Option FollowSymLinks

[Denis-de-Bernardy]

Option FollowSymLinks is necessary for mod_rewrite to work. It would be worth investigating if this can be added by default, to avoid 403 errors on some servers.

D.

[markjaquith]

Are there any cases where trying to set options might cause problems? I seem to recall that on some really locked down servers, messing with stuff like that could land you in 500 territory.

[darkfate]

To my knowledge, there is no way to check with PHP that it's there. WordPress would have to write a test htaccess file and then ask the user if the redirection was working right. It's just not worth it since the majority of users have it enabled on their server. Maybe we can put a checkbox on the permalinks page that says something like "If you are experiencing 403 errors while using permalinks, check this box, otherwise don't touch it!"

[darkdragon]

You know. It is highly unlikely this will ever be done based upon the difficulty and the level of skill involved.

Basically, if you know what you are doing, then you don't need this, if you don't know what you are doing, then there is nothing to do to solve your problem.

If you needed this option, then you can always create a plugin.

[lloydbudd]

Closing as won't fix based on darkdragon's advice.