Where should I place my .htaccess and Robots file?

[OrahChris]

I have a wordpress install on my root domain and my forum in /forum. In webmaster tools I noticed that when testing/viewing the robots.txt file (there is an area you can see the last file Google pulled) it pulls the robots.txt file from the root of the domain (wordpress) rather than the robots.txt file from the forum sub folder. (I have webmaster tools setup for both /forum and the root) 

So this leads me to believe that perhaps Google only looks for that file on the root. 

What is generally the correct practice? Should I combine both files and just place it on the root? Additionally that's got me wondering if I should do the same thing for my .htaccess file as I assume it's treated the same way. It's tempting to just throw the forum on a sub domain to avoid conflicts but I've heard SEO wise this isn't always the best option. 

[querschlaeger]

robots.txt always stays at the root of a domain or sundomain.

You also don't need an extra webmaster tools site for a subfolder. It is peer domain/subdomain only.

[OrahChris]

Ah I see.  This explains quite a few issues. Thanks!