Can't get index page to load

[littlepixies]

Hi there

I moved my hosting to infinityfree yesterday, and was able to upload my website to the ftp server.
I created the website with open elements, and it comes with a index.htm, index(var).php, index.css, and index(var).js

After upload, I only get the 'make something awesome ’ page and realize that it named as index2.html

After deleting it, i am left with a directory (see littlepixiesphotography.com)

how can i get the php to load…??

with my old hosting, it worked and didnt need a index.html.

please help!

[Oxy]

Hi

the standard name for the first page is index
and that is also important for SEO

you need to define the starting/home page
in .htaccess file inside of your htdocs folder

# start here
DirectoryIndex index.html

if starting page don’t exist - make it

if you use php then index.php
if you use regular html then index.html
you choose name…

one can also do something like this

DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.php

server first go and check if exists index.html
if not then check index.htm
and if it does not exist, it will try to serve index.php

means what you put first

in your case you use a slim/short extension htm instead of html

so your .htaccess file should look like this

# start here
DirectoryIndex index.htm

P.S.

How to Name Files

Do Not Use Special Characters

For best results, you should only use the letters a-z, A-Z, the numbers 0-9, hyphens (-), underscores (_) and periods (.). Any other character could get you in trouble, causing the file not to load or the page to load incorrectly.
it is best to use lowercase letters, also Do Not Use Any Spaces

[littlepixies]

HI OxyDac

Thanks for the tip

I did what you suggested
and changed the .htaccess to have 'DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index2.html

and renamed my files to remove the (var) out of the name so now i have index.css, index.htm, index.js, and index.php

now nothing loads… when i go to the site, and it auto loads to http://www.littlepixiesphotography.com/?i=1

[Oxy]

tell me exactly if you want the homepage to be index.htm or php?

[littlepixies]

i want index.php

when i changed to index.htm – some of the graphics are not loading properly…

[Oxy]

put just this in .htaccess

# start here
DirectoryIndex index.php

[littlepixies]

ya i did that change but the the page becomes blank when i reload it…

sorry for the newbie question, but really apprecaite you helping out

[Oxy]

omg…ok than your php is incomplete !

do this

# start here
DirectoryIndex index.htm

[Oxy]

now fix all names of files remove → ( ) <—

[littlepixies]

done

so originally there’s a carosel photo album thing thats on the very top – now its not showing with the HTM file

[Oxy]

[littlepixies]

oooh - so i gotta go change it back in the naming on Open Element!!

cool - thanks - i have to try that when i get home on my own computer lol

thanks

how do you open that page to see the errors?

[littlepixies]

thanks man, you da bomb - thanks for helping!

[Oxy]

NP and YW

F12 - browser dev.console or network card (plus refresh F5)

Unix based systems are case-sensitive
it would be best to sit down and take everything in lower-case and slowly adjust part by part, directory per directory, names. etc.

[littlepixies]

i built the site using a template from Open Element, so theres some dead links for parts that i just removed and didnt want…

will have to slowly learn how to read the codes and at least get the naming convention fixed, so thanks for the pointers.

[Oxy]

@littlepixies

how to read the codes

use all these tutorials from left side menu HTML Tutorial

for insight into code and editing, it is important to have a “lot of colors”
because by color itself you know what types of data is, etc.

you can try something like this