How to Serve Static HTML Files Alongside Your WordPress Site

Introduction

While Staq specializes in managed hosting for WordPress, there are scenarios where you may want to host a static HTML file outside of WordPress, accessible on the same domain. For example, you may have a custom page like /free-quote that needs to load a static index.html file.

This guide explains how to configure your site to serve static HTML files and ensure they load correctly via user-friendly URLs.

Static HTML File Setup

Step 1: Upload Your Static HTML File

1. Access your site via sFTP. View this guide on how to access sFTP on Staq.
2. Navigate to the root directory of your website by clicking on the wordpress folder in your sFTP client.
3. Create a new folder for your static page. For example, name the folder free-quote.

4. Inside the free-quote folder, upload your static HTML file. For example, name the file index.html.

Step 2: Test the Page

To access the static page, you’ll need to visit the full server path:
https://example.com/free-quote/index.html which should work if you’ve set up the folder path correctly.

If you try to access https://example.com/free-quote/ directly, it will return a 403 Forbidden error, as the server requires the full path to locate the file.

Step 3: Configure a Redirect for Clean URLs

To serve the static HTML file under a clean URL like https://example.com/free-quote/:

1. Log in to your Staq Panel.
2. Navigate to the Redirects section.
3. Add a redirect rule as follows:
   • From: /free-quote/
   • To: /free-quote/index.html

4. Click Edit to confirm the settings.
5. Click Save to apply the redirect.

Step 4: Test the Redirect

Visit https://example.com/free-quote/ to ensure it redirects correctly to your static HTML file.

Conclusion

By creating a redirect in the Staq Panel, you can easily serve static HTML files under clean URLs without modifying your WordPress setup. If you encounter any issues, feel free to contact Staq support for assistance.