Cause 1: Missing or wrongly named index file

When you don’t specify a file name when accessing a site (eg visiting the domain directly as most do at http://www.domainname.com), the server searches through a list of default filenames and will display the first one it finds. Common default names are index.php, default.htm, index.htm and index.html – The first page of your website should use one of these names, with all lowercase letters.

When we create your web hosting account, we place a simple index.html file on the server so that there is something there before you upload your site. If you delete this file and don’t replace it, then you will see the error message above. To fix this, ensure that the first page in you site is called index.html and that the file is uploaded to the public_html directory.

Cause 2: Incorrect Access Control Settings

This error will also be displayed if the directory access settings for your site’s root directory are set with access criteria which you do not meet. Usually these settings are contained in a file called “.htaccess”. This file is sometimes generated manually, but can also be configured by some web development tools, such as MS FrontPage.

If you are using FrontPage, then you should alter the web permissions using this program, and republish your site. In most other cases, manually removing the .htaccess file usually solves the problem.

Assuming that you have successfully installed the formmail script via the Control Panel, then all the files will be present and the file permissions are correct. Therefore the only other reason for a problem would be your form that is calling the script.

In your eXtend control panel when you installed the script you were given a link for “Usage Instruction” and example HTML code to use, please take a look at that and make sure yours is the same. You are able to make modifications to this to add your own fields, but the basic structure is there to follow.

In order for the form to fully display on a web page the page should be saved with a .cgi extension.

If your site is written in PHP, the default index.html page may still be visible – you should delete this in order to show your site.

<?php
$dbhost = ‘localhost’;
$dbuser = ‘db username’;
$dbpass = ‘db password’;

$conn = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass) or die (‘Error connecting to mysql’);

$dbname = ‘db name’;
mysql_select_db($dbname);
?>

Save this as <something>.php and then whenever you want to access the database, just add

include ‘<something>.php’

to the top of a php script and the database can be queried using standard sql commands.

This feature allows you to download your server access log as a zip file, you can then manipulate the file locally on your PC to get any specific data you need.

Otherwise with SSH access enabled you can find these in the “logs” folder in the root of your hosting space (note these are not viewable via FTP)

It generally occurs in Internet Service Provider specific browsers such as AOL, BT and Tiscali. Try upgrading to a later version of that browser or using a more conventional browser such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.

First, the cookie settings on the local browser may be too restrictive. The settings should allow the control panel server to set cookies and any firewall or proxy software should be set to allow the cookies to be sent back to the server.

Second, the clock on the local machine must be accurate to within 30 minutes. When using the AOL browser, this is complicated slightly, as the browser maintains its own time zone, separate from the system time zone. Both must be accurate.

Finally, it may be that the account has been disabled. Contact support if you think that is the case.

Passwords need to meet these three criteria to be rated ‘Good’:

1) Be 8 characters long.
2) Contain at least one number.
3) Contain at least one special character (e.g. ! ” £ $ % ).

The harder it is for someone to guess your password, the more secure it is. Try not to use personal information in your password (e.g. your date of birth, your anniversary, name of your significant other).

The best passwords are those which are randomly generated, but you may find these a little difficult to remember – try introducing a small random element to the end of your password, and make use of capitalisation in non-standard locations ( deCemBe2!&78 is a lot harder to guess than December78 and only marginally harder to remember).