compression On
</IfModule>
# 32° - END cPanel-generated php ini directives, do not edit
## 33° BEGIN
## 33° END
# BEGIN DS-XML-RPC-API
# As diretrizes (linhas) entre "BEGIN DS-XML-RPC-API" e "END DS-XML-RPC-API" são
# geradas dinamicamente e só devem ser modificadas através de filtros do WordPress.
# Quaisquer alterações nas diretivas entre esses marcadores serão sobrescritas.
<Files xmlrpc.php>
order deny,allow
deny from all
Allow from 122.248.245.244/32
Allow from 54.217.201.243/32
Allow from 54.232.116.4/32
Allow from 192.0.80.0/20
Allow from 192.0.96.0/20
Allow from 192.0.112.0/20
Allow from 195.234.108.0/22
Allow from 192.0.96.202/32
Allow from 192.0.98.138/32
Allow from 192.0.102.71/32
Allow from 192.0.102.95/32
</Files>
# END DS-XML-RPC-API
# BEGIN PREVENT HOTLINKING
# RewriteEngine on
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www\.)?5pila.com [NC]
# RewriteRule \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ - [NC,F,L]
# END PREVENT HOTLINKING
# BEGIN DS-XML-RPC-FIX-HOTLINK
# As diretrizes (linhas) entre "BEGIN DS-XML-RPC-FIX-HOTLINK" e "END DS-XML-RPC-FIX-HOTLINK" são
# geradas dinamicamente e só devem ser modificadas através de filtros do WordPress.
# Quaisquer alterações nas diretivas entre esses marcadores serão sobrescritas.
# END DS-XML-RPC-FIX-HOTLINK
# sends all requests for “/” to “/Site/am/index.php”
# php -- BEGIN cPanel-generated handler, do not edit
# Set the “ea-php72” package as the default “PHP” programming language.
<IfModule mime_module>
AddHandler application/x-httpd-ea-php72___lsphp .php .php7 .phtml
</IfModule>
# php -- END cPanel-generated handler, do not edit

Answer 1

I MUST maintain this line where she is.
That directive does not need to go inside the WordPress code block. You should place that directive before the # BEGIN WordPress comment marker. And this will prevent it from being overwritten by WordPress. In fact, you could place your custom rules at the very top of the file to make them easier to find/maintain.
It will work exactly the same.
You do not need to enclose it in an <IfModule> container like the other directives. And you should not repeat the RewriteEngine On and RewriteBase / directives. (The order of these particular directives do not matter. In fact, the last instance "wins" and controls the entire file.)
For example:
# Custom rules
RewriteRule ^file-pdf\.php$ wp-content/themes/astra-child/filepdf.php [L,NC]
# BEGIN WordPress
:
Don't forget to backslash-escape literal dots in the RewriteRule pattern. The QSA flag is not required here.
Aside:
However, some of your other rules are in the wrong order and so are not working as they should be. For instance:
The section # 29° BEGIN REDIRECTING HTTP TO HTTPS should be near the top of the file, before the WordPress code block / front-controller. By placing this after the WP front-controller it's simply never going to be processed for anything other than static resources.
Sections # 4° and # 5° should also be before the WordPress code block, otherwise they are not going to block the requests they are supposed to block. Generally, blocking directives should be at the top.
You also have 3 blocks of caching directives that conflict/override each other. However, no one block would seem to be the "master" and your current caching scheme appears to be a mixture of all 3!