### Requirements
-* Apache with mod-rewrite enabled and "Options All" so you can use a local .htaccess file
+* Apache with mod-rewrite enabled and "Options All" so you can use a local `.htaccess` file
* PHP 7+ (PHP 7.1+ is recommended for performance and official support)
* PHP *command line* access with register_argc_argv set to true in the php.ini file
* Curl, GD, PDO, MySQLi, hash, xml, zip and OpenSSL extensions
Unpack the Friendica files into the root of your web server document area.
-If you copy the directory tree to your webserver, make sure that you also copy
-`.htaccess-dist` - as "dot" files are often hidden and aren't normally copied.
+If you copy the directory tree to your webserver, make sure that you also copy `.htaccess-dist` - as "dot" files are often hidden and aren't normally copied.
**OR**
### Option A: Run the installer
-Point your web browser to the new site and follow the instructions.
+Before you point your web browser to the new site you need to copy `.htaccess-dist` to `.htaccess` for Apache installs.
+Follow the instructions.
Please note any error messages and correct these before continuing.
If you need to specify a port for the connection to the database, you can do so in the host name setting for the database.
### 500 Internal Error
This could be the result of one of our Apache directives not being supported by your version of Apache. Examine your apache server logs.
-You might remove the line "Options -Indexes" from the .htaccess file if you are using a Windows server as this has been known to cause problems.
+You might remove the line "Options -Indexes" from the `.htaccess` file if you are using a Windows server as this has been known to cause problems.
Also check your file permissions. Your website and all contents must generally be world-readable.
It is likely that your web server reported the source of the problem in its error log files.