ALL Forms Down after 1.5.5 - possible php error?

Elements
21

You can set up 301 redirects in your web hosting control panel probably. If you are using cPanel or Plesk (and possibly others) they have an option to easily add those from the panel.

If you want to use AI ask:

How can I add 301 redirects using <insert Control Panel name here>

22

I’ll Check dreamhost thanx…

Spent the last 20 minutes with chat GPT - want me to edit .htaccess with various code snippets…

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https://help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/articles/215747748-How-can-I-redirect-and-rewrite-my-URLs-with-an-htaccess-file?via_fastsearch_v2=1

Dreamhost does not have a url redirect it does have different code snippets and changes to .htaccess file

24

tried to go to the file level in the control panel

Screenshot 2025-12-05 at 12.33.06 PM
Screenshot 2025-12-05 at 12.33.06 PM2118×2206 439 KB

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looks like the only way is through the .htaccess file

26

Bummer, too bad they don’t have a control panel feature that does that for you. :disappointed_face:

27

Starting to redo my not as important websites the 'correct’ modern way… probably will loose some SEO juice - but from everything I read makes thing better and allows for future technology also…

Each page in a folder - to me seems strange…

Not how I designed websites, not how I was taught…

Always wanted the shortest URL and everything off the base folder…

——————-

Apparently many big businesses and government websites run 2 versions of the website at the same time?

Since the (2) sites have different menus and different links - different spots in the site (folders) this works…

So should I do this? Or leave it?

Then slowly enter the 301 redirects in .htaccess

I want to ‘do it right’ but don’t want to mess up 30 years of SEO

Your thoughts???

28

Yeah, I am having questions about this…

Why?? Doesn’t make sense to me

29

Here is the chat GPT response (and why I’m changing most of my sites)

That structure — domain.com/name-some-page/index.html — didn’t appear by accident. It’s the result of history, server logic, human psychology, and SEO all politely (or not so politely) arguing over the steering wheel.

Let’s unpack it, scalpel first.

On almost every web server, index.html is the default file. It’s the “front door” of a folder. When a browser is pointed at a directory like:

domain.com/blog/

…the server quietly assumes you mean:

domain.com/blog/index.html

This behavior is defined in Apache, NGINX, IIS, and virtually every web server configuration that matters. Apache’s DirectoryIndex directive has been doing this since the mid-90s. That’s why you almost never see index.html in the wild anymore — it’s automatically served even when invisible.

Source: mod_dir - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4

Now, why put pages inside folders at all?

Because:

  1. Organization beats chaos
    domain.com/about-us/index.html is cleaner and more structured than domain.com/about-us.html. Folders let you group assets. For example:
  • /about-us/index.html
  • /about-us/team.jpg
  • /about-us/history.pdf
  • /about-us/styles.css
  1. That’s a tidy ecosystem. One topic, one folder — Darwin would approve.
  2. URL magic without extensions
    When you use folders + index.html, you get beautiful URLs that don’t expose the file type:
  1. This matters for branding, readability, and long-term flexibility. If you switch from HTML to PHP, React, or a serverless unicorn framework later, the URL doesn’t change. Stability is SEO gold.
    Source: URL Structure Best Practices for Google Search | Google Search Central  |  Documentation  |  Google for Developers
  2. Better for scaling and future-proofing
    A folder isn’t just a page. It’s a miniature universe. Today it holds index.html. Tomorrow it can hold:
  • index.html (main page)
  • faq.html
  • reviews.html
  • data.json
  • Images, media, scripts
  1. You can grow content without changing the core URL. That’s a huge structural advantage for CMS systems, blogs, e-commerce, documentation sites, and multi-language sites.
    Example standard: Hypertext Style: Cool URIs don't change.
  2. Server performance and caching benefits
    Many CDNs and caching systems (Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai) treat folder roots + index files more predictably. /products/ caching often behaves better than /products.html. It also improves rewrite rules and routing in frameworks like Next.js, WordPress, and Laravel.
  3. Human readability and trust
    People trust directories more than files, psychologically.
    domain.com/music/lessons/beginner/ feels like a destination.
    domain.com/music-lessons-level-1.html feels like a Craigslist ad from 2004.
    That subtle trust bump can increase click-through rates. That’s not poetry — that’s UX science.
    Source: Nielsen Norman Group — Web credibility studies
    https://www.nngroup.com/articles/credibility/

Now for the poetic feasibility punchline:

A website is a city.

Folders are neighborhoods.

Index files are front doors.

And extensions are utility meters that guests weren’t meant to stare at.

Cleaner paths reduce friction. Less friction = more motion. More motion = more meaning landing where it should.

If you want, next we can spiral deeper: clean URLs vs canonical URLs, when index.html becomes a liability, and why your beloved 90s-era custom names (highnote.html) created both character and chaos in equal measure.

30

:thinking:

Now I actually have a much clearer idea of what Elements is actually doing when publishing, and I might actually have to do a bunch of editing…

31

Me too… 17 websites….

32

Hi @MichaelDroste

I’ve found the bug in the form code that was stopping your form submissions from working. It’ll be included in the next update, you’ll just need to republish your site(s) and everything should be back up and running as normal :slight_smile:

33

Thank you so much for this…

Really appreciate it!!

Mike

34

Form fix didn’t make it into 1.5.8

All forms still down….

35

1.6 :slight_smile: All working

Thanx!!!