MIME Types
MIME types tell browsers how to handle specific extensions. Most MIME types
are set globally on the server. For example, the text/html MIME type equates
to htm, html, and shtml extensions on most servers, and this tells your browser
to interpret all files with those extensions as HTML files. You can alter
or add new MIME types specifically for your site (note that you can not alter
the global MIME type values, only add to them). MIME types are often used
to handle new technologies as they appear. When WAP technology first appeared
no one had these extensions set up on their server. With MIME types, however,
you could have set it up yourself and begun serving WAP pages immediately.
Warning: Make sure you check the list of pre-existing
MIME types before adding new ones. Check with your hosting administrator before
adding a MIME type, as they can easily alter the correct functioning of your
web site.
Note: People often get confused as to the difference
between MIME types and Apache handlers. Basically, MIME types tell your browser
how to handle files, while Apache handlers tell the server
how to handle files.
To add a MIME type:
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Click on the MIME Types button on the home page.
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Enter the MIME type that you want to add in the MIME Type
field. Have a look at the list of system-wide MIME types to show you how
to add a new one or add to a pre-existing one.
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Enter the file extension in the Extension(s) field.
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Click on the Add button.
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