WordPress.org

1. orangjul
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Hi,

   Months ago I installed WordPress on a domain at bluehost.com. While we were building the site, I asked bluehost to point the domain at /index.htm (just a simple coming soon page). During this time I was still able to access /index.php to work on my WordPress site. I'm not sure what they did to make this happen, but it was a simple, quick fix, and then when we went "live" with the WordPress site they reversed whatever it was they did.

   Now I'm working on another site and trying to do the same thing. Bluehost is now telling me it's impossible, even though I KNOW they did it for me last year. I've tried a few things myself, like editing the .htaccess file with DirectoryIndex index.htm, but that redirects /index.php to /index.htm. They're telling me I should just install WordPress on a subdirectory of the site and build it there, and then move it when we're ready to go live. I'd really like to avoid doing that if at all possible. I'm frustrated with the host but more so with myself for not finding out exactly HOW they accomplished what they did on the site last year.

   Any ideas?

   Thanks in advance.

2. James
   Happiness Engineer
   Posted 2 years ago #

   They're actually right this time around. When WordPress accesses the blog root, it goes to domain.com/ , and it will then show either whichever index file is first either alphabetically or according to the order you assigned in the .htaccess file.

   So, here's a break-down of the problem:

   You set index.html to be the main index:
   Visitors see the index.html "coming soon" page, but you can't see your blog, because when WordPress directs you to domain.com/ your browser is told to load the index.html file.

   You set index.php to be the main index:
   You can work on your blog without any trouble, but visitors will see the blog too, because when they go to domain.com/ their browser is told to load the index.php file.

   The Solutions:

   1. Develop your blog in a subdirectory and move it when it's done.
   2. Use this plugin to display your "coming soon" message.
   3. Password-protect the blog with this plugin.

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