Total web novice here but I believe what you are saying to be correct - well that's the way it works with my ISP (plus.com) who hosts my webspace. When someone enters the name of your webspace in their browser, it looks for index.htm, opens and displays the contents of the file. This can then have links to other files stored in your webspace and do whatever else you require.
If the organisation which provides your hosting and stores your web files is asked to host more than one webspace name then you need a folder in your webspace for each web title, each containing a different index.htm file. Your host is then instructed to direct calls to each webs title to the appropriate folder so that, despite being hosted by the same server, each webspace name appears independent as the appropriate index.htm fie is opened in each case.
I am a bear of very little brain when it comes to webspace. Having got my own website up and running a year or three ago - with assistance from the kind contributors to this board - it has taken me since then to discover how to get my website to download a file! I think that it is so easy to the experts that they don't realise that it stumps lesser mortals like me. It was only a line of code and now I can upload the .pdf of a monthly magazine I edit to my webspace, my (human) printer can log on to it with a "/folder name" at the end of the web title to access a separate folder. This also contains an index.htm file which immediately opens. This contains the magic code line which enables him to download the 30Mb file so that he can prepare his offset litho masters for printing purposes. In the old days, the file had to be split into three or four and e-mailed. I can't tell you how pleasantly suprised when I first got this system to work!
I have deliberately not given my own website name here as it would serve no purpose and Saab could rightfully accuse me of trying to advertise!
P.P.
Last edited by P.Pilcher; 21st March 2010 at 13:21.
Reason: numerous typos.