Everything In A www Folder on Apache Hosted Website?

Is It Necessary? Is It Common?

[Sally Stitts]

Apparently, my web host "upgraded" me to the "new" server.
The files seem to get served OK, but I can't change them.

For over 10 years, I never had a www folder on my website -
I had /
then /subject1/etc
/subject2/etc

On the new setup, all files have been placed into a /www/ folder. The files seem to get served OK, but I can't change them. When I use Fetch, the timestamp changes, but the files do not.

Please help.

1. Should I tell my host to lose the www folder, and put everything back the way it was? (Is this SOP, or some kind of quirky programmer behavior?) You can see I am FAR from being an expert.

2. Is this a "best practice", or is it weird (eccentric)?

Thank you all for any advice you may offer.
I update many files daily.

[Sally Stitts]

Well, it has been 3 days now with no answer.
This pushes me into speculation.

I wonder why there has been no answer.
Is it -
1. The question is so basic, it does not deserve an answer.
... The poster should just give up, and go away.
2. It is just too common - everyone does it.
... The poster should know this, and go away.
3. No one has ever done this, rendering everyone speechless.
... The poster has encountered a weird anomaly.
4. The question cannot be understood - it makes no sense.
... I thought I was very clear. Perhaps I should try again.
5. No one cares about this, and neither should I.

Perhaps someone can give me a number, because I have no clue.
Just a hint might help.
Thank you for your time.

[Samizdata]

all files have been placed into a /www/ folder

That is your root folder, using a common naming convention (public_html is another).

When I use Fetch, the timestamp changes, but the files do not.

This suggests that you may need to clear your browser cache.

If problems persist, contact your hosting company for advice.

Presumably you are paying them, after all.

...

[lucy24]

I wonder why there has been no answer.

Unlike most questions in this subforum, it requires someone who actually speaks Apache. (I don't ;))

The files seem to get served OK, but I can't change them. When I use Fetch, the timestamp changes, but the files do not.

Any possibility you're not seeing the "real" files, but aliases to some other place? Naah, probably not, scratch that.

The alternative question is: What exactly do you mean by "the files do not change"? afaik, Fetch itself can't display file content; it relies on whatever helper utility you assign. That's not only your browser ("Web View") but your text editor, graphics handler and so on, depending on filetype. Are you viewing the new files in a browser, or opening them in "Edit" mode? If it's a browser, what happens if you open them in some other browser (not the one you've set Fetch to use by default)?

[Sally Stitts]

Another tech person came along and restored my original configuration (of 10 years running) -
/
subject1/etc.
subject2/etc.

Everything works fine now, just like it used to.

My analysis:
1. A renegade tech person came along and reconfigured my site - everything was put into a www folder.
2. They could not be bothered to TELL ME they did it.
3. I complained in no uncertain terms.
4. A knowledgable tech person came along and put me back where I wanted to be (again, in stealth mode).
5. The irritating thing was - ZERO communication. As if everything they did was not for me to know. WHAT IS THIS? I would switch hosts in a nanosecond, were it not for one thing - 99.99% up time for 10 years. The very thought of switching scares he|| out of me, especially after reading about the hosting experiences of others.

I just have to accept the fact that communication with them is ONE-WAY. PERIOD. I write to them, they do what they want. That is just the way it is. As long as I continue to see 99.99% uptime, I am their captive, in spite of their communication insularity.

[mack]

The WWW folder is quite a common way for the host to try and "help" us store our web files. In theory everything from WWW up can be accessed on the server, anything below that level is private.

I suspect the file permissions may have been altered during the migration to the new server, this may well explain why you where not able to make the required changes.

I am glad you where able to get the issue resolved.

Mack.

[Kendo]

The "www" may have always been in the path to your site. If the site was not broken then assume that is the case. Perhaps you started seeing a "www" in your file manager because they changed what was allowed to be visible to you... allowed your access to a lower point in the folder tree.

[JD_Toims]

1. A renegade tech person came along and reconfigured my site - everything was put into a www folder.
2. They could not be bothered to TELL ME they did it.
3. I complained in no uncertain terms.
4. A knowledgable tech person came along and put me back where I wanted to be (again, in stealth mode).
5. The irritating thing was - ZERO communication. As if everything they did was not for me to know. WHAT IS THIS? I would switch hosts in a nanosecond, were it not for one thing - 99.99% up time for 10 years. The very thought of switching scares he|| out of me, especially after reading about the hosting experiences of others.

My guess is they upgraded their cPanel [or whatever they are using for management of sites] and the defaults of the upgrade were the "fairly standard" /public_html with /www being an alias for it -- The issue with the file modification time being changed and the file not being updated would happen if the files are processed server-side [like .php, etc.] and you were still connecting and saving to the / location via FTP rather than connecting and saving to /www or /public_html