October 9, 2019
2min Read
Merkys M.
In this article, we will show you how to change and modify the first page of your website using the directoryindex command in the .htaccess file. Let’s check it out!
When you open a website on any browser, a typical web server will look for a file called index.html or index.php in its public_html files to load and deliver that file’s content to your browser.
directoryindex is a command that lets you modify the index files of your website easily through .htaccess file. It’s used to specify which files should be loaded first by the page when your website is accessed.
You can also set up a second, third, and other files to be loaded by the servers next in case there’s any error causing the designated first page to load poorly.
The first thing you need to do is locate or create a new .htaccess file in the WordPress root directory or in our case, public_html. Here’s how:
It’s worth mentioning that locating the .htaccess file on cPanel follows a similar process.
To modify the first page loaded by your website using the directoryindex command, follow these steps:
DirectoryIndex example.html
Remember to replace example.html with the page you want to use.
You can also list more than one file in the configuration. In this example, we add first.html, index.html, and index.php to the list.
Your specified index files will be read and checked from left to right. First, the server will look for first.html, and if it doesn’t find a file with that name, it continues to index.html and so on.
You can also use this command to set up a temporary error page where your visitors will be directed to in case your page unexpectedly crashes. Here’s an example:
DirectoryIndex index.php page-down.php
Once the desired code is added, don’t forget to save the changes, and the configuration will take effect.
Congratulations, you have successfully changed the default index page of your website by manipulating the .htaccess file!
In this tutorial, we have learned how to effectively change the first page on your website using directoryindex along with the .htaccess file. In case you have any other cool tips that you want to share with us, you are welcome to do so in the comments!
August 19 2020
I have bought a domain name, my home page is yous. How to change it?
September 02 2020
This was helpful, thank you!
Tomislav T.
Replied on November 06 2020
Hey there! :) If you have a hosting plan you can just upload the website here! :)