RewriteRule \\.(html?|php|txt) index.php [L]

I changed it to:

RewriteRule \.(html?|php|txt) index.php [L]

Then it worked perfectly!

Thanks Michel.

What would you like to see when you go directly to the directory?

1) You could upload yet another file (for example, default.html) with a home page of your directory:
————————————
This is the article directory
————————————

2) Then make small changes of the index.php like below:
————————————
$HEADER_FILE = “header.html”;
$FOOTER_FILE = “footer.html”;
$DEFAULT_FILE = “default.html”;
$CONTENTS_FILE = basename(getenv(”REQUEST_URI”));

// show the Header
readfile($HEADER_FILE);

// show the Contents
if (file_exists($CONTENTS_FILE)) {
readfile($CONTENTS_FILE);
} else {
readfile($DEFAULT_FILE);
}

// show the Footer
readfile($FOOTER_FILE);
exit;
————————————

3) In order to use this solution with .html, .php, and .txt files use .htaccess like this:
————————————
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f
RewriteRule \.(html?|php|txt) index.php [L]
————————————

I hope his helps.

RewriteRule \.htm? index.php [L]
RewriteRule \.php? index.php [L]
RewriteRule \.txt? index.php[L]

Sorry for all the trouble I am putting you thru.

If you go directly to a page for example “www.yoursite.com/directory/article1.html”
it works correctly. But if you go directly to the directory for example
“www.yoursite.com/directory” the template shows but in the content area I get a message like

“Warning: readfile(directory): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/content/user/html/directory/index.php on line 10″

How can the script be adjusted so that when someone goes straight to the directory instead of a particular file, that the above message does not show up in the content area? Is there a line of code that I can put in the .htaccess file?

Yes, sure. You can use any page-layout with your header.html template.
This example below uses a html-table layout.