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ravenous_wolf
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Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/10/2004 21:13:19
Okay, here is another silly newbie question.
In FrontPage, when I am inserting a hyperlink, like on a graphic using hyperlink properties, in the EDIT HYPERLINK dialog box, in the ADDRESS drop down box, what am I supposed to put down for the destination of where I want my link to go.
I am confused about the slash at the end of the address or do I put no slash like this:
http://www.yoursite.com
or do I include the slash at the end of the address???
http://www.yoursite.com/
Sorry to bug you guys with such a newbie question but I am about to insert quite a bit of links and I wanted to know which is the proper format.
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Charles W Davis
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/11/2004 0:21:35
ravenous_wolf,
Either will work. If I am copying from the address bar in the browser, sometimes one will be there and other times not. I don't spend the time to either remove or add.
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d a v e
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/11/2004 7:13:20
kitka i notied that too on the w3c link checker - I think too you can use either but you should put the trailing slash on to be correct (yeah right who does?!) but it will work fine without
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Kitka
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/11/2004 7:20:42
quote:
(yeah right who does?!)
When typing an address in my browser I don't bother using a /, but since my experience with LinkBot Pro, I have always used it in links on my web sites.
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Kitka
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d a v e
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/11/2004 9:50:53
would the w3c link checker do what you need?
http://validator.w3.org/checklink
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David Prescott
Gekko web design
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d a v e
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/12/2004 4:55:43
buy dreamweaver :)
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David Prescott
Gekko web design
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d a v e
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/12/2004 5:09:41
couldn't resist ;)
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David Prescott
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jeepless
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/12/2004 12:23:33
Getting back to the original question.....
I remember a thread about this subject on another board, Webmaster World, and it was suggested that it's ALWAYS a good practice to include a slash after a hyperlink if it's referring to a subfolder or a subdirectory under the root directory (eg. http://www.yoursite.com/subfolder/). I don't recall the technical details, but it had to do with cutting down the amount of communication involved between the browser and the server to pull up the correct page.
In simple terms this is what happens...
Without using a trailing slash: the browser opens a connection and calls the server with the URL http://www.yoursite.com/subfolder (notice the missing slash), but the server doesn't know if that URL refers to a FILE or a SUBFOLDER. So the server first goes looking for a FILE called "subfolder". When it doesn't find it, the server then responds to the browser, "Did you really mean the SUBDIRECTORY called "subfolder?" (a corrected URL) and the server then closes the connection. The browser then opens a new connection with the server and makes a second request saying, "Yes, I mean the SUBDIRECTORY called "subfolder" (the corrected URL), and the server then responds by sending the default page for that subfolder and again closes the connection. The result is that we had to open TWO connections to download the default page, and consequently forced the server/browser to make TWO round trips for that one page. That's generally considered to be "unnecessarily taxing the server's performance" by the web gurus.
With the trailing slash: the browser opens a connection and calls the server with the URL http://www.yoursite.com/subfolder/ (notice the trailing slash) and the server immediately knows that the browser is referring to a SUBDIRECTORY called "subfolder". The server then responds by sending the default page for that subfolder and closes the connection. One connection, one round trip!
In reality, forcing the server/browser communication into making two round trips to call up one page is virtually minimal and you would probably never notice a difference in speed. But with a very slow dial-up connection it might be noticeable. Still it's generally considered unnecessary and bad practice according to web gurus.
It should also be noted that using a trailing slash at the end of a URL that specifies the ROOT directory is unnecessary since the server and browser implicitly understand that a base URL (http://www.yoursite.com) always refers to a root directory and not a file. The server doesn't have to consult with the browser about what it really wants so the server sends the default page in the first connection. Therefore, trailing slashes on base URL's are not needed.
As stated on the "A List Apart" website:
quote:
The rule is "every URL that names a subdirectory should end with a trailing slash".
Why should we bother? Because:
1. We’re doing ourselves a favor, as this is the correct way to do things.
2. We’re doing our server a favor, as this means less disk access.
3. And most importantly, we’re doing our visitors a favor, because they’re no longer losing a few seconds while our server tries to first find a file and then a directory. And in this industry, you and I both know that a few seconds is a long, long time.
Hope that helps...
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d a v e
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/12/2004 13:49:24
that's really helpful, thanks!
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caz
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RE: Edit Hyperlink... Slash or no slash... - 12/12/2004 19:49:47
When browsing to a domain, it's best to include the trailing slash, as this tells the server to look in the root of the web directly. Leaving it out creates a little bit more work for the browser, b'cos it has to put that trailing slash in for you, and sends that to the server, and sometimes, can seriously slow down the repsonse time of the browser/server
It's all a matter of folders and things really....
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Printable Version 
I have no idea what to search for to find out though. Maybe an expert will pop in and tell us! 
Does anyone else remember it, or am I dating myself badly?
