Using - has Page Name Seperators

[pinbrook]

i think the option to use _ - in network settings is the way to go, with an option to change all pages site wide.

thus peeps who want to change to - will be able to press one button -job done

all new pages will use the character defined in NS

oh.......... and an output file with old page names and new page names so we can do 301s easily.

[Rich Brady]

i think the option to use _ - in network settings is the way to go, with an option to change all pages site wide.

thus peeps who want to change to - will be able to press one button -job done

all new pages will use the character defined in NS

oh.......... and an output file with old page names and new page names so we can do 301s easily.

Bruce, could you make it so the 301s were created? Then all a user would have to do is to paste it into the .htaccess.

If not a massive red warning sign could work?

[Mike Hughes]

I'm not sure changing existing page names in Actinic makes a lot of sense.

This is an advanced feature with plenty of scope to go wrong and mess things up. I'm sure a simple 'convert _ to -' routine could be done very easily (and can probably be done easily as an SQL statement) but as soon as you start making lists of changes and 301 redirects for a .htaccess file you're getting into dangerous territory.

I can see all kinds of problems with maintaining lists of redirects:

- New changes have to be added to existing ones.
- The file has to be checked for cases of multiple redirects, loops, etc.
- Everytime time a page name is changed in Actinic you'll have to check that it isn't a page that's being redirected to or 404 errors will occur.

And that's without worrying about maintaining the .htaccess file to keep it up to date.

I just see huge scope for cock-ups in this for what is really a small-to-negligable benefit. None of this is a do once and forget issue. It's a do-once and worry forever issue.

So for me, being able to set - or _ as an option makes sense. Maybe a 'change existing' option makes sense for new websites that haven't been published yet (with a big warning sign). After that the maintenance and complexity issues really seem to outweigh the benefits.

Mike

[guccij]

Having spent a lot of time last night doing just this, with endless 301 updates, anything which automates the process gets my vote. #julesisalazybee

[pinbrook]

I can see all kinds of problems with maintaining lists of redirects:

- New changes have to be added to existing ones.
- The file has to be checked for cases of multiple redirects, loops, etc.
- Everytime time a page name is changed in Actinic you'll have to check that it isn't a page that's being redirected to or 404 errors will occur.

And that's without worrying about maintaining the .htaccess file to keep it up to date.

the thing with 301 (permanant) is it only needs to be in place for a couple of weeks, once google has the new url you can remove it.

this is what i do, as long as you have a 404 in place too this will pick up strays.

I must admit i haven't bothered to go back retrospectically to change _ -. I tend to create new urls with. As you say Mike, its down to a balance between time and perceived value.

[leehack]

It'd be interesting to see if there was any improvement on these pages, by changing the _ for a -. Personally i think it would make absolutely no difference on a long standing page, so a waste of time.

[Mike Hughes]

the thing with 301 (permanant) is it only needs to be in place for a couple of weeks, once google has the new url you can remove it.

I have to disagree on this.

Yes, after a few weeks Google recognises that there's a new page and to de-index the old one.

What it doesn't do is tell browsers or search engines what to do if they follow an external link to that page. As soon as you remove the 301 redirect external links will lead to 404 not found errors and a drop in those pages rankings.

Mike

[Rich Brady]

I have to disagree on this.

Yes, after a few weeks Google recognises that there's a new page and to de-index the old one.

What it doesn't do is tell browsers or search engines what to do if they follow an external link to that page. As soon as you remove the 301 redirect external links will lead to 404 not found errors and a drop in those pages rankings.

Mike

Or anyone that may be linking to your site!!!