Upload your site: guides by host

HostGator

portal.hostgator.com → Hosting → Quick Links → File Manager → public_html

1. 1. Open the File Manager

   Go to portal.hostgator.com and sign in. Click Hosting, then under Quick Links click File Manager. In its Settings choose Web Root (public_html or www) and tick Show Hidden Files (dotfiles), Save.

2. 2. Back up first

   Safest: cPanel → Files → Backup → Download a Full Account Backup → Home Directory → Generate Backup. Or in the File Manager: select all → Compress → Zip → Download.

3. 3. Move the old site out of the web folder

   Go up one level to your home folder (one level above public_html) (the folder that contains public_html). Click + Folder, name it old-site and create it. Back in public_html, select everything (hidden files included), click Move, type your home folder (one level above public_html)/old-site as the destination and confirm. Nothing is deleted: the old site just stops being public, so an old WordPress cannot be opened or hacked from the web. If your File Manager cannot leave public_html, create old-site inside it and ask me in the chat for the two-line .htaccess that keeps it private.

4. 4. Upload the zip and extract it

   In public_html click Upload, choose yourbusiness-remo.zip (the download from your Remo account) and wait for 100%. Go back to public_html, select the zip and click Extract; keep public_html as the destination and confirm. The zip is flat: index.html, site.css, the other pages and the photo folders land directly in public_html, nothing to move up a level. Then delete the zip.

5. 5. Make sure index.html is the front page

   Look in public_html for an old index.php, index.htm, default.html or default.php. If one is still there, move it into old-site: a server shows those before index.html. public_html/index.html must sit directly in public_html, not inside a folder.

6. 6. Open your site

   Open https://yourbusiness.com in a private window and click a few menu links. If the old site still shows, press Ctrl+F5; if it still does, an old index.php or index.htm is left in public_html (previous step).

7. 7. Keep the padlock (HTTPS)

   HostGator's Free SSL does not force HTTPS by itself: click + File → .htaccess → Edit and paste the three-line rule I give you in the chat → Save Changes. If the site opens as http:// without the padlock, ask me in the chat for the three-line .htaccess redirect, or turn on your host's Force HTTPS switch.

Watch out

• The zip is flat: extract it IN the web folder and index.html lands at the root. If your panel created a folder with the site inside, open it, select all, Move to the web folder.
• An old index.php, index.htm or default.html left next to index.html wins: move it into old-site.
• Show Hidden Files before moving anything: a WordPress .htaccess left behind sends visitors to the old index.php.
• old-site belongs OUTSIDE the web folder (your home folder). Inside it, an old WordPress stays public and runnable.
• Never delete the old files: Compress → Download first, then Move. Moving them back undoes everything.
• Your email does not live in these folders; nothing here touches it. Do not cancel the old hosting if your email runs there (ask me).
• 500 MB per upload; the zip is far smaller.
• HostGator's order is index.html, index.shtml, index.php, default.html, home.html; a WordPress .htaccess still sends visitors to /index.php: move it.
• Gator Website Builder sites take no files: the hosted plan, or a hosting plan here.

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