creating website; want relative hyperlinks instead of absolute

[Guest]

I'm working on a website on this computer. When I'm done, I'll publish it to
my server. I want to use relative hyperlinks, not absolute hyperlinks. But,
everytime I create a link bar, or try to use one of the built in Front Page
components, it uses an absolute hyperlink. That's no good, every hyperlink
would be broken as soon as I publish. How can I get Front Page to use only
relative hyperlinks?

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Make sure you have open a web / site (File Menu | Open Web / Site) first and that all content is
either imported in to or created in the current open web. Also make sure that you have save the page
before view the links.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================

 

[Windsun]

I suggest you read the HELP on links in FP.

 

[Guest]

Check help. Yeah, did that already. Help tells me what a hyperlink is, how
to change its color, text/picture, moving and renaming, testing/repairing,
etc. None of which is relevant.

I made some small changes to the website while working with the server
version. I then wanted to synrchonize the two versions. Since I've had
problems with Windows thinking that something is synchronized (when it really
wasn't) I delete the web entirely from my hard drive. I then published from
the server to my harddrive. I closed the server website. I opened the
harddrive version. I created a new link bar, which was annoying in and of
itself. I have to type in a name for each link, otherwise FrontPage puts the
address of the link on the link button. If I modifiy the displayed name,
FrontPage changes the hyperlink from a relative one within the website to the
absolute location of the page on my harddrive. Even if I go back and change
the location so that the location is relative, once I try to preview the
page, the hyperlink once more takes more to the absolute location of the file.

So, if I test every hyperlink, of course everything works. All of the links
for the version of the website on my harddrive point to a correct (albeit
absolute) location. It isn't until I try to pulish from my harddrive to my
server that FrontPage starts overriding all of the lovely relative hyperlinks
on the server pages and replacing them with the absolute hyperlinks from my
harddrive.

So, to sum up my question again, how can I get FrontPage to only use
relative hyperlinks when I link from page to page in the same website?

When I set a hyperlink, I expect it to stay exactly how it is, unless I
rename or othewise move the page. I don't expect FrontPage to go around
changing all of the relative hyperlinks to absolute ones, although that is
what is happening.

 

[Tom Pepper Willett]

Read Tom Rowe's reply.
--
===
Tom "Pepper" Willett
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage
---
About FrontPage 2003:
http://office.microsoft.com/home/office.aspx?assetid=FX01085802
FrontPage 2003 Product Information:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/frontpage/prodinfo/default.mspx
Understanding FrontPage:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/frontpage/
FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions Support Center:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;fp10se
===
| Check help. Yeah, did that already. Help tells me what a hyperlink is,
how
| to change its color, text/picture, moving and renaming, testing/repairing,
| etc. None of which is relevant.
|
| I made some small changes to the website while working with the server
| version. I then wanted to synrchonize the two versions. Since I've had
| problems with Windows thinking that something is synchronized (when it
really
| wasn't) I delete the web entirely from my hard drive. I then published
from
| the server to my harddrive. I closed the server website. I opened the
| harddrive version. I created a new link bar, which was annoying in and of
| itself. I have to type in a name for each link, otherwise FrontPage puts
the
| address of the link on the link button. If I modifiy the displayed name,
| FrontPage changes the hyperlink from a relative one within the website to
the
| absolute location of the page on my harddrive. Even if I go back and
change
| the location so that the location is relative, once I try to preview the
| page, the hyperlink once more takes more to the absolute location of the
file.
|
| So, if I test every hyperlink, of course everything works. All of the
links
| for the version of the website on my harddrive point to a correct (albeit
| absolute) location. It isn't until I try to pulish from my harddrive to
my
| server that FrontPage starts overriding all of the lovely relative
hyperlinks
| on the server pages and replacing them with the absolute hyperlinks from
my
| harddrive.
|
| So, to sum up my question again, how can I get FrontPage to only use
| relative hyperlinks when I link from page to page in the same website?
|
| When I set a hyperlink, I expect it to stay exactly how it is, unless I
| rename or othewise move the page. I don't expect FrontPage to go around
| changing all of the relative hyperlinks to absolute ones, although that is
| what is happening.

 

[Stefan B Rusynko]

Don't create any absolute hyperlinks
- FP is designed by default to use and maintain relative links
Always open your FP web (not pages) and create your links w/i your web
Manage your navigation from the Nav View (drag page from Folder list to nav view)
- or if you create custom link bars you will have to type in the links
--

 

[Windsun]

Sounds to me like FP is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. Are you
aware that FP keeps track of the links automatically and changes them when
you publish or move them?

 

[Guest]

Read Tom Rowe's reply.

I already did that.

Don't create any absolute hyperlinks

I don't want them absolute, I'm trying my hardest not to use absolute links.

- FP is designed by default to use and maintain relative links

Good, that's what I want. So, why is FP creating absolute links?

Always open your FP web (not pages) and create your links w/i your web

I believe that I've already said that this is what I do. Regardless,
perhaps I didn't say those exact words with, "I closed the server website. I
opened the harddrive version." I am working with the entire site. I have
never opened single pages and worked on a single page.

- or if you create custom link bars you will have to type in the links

"I created a new link bar, which was annoying in and of itself. I have to
type in a name for each link ..." Yes, I know that. I put in relative
links, and FP changes all of them to absolute links!

Various links supplied by Tom "Pepper" Willett

You're kind of acting like Windsun here, Tom (he was the one who suggested
that I take a look at the help files). None of the links that you supplied
address how to get FP to only use relative links, instead of changing the
links in a link bar to absolute links.

Manage your navigation from the Nav View

What do I do when I have more than 100+ pages? It starts getting a little
unwieldy to manage all of them from the Navigation view. I find that the
navigation view starts to get upset after about 12 pages are put under one
page in horizontal view, and in vertical view you can't really have more than
about 20 pages under one page without the Navigation starting to get wonky.

This is why I would prefer to use included pages, with various included
pages holding various custom link bars.

Are you aware that FP keeps track of the links automatically and changes them when you publish or move them?

FP doesn't really change links. Relative links stay the same when a website
is published, and most absolute links are not changed. At least, that's been
my experience with previous websites created in FrontPage.

Nobody seems to have answered the basic question. How can I get FrontPage
to eschew the use of absolute hyperlinks and only use relative links, unless
I specifically type in an absolute hyperlink?

 

[Guest]

I just wrote a long reply to everyone who has posted comments. But,
something went wrong with the post (I have been told that Operations is
looking into it). Let me sum it all up.

I don't want absolute hyperlinks. I want relative hyperlinks. When I
create a custom link bar, I click through the pages so that a relative
hyperlink is listed in the hyperlink bar. I type in a name for the link. I
click OK and Front Page immediately changes the hyperlink to an absolute one.
I only manage websites by opening the full website and working with that. I
have never used FrontPage to open a single page and work on that.

When I've published websites before, I haven't noticed FrontPage doing a
very good job of translating hyperlinks. Relative hyperlinks stay as they
are -- relative. Absolute hyperlinks stay as they are -- absolute. Testing
hyperlinks doesn't reveal anything. Since the website is on the harddrive
before publishing, of course all links work.

This is for a website that will, in the next few months, grow to 100+
webpages. I am trying to design the site so that nothing is more than 3
clicks away from the homepage and so that everything is intuitively sorted
(anymore than 3 clicks from the homepage and users quickly start to grow
confused as to how to find a given page -- witness neophytes trying to
navigate the microsoft.com sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-etc. sites). Thus, the site
is pretty much too large to use the Navigation pane to set up all of the
links, etc., and I don't want every page to have a link to its sister page,
just some of its sister pages. Thus, included pages with various custom lnks.

But the custom link bars aren't working, they keep translating everything to
an absolute link -- but only when I work on the website on my harddrive.
When I work on the site online on the server, custom link bars use only
relative links as they should.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

What happen when you use the browse function to select the page you are linking to in the hyperlink
dialog? Do you get relative links or absolute link. Check after you have saved the page, not before.
If after saving the page you see an absolute URL, then you are linking to a page/image that is not
within the current open web / site.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================

 

[Windsun]

I think most of us here are failing to see where you have a problem, or you
are not explaining what the problem is very well.

All FP links on the local drive are relative. When you publish it changes
them to the correct link on the server. That is what it is supposed to do.