What Directory should I Upload my Files to?
When you are ready to upload your website, in order for it to display on the Internet the files must be placed in the correct folder. By default, your primary domain document root is public_html. You can change the Directory Index of your site by modifying the .htaccess file.
What is the Document Root?
Your Main Domain
All domain names in your account have a document root. The document root is the folder that stores the files for your website. The document root for your main domain name is the public_html folder. When you are ready to upload your website, the files will go into the public_html folder. Once you have uploaded an index page, it will over-ride the default "Hello There!" page that accounts show upon sign-up.
Addon and Sub Domains
When you add additional domains to your account, it will create a folder in your public_html folder for that domain. With a subdomain the folder will be called the same name as the subdomain, for example public_html/subdomain. For an Addon Domain, by default it will create a folder in your public_html folder with the same name as the Addon Domain. If you would like you can change the document root for your Addon Domain when it is created to a different folder.
What is a Directory Index?
The directory index is the first file the server loads and by default will be the index file within the document root of the domain (the public_html folder if it is your primary domain). Our servers always load the file called "index" if your domain is typed into the browser, first looking for index.htm, then index.html, and finally index.php. When your account is first created, we also place the default.htm file (the default "Hello There!" page) in your account that will load if no index files are found. If there is no index or default file in your folder, then the website will not load unless the directory index is modified.
Changing the directory index
Some website design applications will name the home page something other than index. For example, the application may name your homepage Welcome.html or Home.html. If your application does this, you will need to modify your site so that the directory index matches the name of your website's first page. You can do this using a .htaccess file.
In the following example we will assume you want your domain to point to Welcome.html when it is visited in a browser. We need to update the .htaccess file so that the server will load Welcome.html first. Open (or create) the .htaccess file in your domain's document root and add the following line: DirectoryIndex Welcome.html. Once that is added, when your domain is visited that page will be loaded first. Please note that our servers are case sensitive when adding the new directory index.
Directory Structure
When uploading files with either an FTP program or a site design program such as Dreamweaver, it is important to keep in mind that any folders you upload to your account will become additional folders in your directory structure. For instance, if you're uploading site files for your main domain name and you are uploading a folder named images, then the path would be public_html/images/ when viewing the folders/files in either FTP or cPanel File Manager. If you want to access that folder from your website, the path would be yourdomainame.com/images. Here is a helpful link to our guide on How to Manage Files on Your Server.
If you ever see any broken links or images on your site, one of the first things you'll want to check is where the link or image is pointed to. You can hover over a link with your mouse to see the path it is pointed to. To find out where an image is pointed to right click the broken image and select either View Image Info, Properties, Copy image url or something similar (depending on your browser and version). Once you have the path, double check that the document or image is in the folder your link or image is pointed to.
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Comments
Staff 16,266 Points
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2012-09-04 6:21 pm
Hello clives5,
The temp URL and the domain name are pointing to the same place, which is the public_html folder. You would use the same rules above for both the Temp URL and the regular domain names. Best Regards, Scott M |
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2014-05-05 3:18 pm
I recently upload my web site to the host server using FTP. They were originally located in a subfolder for the FTP account name within my public_html. Using File manager, I moved all of the files from the subfolder to the root public_html folder. I went to my temp url to view/test the web site and the only page I get is the default My Blog page. I have both a Index.htm and index.php files in that directory. I don’t understand why the site will not display correctly from the host but did work correctly before I upload? |
Staff 12,339 Points
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2014-05-05 6:25 pm
Hello HerbG,
Thank you for your question. Have you tried clearing your browser cache after moving the files? We are happy to help, but will need more information to assist you, such as a link to the website, or the domain name. Are you using a CMS such as Wordpress, Joomla, or Drupal, etc? If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below. Thank you, -John-Paul |
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2014-05-05 8:59 pm
I have cleared cache. The site is baysidehog. I am only attempting to view the site at this time. WP is installed, but I've made no attempt to use it at this time. |
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Staff 16,266 Points
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2014-05-05 10:25 pm
Hello HerbG,
The biggest issue is that the Index.htm page is capitalized. On Linux servers capitalization is specific, so Index.htm and index.htm are two separate files. Linux looks for index files in the following order: index.htm, index.html, index.php. Capitalized filenames are not looked for at all. I tried hard setting the Index to the site in the .htaccess file to Index.htm, however the other rewrites you have in there do not allow it to work. The best thing to do is to rename the Index.htm file to index.htm, but you will need to go through all other files and make sure you change all references to that file index.htm. Kindest Regards, Scott M |
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2014-06-02 3:38 pm
My site is rather raw, but I need people to see it as it is a project where many people are involved. How do I make the site 'visible' on Internet? All those domain, folders and subfolders have made my head spinning. I need a step by step guide for a newbie! Ta.
I presume that I can change the theme and any of the setting of the web-site later on? |
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Staff 12,339 Points
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2014-06-02 4:28 pm
Hello Katya,
Thank you for your question. If you are using FTP to publish your main website, you will want to upload to your: public_html folder. In cPanel, there is a button for Softaculous (in the Software/Services section), which helps you install software with 1 easy click. While there are many programs available there, the most popular for building a website are: WordPress, and Concrete5 When you install a program from Softaculous, you can choose a folder location as part of the setup, and you will be given a link to the program when the install is finished. If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below. Thank you, -John-Paul |
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2014-09-04 7:24 pm
You documentation should have many useful examples to support the contexts described. |
Staff 17,314 Points
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2014-09-04 8:28 pm
Hello Francis,
Thanks for the comment. We always welcome comments on improving the documentation. This will be taken into the account as the articles are updated. If you require examples, each definition actually describes each item. For example: Root Directory - by default it is PUBLIC_HTML. If you use the cpanel file manager, you can see the directory structure of your files. The folder called "public_html" is always part of the files when you first get your account. In terms of the Directory Index, this is the file that is FIRST loaded by the web server. It can be designated, but by default, it is the index.htm, index.html, or index.php file within your public_html folder. If you want to see the Directory Index changed, check out this customer question and answer. It demonstrates how the file can be changed using the command directoryindex in the .htaccess file. Hope that helps to illustrate the definitions. We will update article to better show these examples in the near future. Regards, Arnel C. |
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2015-05-27 12:44 pm
Hi there! Thanks for this blog. Just want to hear your insight! If I am using wordpress as CMS. where should I upload it directly to "public_html" or create a dir like "public_html/dir".. I am planning also to add domain in same account. What is the best choice for me? thanks
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Staff 17,314 Points
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2015-05-27 3:49 pm
Hello Ralf,
The PUBLIC_HTML folder is the folder that belongs to the primary domain associated to the accounted. So, if your domain was example.com, then the files for example.com would be placed in public_html. If you created a sub-folder under the PUBLIC_HTML folder, then the path of the site would be based on that folder's name. For example, if you created a subfolder named "FOLDER", then the path would be PRIMARYDOMAIN.COM/FOLDER (where "primarydomain.com" is the name of your primary domain). Add-on domains create folders under the PUBLIC_HTML folder, but are considered as separate websites by the DNS setup for the account. So, if you created an ADD-ON domain named ANOTHER_DOMAIN.COM, then you would see a subdirectory under the root folder (PUBLIC_HTML) called "ANOTHER_DOMAIN.COM". The folder could also be named something else an assigned to the add-on domain. To answer your question, download your files into the PUBLIC_HTML folder for the primary domain, but make sure that you distinguish a folder name for the add-on domain so that you can easily find it when you add the add-on domain. Here's an example: public_html folder1 folder2 file1 file2 ADD-ON-DOMAIN folder1 folder2 You can easily see that the "ADD-ON-DOMAIN" folder is easy to make out. It doesn't have to be that name, but just something that you will remember as the location for the files of your add-on domain. I hope this helps to answer your question, please let us know if you require any further assistance. Regards, Arnel C. |
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2015-07-21 12:52 am
how to create another folder to upload my videos in wp-content wordpress and how i can protect it from non subscriber |
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Staff 16,266 Points
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2015-07-21 1:33 am
Hello Amro,
You can create a folder by using the File Manager in cPanel. To handle it as member only content, you will need a membership plugin for WordPress. Kindest Regards, Scott M |
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2015-07-24 12:43 pm
please why is my site showing like this after uploading to cpanel. but i also uploaded thesame site to godaddy it showed correctly. or am i missing somthing very vital here. www.thepizzaplace.com.ng
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Staff 17,314 Points
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2015-07-24 4:27 pm
Hello Charles,
You either have an index file that is loading for your site, or you have a plugin that is showing the maintenance page. You have to disable the plugin or remove the file in order to see the actual theme that you loaded. If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know. Regards, Arnel C. |
n/a Points
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2015-07-25 6:34 pm
I have a basic index.html file that I uploaded to my site's file structure, and is now in the root directory and the public_html folder. I uploaded the style.css and a background image, which are both in the same folders with the index.html file. I'm certain that the code is correct, and since the index.html file points to the css file which points to the background image file, the background image would display when I go to the home page in the browser. But it doesn't display. A link I placed in a <p> tag in index.html displays, but not the background image I wrote the code for. I tried placing the style.css and background image files into their own respective folders within the root directory and public_html folders, but that didn't work either. Is there something I'm missing and/or doing wrong? |
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Staff 12,339 Points
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2015-07-27 5:17 pm
Hello Preston,
Thank you for contacting us. We are happy to help, but will need some additional information. Please provide an example of the code you using to call in the background image? Can you provide a link to the site you are working on? Thank you, John-Paul |
n/a Points
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2015-09-27 9:54 pm
On my local host,i created a folder called images where my images are stored.Do i have to create a folder called "images"in my PUBLIC_HTML for my images to show? |
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Staff 16,266 Points
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2015-09-28 9:42 pm
Hello,
Yes, you will want to mirror the file structure you built on your localhost on your account so that the paths will line up and display properly. Kindest Regards, Scott M |
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2015-12-02 2:35 am
I used Wordpress backup to Dropbox. It created a folder called Apps and then created folders under Apps that are zip files. When I upload to public_html will I upload Apps ie. so path looks like this: public_html/Apps/WPAdm/sunnytotstoyhire_com/sunnytotstoyhire_com-full-2015 etc. OR do I need to upload each zip folder directly under public_html. I'm getting frustrated because everytime I think I have it right my website disappears after redirecting my DNS. Cheers. |
Staff 1,198 Points
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2015-12-02 3:55 am
Hello Sandra,
What plugin did you use to backup your website as I do not know one that backs it up into a folder called apps. I would look for the original folder structure such as all of the WP files and restore that zip folder to public_html. Best Regards, TJ Edens |
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2016-02-03 5:42 pm
I uploaded a website on internet successfully but the links of my website are not working?Before uploading on internet its running (eg.In my website i insert image as a link whenever i click on image then its not work)So what i have to do?
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Staff 17,314 Points
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2016-02-03 8:56 pm
Hello Bharat,
Sorry for the problem with the website. We unfortunately would need a URL or example of the code that's not working in order to investigate the issue. Typically, a problem like this is related to the URL that's being used in the image links. If you need further assistance, please provide us more information and we can look into it further. I hope this helps to answer your question, please let us know if you require any further assistance. Regards, Arnel C. |
n/a Points
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2017-09-12 5:52 pm
Well it's about the same thing I had a company bulid me a website I want to point their server to my web host (name cheap.com), and I got a ssl but i'm trying to validate the site with txt file this is the instructions You need to create /.well-known/pki-validation/ directory in the document root of your domain and then place the txt file there. This can be done using "File Manager" in cPanel.
when I log into my cPanel I don't see any file manager, got me still right now what will be the best cost of action or will I have to download a app to help with this? the site is techstylze.com
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Staff 17,314 Points
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2017-09-13 3:25 pm
Hello Jay,
You can review this article for using File Manager in cPanel. The cPanel icon and interface have been updated since this article was written, but the file manager is still located in cPanel and named "file manager". The default document root is the folder named public_html. You can create your required folder there. If you have any further questions, please let us know. Kindest regards, Arnel C. |
n/a Points
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2018-01-21 12:26 am
My website is up and running (hosted and published). Since it url is kind of tall (consultingwisemen.com) I've created a smaller rememberable DNS (smcmen.com) and would like to reditrect it to (consultingwisemen.com). How do I upload my website files via cPanel to (smcmen.com) and make it redirected to (consultingwisemen.com)? Thank you guys in advance All the best |
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Staff 17,314 Points
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2018-01-22 7:48 pm
Hi Med,
You don't have to transfer your site to another URL. You merely have to create a re-direct at your current site. Check out this article to learn how to do that in your cPanel. |
n/a Points
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2018-03-08 3:04 am
Hi,I'm trying to publish my first website using my Web Hosting provider's cPanel tool, but it looks like only the html is being shown, without the .css and image files. I have the impression I'm getting everything right, so I really need some help.I put in the public_html directory these files:index.html css (folder) styles.css fonts (folder) some files for FontAwesome icons images (folder) three image files, two jpg and one png.
Inside my code I linked the images' source to ''public_html/images/whatever.jpg'' and did the same with the css linking to my styles.css file inside the .css folder.
I changed all the permissions to all my files to 7/4/4, which seemed like something I had to do.
I'm kind of at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated. |
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Staff 17,314 Points
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2018-03-08 3:15 am
It's more likely the path you're using. Check out this article on relative vs absolute linking. Once all of the pathing is correct then the site should come up. If you are still having problems and you are a Web Hosting Hub customer then you can contact our live support team and they will help you. They can't help you code, but they can look at your files and make sure that everything is where it's supposed to be.
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n/a Points
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2018-10-30 6:23 pm
Hello, I made a big mistake by uploading too much video files in my public_html directory. I thought that i have unlimeted disk space usage as showed on my package. Unfortunately i receved a warming message for space overusage on the server. Now all the files are online and i a traffic that i don't want to lose. So do you think i can compress these videos files directly in my public_html direcory? I need solutions to reduce my space usage. I am very upset for this. Help |
Staff 1,348 Points
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2018-10-30 7:12 pm
I'd recommend using a third-party service like Dropbox or even Google Drive. You can purchase additional space as needed. Services like this are more ideal for long-term storage of larger media files.
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n/a Points
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2019-03-01 5:31 am
Hi there. I'm uploading a very simple website, all html. Somehow I'm getting the error Not Found [CFN #0005] what does it mean? how to fix that? thanks! T |
Staff 619 Points
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2019-03-02 10:41 pm
Sorry to see that you are receiving that error. I recommend first reviewing how the domain is pointed to the website, to ensure you are accessing the correct server for where your files/website is hosted. Then I would review the permissions and directory locations to ensure those are correctly configured on the server itself. If you are a customer of Web Hosting Hub, you can always contact our Live Technical Support team for assistance with this.
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n/a Points
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2019-12-16 2:06 pm
Hello!! I have recently created a website in dreamweaver. I uploaded the files in bluehost domain and connected to the server and applied synchronize sitewide. Earlier i forgot to put the index.html file. But after putting that later, my website format or display is still out of order. What can be done?? |
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Staff 17,314 Points
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2019-12-18 7:24 pm
Hello Sumdott,
Sorry for the issue with your website not displaying properly. First, we are not Blue Host support - this is Web Hosting Hub (a different hosting company). However, in regards to the issue. When you say that your site isnot displaying in the correct order, you need to be a little more precise with the issue. Are you looking at the Index page and the elements on that page out of order? Or are you talking about your menu? The webserver will not purposefully display things in a different order. Display elements within your site will depend on your code. If you provide a URL and more information on the issue we can take a look at the problem and determine the cause. We would also need to understand you're expecting to see. Provide us a little more information and we can the review the issue again. You can also contact Blue Host Tech support. if you wish for them to assess the issue. If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know. Kindest Regards, Arnel C. |
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