I've been given a snippet of code for my .htaccess that blocks direct access to XML files. <Files ~ "\.xml$"> Order allow,deny Deny from all Satisfy all </Files> Code (markup): Whilst this helps prevent direct access to all XML files it also stops Google from accessing my sitemap XML files which is a bit of a problem as I use both a generic sitemap.xml file and a news.xml file. Is there a way to block access to all XML files and yet allow an exception for the xml sitemaps and any other particular files that I specify? Many kind thanks in advance