A fundamental part of any web page is the hosting and all the content stored there. It is what will shape what our visitors will see, where we can administer and manage all the content, mail, accounts, passwords … When we enter a web server we can see many different folders . In this article we are going to explain what the main ones are for.
How to enter the folders of a web hosting
The first thing we are going to explain is how we can enter the folders that we have hosted on a web host . The process is very simple, although it may vary depending on the storage we have contracted. However, the steps are similar and we can see all the folders there are. In many cases, it may be necessary to access this part of our website to have control over the operation of a plug-in, view a file or solve any problem that may arise.
For this we have to log in with our data in the hosting that we have contracted. There you will have to enter the control panel. The most common are cPanel and Plesk. When we are inside we must look for the corresponding section, which is usually Files or something similar. In our case we have accessed through cPanel.
Inside there we will see something similar to the image above. In this case we have to enter File Manager . There is where all the folders that make up our hosting will appear and we can see each one of them.
We can also access via FTP and upload folders and files in this way. There are many programs and tools that allow us to use this popular data transfer protocol over the Internet. However, the ideal is to do it directly from the hosting platform, with the tools that it has.
What are the main folders of a hosting for
When we are inside the File Manager we can see all the directories of our hosting. There may be more or fewer folders , depending on the case. Of course, some of them are essential and cannot be missed.
Within the main directories we can see more folders. It is where all the content of the site is stored so that it can function properly. Users, passwords, installed add-ons, the control panel itself… In short, everything that helps visitors see the page correctly and navigate through it without any problem.
Public_html folder
One of the main folders is the one for public_html . Basically it is what allows visitors to see the site correctly. It is where all the files that make up the page are stored. It is, in short, the root directory. It is something that will always be present on any web page.
There we can find subdirectories such as the wp-content folder , which is where all the WordPress content will be, with the plugins installed, the cache, backup copies, updates … It is an essential folder for the content manager that we have installed.
Public_FTP
In this case we are facing the native FTP folder of the hosting. Once we have created an account, this folder is generated automatically without us having to do anything else. It will always be on our server. It is another of the folders that we can find in our web hosting.
Mail folder
Another important folder is the mail folder. The email is a medium widely used by Web site administrators. We can even have more than one address available for the different sections of a portal.
This folder is where the emails are stored, the users that we have created and everything related to the email. If we enter we can see different subdirectories such as Spam, sent, received …
Etc folder
This is where the user data and passwords of the hosting services are stored . It is an important directory for a website to function properly. Mail, FTP, PHP, etc. settings are also stored here.
Tmp folder
The tmp folder is where temporary files are stored . They may have statistical purposes of accessing the website, for example. It is also where the cache can be stored. This temporary data can be generated by different services that we have on the web.
How to see the files inside the hosting folders
We have explained what some of the main folders on our server mean. But keep in mind that each of them can also have other subdirectories. Also, each subfolder could hold different files. Therefore, we find ourselves with a wide range of possibilities.
Viewing the files in the web hosting folders is very easy. The normal thing is that the structure is by layers or branches. It is often referred to as a folder tree. Basically what we do is click on the drop-down of each main folder and it will automatically show us all the subfolders. Also, on the right side, the different files will appear.
To go to a certain file, for example if we want to modify or delete it , we simply have to go to its corresponding subfolder and it will appear there. It will show us the file viewer in the central part, while in the left column the subfolders and folders.
At the top, within the File Manager, we will see different buttons such as Add file, Add folder, Upload … This allows us to easily upload and download files, as well as move them from one folder to another. It may vary depending on the type of hosting we are using but the procedure is very similar.
Therefore, our web hosting has a large number of folders and files. Some of them will be essential for the proper functioning of the site and to be able to offer service to visitors. Others, on the other hand, will or will not be present, as the case may be. We have also seen how we can access them in a simple way from our hosting. A quick process that we can carry out to configure some parameters or change certain files that are necessary.
