Why do I get a "Forbidden" message when I try to access one of my website directories with a browser?

Directory indexing is turned off by default. This is done for performance and security reasons. You may enable directory indexing on a per directory basis, using htaccess.

Specifically, create a file named ".htaccess" in the directory you are wanting to index (e.g. htdocs/). In the .htaccess file, include the following line and this line only:

Options +Indexes