.htaccess Editor is a free Web 2.0-like tool that lets you quickly generate .htaccess files for your hosted website. To use, simply select a category on the left, and edit the parameters to your liking on the right. Then observe as .htaccess Editor sticks the proper code in the textbox at the bottom.

When you’ve set all of your parameters, simply copy/paste the generated text into a file that you call .htaccess and put it in the root folder of your website’s files (something like "public_html" if you’re using a hosting company) or a subdirectory of that folder. The tool lets you set things like basic authentication, redirects, default pages, error pages (like 404), and access restrictions.