If you have mod_rewrite installed - put the following in your .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ index.php [L]
That will cause index.php to be called when index.html is requested.
If you want it to forward to index.php then use [R] instead of [L]
If you want all .html to be sent to php equivalents -
RewriteRule (^.*)\.html$ $1.php [L]
should do the trick.
btw - with those rules, the .html files do not need to exist. If/when they are requested, whether they exist or not, the link or redirect is made.
mod_rewrite rocks
Thanks to you both Michael & Dan,
I must not have mod-rewrite installed (I am 98% uneducated about apache/server admin).
I will save your post though MIchael, for when I get more to that level.. you gave a good lead.
Meanwhile, Dan you gave me the quick fix lead I was after.
DirectoryIndex index.php
works.
Found it at
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_dir.html#directoryindex
-G