Nginx File Directory — FAQ¶
Does it list my files automatically?¶
No. It is a hand-written listing that looks like Nginx output. Nothing scans a folder and nothing keeps it in sync — it shows exactly what you typed.
A real Nginx server generates this per request from the filesystem. This is a static picture of one.
Then what is it for?¶
Anywhere you want the appearance of an Nginx index without a server producing one:
- A placeholder or landing page for a file drop.
- A curated list where you control what appears.
- A mock-up or screenshot.
- Serving a fixed set of files from static hosting like GitHub Pages, which cannot generate indexes at all.
Why are my columns misaligned?¶
Because an editor reformatted the file. The listing sits in a <pre> block, so the columns
line up by literal whitespace — nothing computes them.
Turn off format-on-save and trailing-whitespace trimming before editing. See Usage.
Why are there no icons?¶
Because Nginx does not emit any. Its autoindex output is name, date, and size in
preformatted text. The Apache and Chrome versions have icons because those pages do.
Where is the stylesheet?¶
There isn't one, and that is faithful to the original. The page is unstyled preformatted text.
Why does docker pull fail?¶
The image name is lowercase — ghcr.io/willtheorangeguy/nginx-file-directory. GHCR requires
lowercase, so the capitalised repository name will not work.
The listing shows files that do not exist¶
Leftover example lines. Deleting the ones you did not customise is a manual step nothing can check for you.
Do I need to copy anything besides index.html?¶
No. This is the simplest of the three — one file, no icons folder, no CSS.
Is there a version for other servers?¶
Why is the project BSD 2-Clause when Nginx is BSD 3-Clause?¶
The upstream notice is preserved in LICENSE_nginx.md and in the header of index.html; the
project's own licence is BSD 2-Clause. Anything you redistribute that derives from the Nginx
design is governed by the upstream terms.
Are the dates and sizes accurate?¶
They are plain text. Nothing computes them, so they are as accurate as you make them.