Multiple Index Files: Force Server to load index.php instead of index.html

Why do you have an index.html and an index.php in the directory? That does not really make much sense, does it?

I would leave only one of these index files in the directory and give the rest of the files different names or you can only link them from another folder. Then you have not the problem.
Last update on 2024-01-15 | Created on 2012-08-27

You can customize your htaccess file to determine an access order to the index files.

Just add the following line into your htaccess:

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

This will force the server to first look for the file index.php and then subsequently for the file index.html (if no index.php exists). If both files are not present, there will be an Access Forbidden Error (403) or the directory with all the files will be displayed.

By the way, you can also specify files after DirectoryIndex that are not named "index" at all. For example:

DirectoryIndex abc.html def.php index.php

With this, first the abc.html is displayed, if available. And after that, def.php or index.php - depending on which of these files are available.
Last update on 2024-01-15 | Created on 2012-08-26