Title: public_html – direct link Last modified: August 24, 2016 --- # public_html – direct link * Resolved [mike.raab](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeraab/) * (@mikeraab) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/) * Hey folks, * I’ve installed WordPress on many websites and never had a problem before but now one showed up. * Some months ago I’ve installed wordpress on a customers website, let’s call it mysite.com. If you want to access the website via mysite.com, you’ll get a 403- Forbidden message, but if you type in mysite.com/public_html the site will load. In the backend under settings/general settings there is a point for changing the URL I suppose, but it’s greyed out. * Do I have to move my WordPress installation? I’m using a custom theme on which I’ve done some modifications, if that’s any important. * Cheers and happy easter, Mike Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total) * [barnez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pidengmor/) * (@pidengmor) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5980964) * You might want to try changing the site address/url to revert it back to your preferred choice: [https://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_The_Site_URL](https://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_The_Site_URL) * Also, as the Settings >> General fields are greyed out, check in the wp-config file to see if the **/public_html** address has been hardcoded there. * Happy Easter too 🙂 * Thread Starter [mike.raab](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeraab/) * (@mikeraab) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5980973) * I’ve checked wp-config, it’s indeed hardcoded in there, but changing it doesn’t do much – changing wp_siteurl resticts me from entering the backend and wp_home doesn’t do anything at all. * Again, my directory looks as follows: /public_html/—all the wordpress files— * Should I try to move all my wordpress files to the root directory? What about changing links which may occur in the database or in the programming? * [barnez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pidengmor/) * (@pidengmor) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5980974) * I don’t think you need to move the WordPress file from inside /public_html/ They should be fine there. I would remove the hardcoded elements from wp-config. php and [define the url directly in the database](https://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_The_Site_URL#Changing_the_URL_directly_in_the_database). * Thread Starter [mike.raab](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeraab/) * (@mikeraab) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5981253) * I’ve changed the database entries and trying to access my website results in a “Forbidden – You don’t have permission to access / on this server” message. * Any ideas? * [barnez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pidengmor/) * (@pidengmor) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5981254) * I would say check the permissions on the public_html directory, but it seems that the site has already been running fine with the files there from what you have explained above. Perhaps this explains why the site address/url were hardcoded in wp-config – you have removed these, right 🙂 * Would it be worth reaching out to the host at this point? * Thread Starter [mike.raab](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeraab/) * (@mikeraab) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5981255) * I have removed the hardcoded lines in wp-config.php. These entries can now be changed in the backend. * The webspace is only used for this website, should I try to relocate my wordpress installation to the root directory? * [barnez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pidengmor/) * (@pidengmor) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5981262) * I don’t think there is any use in placing your site files inside /home/, as usually access here is restricted to FTP and File Manager, and for directories and files that manage mail, cPanel (or other), passwords, etc. * I manage two sites where the structure is /home/public_html/[Wordpress files] In both of these sites the site address/url points to [http://site-name.com](http://site-name.com) without any issues. * As far a the terminology goes, I would say that inside the /public_html/ directory* is the root*, and above it is, well, one level above the root. * Have you checked to see where the DNS records are pointing to for [http://www.your-site.com](http://www.your-site.com)? * Thread Starter [mike.raab](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikeraab/) * (@mikeraab) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5981265) * I got the solution! * I’ve copied the files .htaccess and index.php from the folder where wordpress is installed (in my case public_html) and pasted them into the root directory. Then I’ve changed a line in index.php: * from require( dirname( __FILE__ ) . ‘/wp-blog-header.php’ ); * to require( dirname( __FILE__ ) . ‘/public_html/wp-blog-header.php’ ); * Now everything works like a charm. * Thank you for your help! * [barnez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pidengmor/) * (@pidengmor) * [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5981266) * Fantastic. Great to hear it was resolved without needing to get in touch with the host 🙂 Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total) The topic ‘public_html – direct link’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [installation](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/installation/) * [public_html](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/public_html/) * [url](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/url/) * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 9 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [barnez](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pidengmor/) * Last activity: [11 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/public_html-direct-link/#post-5981266) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics