Reasons the “Hosts” File is Superior to the Apache mod_userdir

The Apache module (mod user dir) enables access to the exact directories by means of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that use the following programming languages. These can help in the verification of results in building websites.

http://serveripaddress/~username/
http://serverhostname/~username/

In fact, it is not even a requirement to have a domain pointing to the server to use the interim URL system.

Yet, this practice may not turn out effective because websites using mod_rewrite, as well as other directives in .htaccess files, may not work if viewed with mod_userdir URLs. Majority of CMS such as WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, and Magento make use of mod_rewrite to create clean URLs. This is basically the reason why we propose using “hosts” file on the PC rather than Apache mod_userdir Uniform Resource Locator. You need to add the following entries to the “hosts” file to create a mapping system between the Domain Name and IP address of our server.

serveripaddress   yourdomain.co.uk
serveripaddress   www.yourdomain.co.uk

You can enter your domain name in the browser’s omnibox after making the adjustments and the content on our server will come into view.