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Whether you’re using Hostrago’s web hosting or any cPanel-powered hosting service, setting a custom index file can enhance your site’s structure, SEO, and user experience. Mastering How to Set Index Page from cPanel via .htaccess puts you in charge of what your visitors see first—especially useful when redesigning or restructuring your website.

When a user visits your website without specifying a particular file (like index.html or home.php), your web server looks for a default index file to load. But what if you want to change which page shows first? That’s where the .htaccess file comes in handy. In this tutorial, you’ll learn How to Set Index Page from cPanel via .htaccess, so you can control the landing page of your website precisely.

What Is an Index Page?

An index page is the default web page your visitors land on when they visit your domain without specifying a file. Common index files include:

  • index.html
  • index.php
  • home.html
  • default.html

Servers are typically configured to look for these in a specific order. But using .htaccess, you can override this and set any file as your default index page.

How to Set Index Page from cPanel via .htaccess

Follow these steps:

Step 1: Log in to cPanel

Visit your hosting provider’s cPanel login page.

Step 2: Open File Manager

Under the Files section, click on File Manager. Make sure to select “Document Root for” your domain and check “Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)”.

Open File Manager

Step 3: Edit .htaccess File

Right-click the .htaccess file and choose Edit. Then add this line at the top:

Edit .htaccess File
DirectoryIndex custom-page.html

Replace custom-page.html with the actual file name you want as the index.

For example:

DirectoryIndex home.html

This tells the web server to load home.html first when someone visits your domain.

Step 5: Save and Exit

Click Save Changes, then close the editor. Your new index page is now set.

Additional Tips

  • You can define multiple index pages in priority order:
DirectoryIndex home.html index.php index.html
  • Ensure the file name you specify exists in the root folder.
  • Use this method to temporarily display a maintenance page or set landing pages during campaigns.

Final Thought

Setting your index page using the .htaccess file is a powerful way to control your website’s behavior. With a few simple steps in cPanel, you can determine which page loads first for your visitors—whether it’s a homepage, a temporary page, or a special campaign landing page.

Now that you know how to set index page from cPanel via .htaccess, you can easily improve your site’s structure and user experience. Need help with your cPanel hosting? Hostrago’s support team is always here to help you.

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