 <p>That depends on the web server configuration. Usually (or at least in all cases I witnessed), you have a document root which cannot be accessed by users with their browser, with in there a folder containing all public material (often called <em>htdocs</em>, <em>httpdocs</em>, public_html or anything of the kind. Often, you can place your PHP include files in that root, and then require them using <code>require("../include_file.php");</code> However, it depends on the configuration whether PHP can include files outside your public folder. If not, a <em>.htaccess</em> file is your best option.</p>