Software Development:
Individual Programming

Symptom

You have uploaded files to the /httpdocs or /[domainname] directory, but when you open your website in a browser, it only displays a "403 Not Found" error message.

Cause

The website is missing a homepage or the homepage has a wrong file name.

Solution

The homepage of a website is the file that the web server transmits to the browser if no other specific file was selected. The homepage must be named index.html, index.html or index.php. If the homepage is missing, the webserver does not know which file it should to load instead and displays an error message. The operating system makes a difference between small and capital letters in file names. A file named "Index.html" is a different file than "index.html". The homepage file is spelled in small letters only.

Overview of frequently asked questions