The Account Control Center (ACC) has a list of default homepages stored in it, so when you add an HTML or PHP file with the default homepage name, it will automatically be allotted as your website’s homepage.
You can change the name of your homepage so that it matches a default homepage name or you can add your homepage name to the list of defaults.
ACC Default Homepage Names:
| index.html | index.shtml | index.cgi | home.html |
| index.php | index.phtml | index.htm | welcome.html |
Note: The order of the default names is also the order in which the server will look for it. For example, if you have a file named index.html and a file named welcome.html, index.html will be deemed the homepage.
Setting Up a Default Homepage
If you want to use one of the default homepage names, simply create a page with a filename that matches one of the default homepage names. If you already have a homepage, you can change its name to match a default name. However, keep in mind that if you change the filename of an existing page, you should make sure all pages linking to it are also updated. If the dependent pages are not updated, it may result in broken links.
Also, make sure you do not have more than one default name used among your files. The server will only choose one to serve as a homepage.
Adding a Default Homepage
You can change the default homepage names in the ACC. There are two ways to do this:
Changing the default homepage in the ACC interface
Choose the tutorial that reflects your ACC interface type:
Not sure what the difference is? See Which ACC Interface Am I Using?
If you are using the Legacy Interface:
- Log into your account at my.pair.com
- Click Domains
- Click Manage Your Domain Names in the drop-down
- Click on your desired domain name
- Click Manage Web Settings
- Click Index Page
- Next to Index Filenames, input the name of your homepage
- Click Update
If successful, a green confirmation bar will appear at the top of the page and tell you the Index Pages have been updated.
If you are using the New ACC Interface:
- Log into your account at my.pair.com
- In the top navigation bar, click Domains
- Find your domain name and click its Edit button
- Under the “Overview” section, find the Web Directory Settings and click its Edit button
- Find Index Page and click its Edit button
- Next to Index Filenames, input the name of your homepage
- Click the Save Changes button
If successful, a green confirmation bar will appear at the top of the page and tell you the Index Pages have been updated. You can return to this page at any time and click the Restore Default button to reset the index filenames.
Changing the default homepage with .htaccess
You can change the default homepage in your .htaccess file. For help finding your .htaccess file, read our article Accessing Your .htaccess File.
Once you have accessed the .htaccess file, input DirectoryIndex, followed by your new homepage name. It is possible to list multiple accepted homepage names, so you can add the other default names if you want.
DirectoryIndex NewName.html index.html index.php
Save your .htaccess file to your server. Once you do this, the new default homepage name will be added to your server.