Avoiding public access to subfolders

[zopm]

Alright, go easy on me as I'm very new to this.
Essentially I am i the process of setting up my site, however, I still lack the understanding of the directiory and index manager system
When someone goes to my site at the moment, i dont have an index.html setup. So basically everyone has access to all the files I have on the public_html directory.
So I have 2 questions.
1. If I simply setup a small index.html , can people still acces my directories and subdirectories.
2. Can the same effect be achieved by simply creating a subfolder in public-html and transferring all my files to that folder,-and then setting up a index for that folder in index manager.

Is that right, any help in understanding would be really appreciated.
Thankyou

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[casey]

You can use .htaccess or an index.html, both will prevent the directory listing.

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[NittyGritty]

But I thought Index Manager was supposed to do stuff like this... at least, that's what I got from reading all the different little cpanel manuals I could find online.

If I hit the radio buttons for standard indexing (text only) or fancy indexing (graphics) on each of my subfolders, I thought it would prevent browsers from viewing the contents of that directory. The browser is supposed to receive a 403 (Forbidden) error instead of a listing of all the files, right?

At least, that's what the manual says. I've been hitting that darn radio button and saving changes all day, but I can still see a listing of all my files in each particular directory when I refresh the screen.

In fact, that's exactly why I came here, to find some help!

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[xsenses]

Originally posted by NittyGritty

If I hit the radio buttons for standard indexing (text only) or fancy indexing (graphics) on each of my subfolders, I thought it would prevent browsers from viewing the contents of that directory. The browser is supposed to receive a 403 (Forbidden) error instead of a listing of all the files, right?

No Indexes

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[NittyGritty]

Thanks for the reply!

No indexes? But this is directly from the CPanel 5 User Guide 1.01:
CPanel 5 User Guide 1.01

*

Default System Setting - Use the system setting for your hosting machine. This is set for all directories by default.
*

No Indexes - Do not use any indexes. Any browser that accesses this directory will see a list of all files in the directory.
*

Standard Indexing (text only) - Prevents browsers from viewing the contents of this directory. The browser receives a 403 (Forbidden) error. This option should be used for directories that do not contain image files.
*

Fancying Indexing (graphics) - Prevents browsers from viewing the contents of this directory. The browser receives a 403 (Forbidden) error. This option should be used for directories that do contain image files.

This is why I need a good manual. Any recommendations?

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[xsenses]

Quoted out of cPanel Index Manager....

"The index manager will allow you to turn indexes on or off for a directory. If indexes are off, people will not be able to see what files are in a directory that lacks an index file."

Just try it...

[NittyGritty]

Okay, I tried it. It says my changes have been updated, and "Indexes are now Off."

But when I type in the URL for that folder, I get the indexed list of files again, even when I refresh the screen.

Are changes not immediate? Do I have to wait 24 hours or something?

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[xsenses]

Immediate - maybe add a support ticket with your host?

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[NittyGritty]

Support ticket... support ticket...

Okay, I just looked everywhere on my menus but don't see anything about support tickets. Yegad, I am such a newbie...

I did e-mail my host but haven't received a response yet. I thank you for your help and want to ask you yet another question:

What manual do you recommend? There are a ton out there (and you just showed me how that "CPanel 5 User Guide 1.01" isn't exactly the most accurate thing).

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