Paging by default

Ever wondered why sites you visit often display pages ending in default.htm or main.htm?

The main reason for this is to stop visitors having a good old rake around in folders you don’t necessarily wish them to have access to. Your images folder for instance.

Without a default page, simply typing into the address bar …com/images would, in all likelihood, get you straight into the images folder. Default pages prevent users wishing to wander off the beaten track by pulling up the home page instead.

Depending on how your site’s web hosting server has been configured, the default name may vary. The most common ones are index.html, index.htm, index.asp, default.html, default.htm.

If you are not sure on this score, call or drop your hosting company an email asking them to confirm the default file name on the server being used by your site. Remember to include your domain name if you send an email.