MyWeb Tutorials: File Manager & HTML page

In this tutorial, we will create a simple HTML page and navigate through the website's files.

Accessing the File Manager

Log in to MyWeb (DirectAdmin)
From the main dashboard, click File Manager
You will see a directory tree showing files and folders associated with your account

Understanding the File Structure

Your account contains several folders. The most important ones are:

📁 public_html (Most Important)

This is the web root
Any file placed here is accessible through your website
Example:

public_html/index.html → https://yourusername.myweb.cs.uwindsor.ca

This is where your website files go

📁 public_ftp

Used for FTP access
Typically not used unless you connect using an FTP client
Does not automatically publish files to the web

📁 Other folders you may see

logs – Website access/error logs
domains – Used when multiple domains/subdomains exist
System folders – Should not be modified

Do not delete folders unless instructed

Creating or Uploading Files

Inside public_html, you can:

Upload files (HTML, PHP, images, CSS, JS)
Create new files
Create subfolders (e.g., images, css, js)

Example structure:

public_html/
├── index.html
├── about.html
├── css/
│   └── style.css
├── images/
│   └── logo.png

Website Entry (Starting) Files

When someone visits your website, the web server looks for default index files.

Common starting files:

index.html
index.php

If both index.html and index.php exist, index.html will win and load first

When to Use HTML vs PHP

Use HTML (.html) when:

Your site is static
No database or server logic is needed
You are learning basic web structure

Use PHP (.php) when:

You need server-side logic
You connect to a database
You process forms or user input

Quick Tips & Common Mistakes

✔ Always place website files in public_html
✔ File names are case-sensitive (Index.html ≠ index.html)
✔ One index file per folder is enough
❌ Don’t delete system folders
❌ Don’t expect files outside public_html to be public

Create Your first HTML page

From "File Manager", go to "public_html"
Optional: backup your current index.html file (rename it to index.html-backup)
Create a new file index.html
Right-click on the newly created index.html file and select "Edit"

In the new page, place your code, or optionally, copy the following code:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Your Name - Personal Site</title>
    <!-- You can add CSS styling here or link an external CSS file -->
    <style>
        body {
            font-family: sans-serif;
            margin: 40px;
            line-height: 1.6;
        }
        h1 {
            color: #333;
        }
        p {
            color: #666;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Hello, I'm [Your Name]</h1>
    <p>Welcome to my personal website!</p>
    <p>I am a student at School of Computer Science at the University of Windsor, and you can learn more about me on this page.</p>
    
    <h2>Interests</h2>
    <ul>
        <li>Coding</li>
        <li>Design</li>
        <li>[Your Other Interest]</li>
    </ul>

    <h2>Contact</h2>
    <p>You can reach me via email at [your email address].</p>
</body>
</html>

Then "Save" the page and your refresh your website at https://yourusername.myweb.cs.uwindsor.ca

Congratulations! You created your first website :)

Revision #3
Created 2026-02-10 01:09:15 UTC by Aniss Zakaria
Updated 2026-02-10 01:48:24 UTC by Aniss Zakaria