IAIN MIDDLETON [mailto:[log in to unmask]] wrote on Thursday, June 14,
2001 6:43 PM

> Mike McConnell's comments on
> links/absolute URLs are very interesting - how important/serious is
> this likely to be?

When we moved and re-designed our website, global search/replace techniques
were used to change all the image calls and links between pages from the old
format to the new. This was a very easy part of the operation. We did not
use absolute URLs.

It only took a few days for the DNS change to propagate, so there was only
one weekend when users were as likely to end up at the old site on the old
server as the new.

I am currently looking at the consequences of changing our website structure
and operation in a way that means all old URLs in Internet search service
indexes, in users' bookmarks and in other web pages to any page other than
our homepage will get a 404 response.

I had requested that we set up a series of pages, one for each of the
subdirectory levels in the old site, so a user could be shown a page that
gave them quite specific help in locating the page they wanted, but, to save
work, we have just one '404' with an explanation / apology and a set of
links designed to guide users to the main areas of the new site that equate
to the areas on the pre-existing site. I do not yet have any feedback on how
well this is working except in one area.

One very popular feature of our site was concealed under the new navigation
structure by grouping those pages with a whole lot of others. This caused
sufficient unhappiness amongst users that we have reinstated a link to go to
just that set of pages.

However, the old format URLs are all invalid now, and two months since the
re-structuring, very few of the major search engines have found their way
into our new site structure. I can see that some spiders are visiting but
there is a long way to go. I am monitoring the situation, re-submitting
cautiously in a few cases, and hoping the search services catch up with us
before senior management notice that they haven't!
--
Sheila Thomas        [log in to unmask]
Web Manager at TWI
http://www.twi.co.uk

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