The directory at my website (ConcoursBuilder.us) looks like this in Filezilla:

Per SiteGround conventions, non-WordPress files must be uploaded to manual-uploads under a separate public_html directory. However, to access a file in a browser, public_html is omitted because it is the default "home" for a user.

The problem is when I put a properly constructed URL in the browser I get a file not found 404 error.

There are many reports and offered "solutions" to this problem, including recreating the "htaccess." I've done that, but it didn't help.

To rule out possible errors in the real files such as ChampionSpecial.pdf (created & uploaded by my Windows app), I used FileZilla to upload a simple text file to various places in the online data structure. What I learned was if I put AboutCB.txt in public_html/manual-uploads it works, i.e., the text is properly displayed in the browser. However, if put it anywhere below that, e.g., public_html/manual-uploads/JOCLA, it causes a 404 error.

My guess is it's a file permissions error. I played with that a bit, but no joy.

What am I missing?

Ed