Thread: Hosting account not serving index.php, only index.htm(l)

I have a client who's host is a piece of work. We've had issues with them from the beginning. I got hired to do a site revamp and, since they already had an established site, they kept their current hosting. I haven't had a problem with this before, so I didn't care.

Once the design was finalized, I was ready to start incorporating into Wordpress. I was told that the hosting company only had Windows servers. No problem, I thought. Many hosting companies with Windows servers enable PHP because it's a common programming language. I contacted customer service and was told in so many words that they didn't have PHP available nor would they enable it for me. WTF!

I contacted the client, who spoke with their rep at the hosting company. They informed him that they indeed had PHP enabled so we could install the CMS we desired. Fantastic.

I logged in to their admin panel, and guess what? They're account didn't include any databases. Apparently, the host didn't feel it important enough to let us know that the current hosting plan didn't include a database, even after we told them we were installing a CMS.

After two weeks, the client finally upgraded the account and we were set. The install went smooth, for the most part, except for one major detail. Apparently, the hosting server only serves index.htm(l) files, not index.php. So, we rigged it to redirect the appropriate extension. I got a call from the client saying they were getting a 403 error when they attempted to load the site. Ugh!

Now, I have to call the freaking hosting company again to see if they can make the changes to the server to fix the problem. This is so annoying. Has anyone had to deal with this before? More importantly, is there a better way to get this fixed?

Switch to a Linux hosting provider who offers cPanel and Fantastico. Pick a plan that allows the version of PHP you need and the number of MySQL databases you require. Fantastico allows you to install Wordpress in just a couple of clicks. It even creates the database for you. cPanel also has a feature to import databases if you need to. You can also set the default index page type in cPanel.

Originally Posted by vectro

Switch to a Linux hosting provider who offers cPanel and Fantastico.

That won't help solve the immediate problem.

Is this a new host chaka42?

It sounds to me that the host has no clue what they are doing! Chances are it is a reseller who has to contact the main hosting company every time there is a problem. My first host was like this and I had no idea much about hosting at that time. I had no idea why they were taking so long to fix stuff. I was trying to install a pretty simple script and it would not work. When I finally with a lot of help from friends got it to work, they switched reseller accounts (was told they installed new servers) and it wiped out my whole script with fatal errors.

You may fight with these idiots for weeks and still get no where.

I suggest nudging you client hard to switch to a better host. I know you can't control who they host with but I would suggest a strong suggestion to them.

I agree with what's being said here.

If you don't get them to switch to Linux, this has the potential to be an ongoing nightmare for you.
The good news is... I sense an opportunity here for you. With your knowledge and interactions from forums, you have an opportunity to look like the hero here. You can make recommendations to your client, based on positive feedback here on a really good web host and probably get their hosting for cheaper than they are paying now.

We've tried to get them to switch to a new hosting provider, but they're dead set on staying with this company. The sad thing is it's a large company that's probably providing their phone and internet service, so they probably get some discount. Just so all of you know to avoid them, it's CenturyTel. If you have a client that uses them, I'd charge double or run the other way.

Originally Posted by chaka42

We've tried to get them to switch to a new hosting provider, but they're dead set on staying with this company. The sad thing is it's a large company that's probably providing their phone and internet service, so they probably get some discount. Just so all of you know to avoid them, it's CenturyTel. If you have a client that uses them, I'd charge double or run the other way.

That explains a lot. These telephone companies should have stuck to what they know. Chances are, they throw in the hosting for free. The worse is that it always fall back on you. The client thinks you should create miracles even though the hosting account sucks.

I agree with you, run the other way. :ssad:

It's not a windows problem it's a host problem... incompetent idiots branching out to industries they have no experience in by the sounds of it.

Do remember though on windows if you want the conventional wordpress linking provided by mod_rewrite (htaccess) you'll need something like ISAPI Rewrite installed which a basic hosting account may not provide.

Originally Posted by Jezmeister

It's not a windows problem it's a host problem... incompetent idiots branching out to industries they have no experience in by the sounds of it.

Do remember though on windows if you want the conventional wordpress linking provided by mod_rewrite (htaccess) you'll need something like ISAPI Rewrite installed which a basic hosting account may not provide.

It isn't an operating system issue, but hosts running Linux and cPanel make index pages a lot easier to deal with. Fantastico also handles semi-automatic WordPress installations in 3 or 4 clicks. Less Microsoft means less problems.