title: Accessing files outside directory root with slim and php
body: <p>Currently my file structure is as follows:</p>
  
  <pre><code>├── README.md
  ├── app
  ├── classes
  ├── composer.json
  ├── composer.lock
  ├── database
  ├── public
  ├── templates
  ├── users
  └── vendor
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Inside of the <code>users</code> folder I have folders that relate to the username of the logged in user, each with their own files and folders defined by the user.</p>
  
  <p>The issue I'm encountering is that I am unable to download files inside the <code>users</code> directory. Currently, I have my code working by moving the <code>users</code> directory inside of the <code>public</code> directory but there are pretty obvious security flaws to this. How would I make it so my users directory is one level up from the root as shown here but still able to be accessed by the <code>public</code> directory?</p>
  
  <p>I've already tried using  <code>RewriteRule users/ ../users/</code> but it does not seem to work. I'm able to access the <code>users</code> directory through PHP, just not my front-controller in the <code>public</code> folder. </p>
  
  <p>This is my first "real" project using Slim so I'm very new to this whole front-controller/mvc type thing. Any help would be great, thanks!</p>