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If you have a document that you wish to use as your webpage index, you would name the file index.html and save it to your public_html folder. With an index page, anyone can go to http://people.bethel.edu/~username/ (where username is your Bethel username) and see your index page.
Index pages provide you a homepage on your site, and you can create links to all your other web pages located in your public_html folder. If you do not place links on this page, only those who know the exact web address or name of an item in your public_html folder will be able to view that item.