Re: lynx-dev Re: bad link notice

[Dave Eaton]

On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, Webmaster Jim wrote:

> I'm not going to change the *old* SLCC links that point to the *old* FAQ
> because there are many copies of that same Lynx help file that all have
> the same link.

But the problem is it is only "old" in your view as a developer, not to
the public user. When some user comes to the http://lynx.browser.org/ page
looking for help, the 4th link on the page (called "online help") points
to: 
http://www.slcc.edu/lynx/release2-8-2/lynx2-8-2/lynx_help/lynx_help_main.html
so that's where they will go. 

Then on that page, the 9th link - and the *first* FAQ link - is the one
that tries to go to Al Gilman's FAQ.

So, following the latest Lynx info pages, that user cannot find the FAQ
Lynx tells him about and Lynx suffers.

You don't need to hunt down and shoot every archived copy of the page, but
please at least remove this one link from the one online page of record at
http://www.slcc.edu/lynx/release2-8-2/lynx2-8-2/lynx_help/lynx_help_main.html

> Soon www.slcc.edu/lynx will go away as well.  How do you propose fixing
> all of the existing pages and bookmarks that go to that site?

Assuming that the information will be hosted elsewhere, this is usually
handled by being certain to host those pages on the new site below some
new directory name, but with the *same path names* on the pages below
that. Then for the cost of one "Redirect" entry in the old host's Apache
configuration (since this site *is* using Apache and assuming the
relationship there is good enough to have them provide this for lynx), any
future visitors will be redirected to the correct page. The configuration
line you should need on the old server is something of the form: 

  Redirect /lynx/ http://new.host.domain/new-lynx-dirname/

Then kickstart the Web server so it rereads the configuration.

A further suggestion for future pages: rather than have the link on
http://lynx.browser.org/ have a hard-carved release number in it, play the
same game as is used for access to the code in the first link on that
page. That is, have it go to a generic "/release-help/" type URL, then on
that host make a soft link from release-help to whatever release directory
you decide you need to reference. When people "bookmark" it, they will
capture the pseudo URL, not the release-specific one, and as long as you
leave a page by the same name in every future release tree (even if all it
dose is redirect folks to a new divided page) everyone's links will work
and the Lynx project will look better to visitors. 

Regards,
 Dave Eaton
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