URL rewrite not working in CodeIgniter hosted with dreamhost

URL rewrite not working in CodeIgniter hosted with dreamhost

So I've gone through dozens of forum posts and websites between dreamhost,
codeingiter etc. I have a file directory set up in codeigniter hosted on
dreamhost as follows: mysite.com > application|system|user_guide|.htaccess
the live site i can access is mysite.com/index.php/site/WhatIwantToKeep
my .htaccess file reads:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php?/$1 [L]
Currently if i go to mysite.com/site/WhatIwantToKeep it can't find it. If
i place any IfModule tags or options lines, it gives a server 500 error.
Ideally this code would rewrite it so that my urls would be reading:
mysite.com/WhatIwantToKeep
Thanks!