Hello Community… While going through several RapidWeaver based training tutorials it has been stated several times that only lower case characters should be used for the naming of files and folders. Also it appears that the preferred page directory structure is to put every page in it’s own folder as a index.html or index.php file.
QUESTIONS
In the past when hand coding I have used a file naming method such as “MyPage.html” or “MyFolder/OtherExampleFolder/” for ease of readability while coding up a site. What is the reason behind the recommendation to only use lower case for all naming and coding?
Also in the past when architecting my hand coded sites I have put all my primary pages in the root directory, e.g. index.html (Home page), AboutUs.html, ContactUs.php and so on. It seems the recommended way to do this is to place all pages in folders as an index page. I totally get the Tidy URL and even the possible SEO advantage to this approach but curious if there is some other reason for adding all these folders to my directory?
It’s wonderful when people do they research and say so in their question, so thank you!
It is recommended because not all servers support multi-case file/folder names. If it’s working for you that’s great but if you change hosts, be prepared to change everything in uppercase to lowercase if issues are encountered
To protect people from themselves Not everyone has experience coding or with servers at all so there is a chance that someone would have multiple pages in the root folder named index.html… each of which would overwrite the other right… putting things in their own folder makes troubleshooting easier, makes tidy links pretty, etc…
So using upper case naming can only cause an issue on the server side not the client side?
Also, is there any possibility that RapidWeaver third party developer solutions my be affected by the use of upper case naming?
I ask all this as I have incorporated upper case naming as stated earlier for some time now with no issues, but I am open to making the switch if this is truly a bad practice?
As for the use of folders for each page, could this cause any adverse affects in regards to performance or something else?
And finally, does using this folder technique to achieve tidy links truly give any SEO juice to a site as apposed to just using what ever naming one would use on the folder in the file (page) name itself?
A. As far as I know… I don’t believe the browser cares, just the server and if the server cares then the browser cares
B/C. I’m not aware of any that are affected by folder/name case choice (that I use regularly), but I truly don’t know as I only use lower case letters and numbers with a _ or - as spacers. If it’s working for you, keep doing it… no issues… it was just a cautionary statement. Now, spaces in file/folder names… uh-uh! bad bad bad lol
D. Not that I am aware, it really just takes nano seconds for a host to serve a different folder… as for RW though, it creates it’s own folders per page when needed based off each page in the site for resources, Stacks assets, etc… not everything goes into /rw_common or /resources folders on the server. This can be bothersome/troubling/a PITA sometimes but I understand the reasoning behind it… one of those long term goals I believe is to manage files much more efficiently, it’s done ‘ok’ right now but there is room for improvement and has been noted on the Developers side of things.
E. To be honest, I have no idea… I am not a Search Engine Optimization guru by any stretch… I do my best with he tools I have available to make the site as attractive/searchable and ranked as high as I can get, but for the site I work on mostly, it really doesn’t matter on SEO, few would go out of their way looking for it and if they were specific enough, they could find it through our dealer, our sister chapter or our Facebook page… This one is best answered by someone more in the know…
Thank You Brad… From what I have seen, Tidy URL’s help from both a human readability as well as a search engine readability standpoint. The only thing I see here that could be a negative is if one starts adding to many layers of depth to there site when it may not be necessary. Perhaps this could cause a page unnecessarily buried inside of multiple folders to be seen as less relevant or important, but not totally sure.
As for capitalization for file and folder names, it does appear that your point regarding servers, is the main reason for not using them. Great information and input, so appreciated.
