Standard hosting and free .pro.et hosting use the DirectAdmin control panel. To put your website online, you upload its files to one folder, public_html, with the DirectAdmin File Manager. This guide shows the steps and what to check if your site does not show afterwards.
On this page
Before you start
- Name your home page
index.html, in small letters. This is the file the server opens first. A home page namedhome.htmlorIndex.HTMLis not shown. - Free .pro.et hosting runs static files only: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and images. PHP and WordPress do not run on it.
- Standard hosting also runs PHP. For WordPress you do not upload anything by hand: see How to Install WordPress in One Click.
- React, Vite or a similar project: build it on your own computer first and upload the contents of the
distorbuildfolder. See Deploy a Node.js, Laravel or React App.
Upload your files
Step 1. Log in to DirectAdmin. You can open it from your Yegara dashboard or with the link in your welcome email. See How to Log In to cPanel or DirectAdmin.
Step 2. Open System Info & Files, then File Manager.
Step 3. Open the domains folder, then the folder with your domain name, then public_html. Everything inside public_html is your website.
Step 4. A new account has a default index.html in this folder. Delete it, or let your own index.html replace it.
Step 5. Click Upload and choose your files. You can also drag them into the File Manager window.
Step 6. Check that index.html sits directly inside public_html, not inside another folder.
📘 The most common mistake
Uploading the whole project folder, so the home page ends up at public_html/mysite/index.html. Your site then opens only at yourdomain/mysite. Upload what is inside your project folder, so the path is public_html/index.html.
Upload many files at once
- On your computer, select everything inside your website folder and compress it into one
.zipfile. - Upload the zip file to
public_html. - Right-click the zip file in the File Manager and choose Extract.
- Check that
index.htmlis directly insidepublic_html, then delete the zip file.
Check your site
Open your domain in a private (incognito) window, so the browser does not show a saved copy of the old page. If you see your own home page, the upload is done.
If your site does not show
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The default page is still there | Your home page is in a subfolder, has another name, or the browser shows a saved copy | Move index.html into public_html and reload in a private window |
| 403 Forbidden | There is no index file in public_html | Upload index.html, or rename your home page to it |
| The page opens without styles or images | A file name does not match its link. File names are case-sensitive: Logo.png and logo.png are different files. | Make the names and the links match exactly |
| 404 when you refresh a page of a React or Vite app | The app needs a rewrite rule | See Deploy a Node.js, Laravel or React App |
| The domain cannot be found, or shows “Apache is functioning normally” | The domain does not point to your hosting yet | Free .pro.et: see How to Set Up DNS for Your Free .pro.et Domain. Other domains: see My New Domain Isn’t Working Yet |
| “Not secure” in the browser | The SSL certificate is not issued yet | See How to Issue SSL in DirectAdmin |
