Using a custom homepage

You can host a custom homepage for your FileMaker WebDirect custom apps either on the same web server used for FileMaker WebDirect or on an external website.

To host a custom homepage on the same web server used for FileMaker WebDirect:

Place an HTML file in the web server's root folder. You can create your own homepage, such as one that redirects web users to another page on your website, or you can use the fmwebd_home.html file that is on the disk image as a basis for your custom homepage. Make a copy of the original file before modifying it.

The following shows the default web server root folder locations. The folder is on the machine in your FileMaker Server deployment where the web server is running.

  • Windows: For IIS through HTTP or HTTPS:

    [drive]:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server\HTTPServer\conf

    where [drive] is the drive on which the Web Publishing Engine component of your FileMaker Server deployment resides.

  • macOS: For Apache through HTTP:

    /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs

    /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs/httpsRoot

  • Linux: For Apache through HTTP:

    /opt/FileMaker/FileMaker\ Server/HTTPServer/htdocs

  • Linux: For Apache through HTTPS:

    /opt/FileMaker/FileMaker\ Server/HTTPServer/htdocs/httpsRoot

Note  Hosting a custom homepage in the web server's root folder is not supported for FileMaker Cloud.

To access your custom homepage:

Use the following URL syntax:

<scheme>://<IP address or domain name>/<filename>

For example, if your custom homepage is xyz_home.html and your Web Publishing Engine's domain name is example.com, direct users to the following URL:

https://example.com/xyz_home.html

To return web users to a custom homepage when they sign out, add the homeurl parameter to each FileMaker WebDirect custom app's URL. For example:

https://example.com/fmi/webd/Contacts?homeurl=https://example.com/xyz_home.html

You can set homeurl to the custom homepage's URL or any other URL.

Note  Custom home page redirects are disabled by default. The redirect settings are configured in the jwpc_prefs.xml file located in [installation_folder]/Web Publishing/conf with two new parameters: homeurlenabled and customhomeurl. The homeurlenabled parameter can be set to yes to enable the setting. The customhomeurl parameter can be set to a comma-separated list of approved redirect IP addresses or domains. For example:

<parameter name="homeurlenabled">yes</parameter>

<parameter name="customhomeurl">https://primary.example.com,https://secondary.example.com</parameter>

Notes 

  • When editing the jwpc_prefs.xml file located in [installation_folder]/Web Publishing/conf, use a plain text editor.

  • When the server administrator imports a custom SSL certificate, database server connections will use SSL. Make sure that custom homepages and custom web content are hosted in the WPE HTTPS directory. See FileMaker Server Help.

  • You must restart FileMaker Server for changes to custom home page redirects to take effect. See FileMaker Server Help.