missing and altered index labels.

[aclinch]

I am struggling to get a draft of a web site up and running. The struggle started because I could not get my web site to appear once I had published it to the web. I noticed that the Xara software program (?) had changed the title of the home page from "index" to that of the site's domain name followed by.htm When I changed this back to index, it worked....well almost.
The first question was why did my "index" label get automatically changed i.e. how can I stop this happening.

I have a problem now that I am also hoping you can solve for me. The menu bar that is common to all pages except the index page has one of its buttons labeled "home" but on pressing that, one exits the web-page and a "not available" notice appears on the screen. In looking at the failed url address, it is obvious that the same software isue that rewrote my index label also rewrote the link label for the home page so the link was also published as the domain name followed by .htm. Unfortunately, while I can easily re-label the index page,I do not know how to get at the button instructions to correct the faults. I am using Xara Web Designer 9 Premium and in checking the pre-published web pages, all the Home buttons are linked to the "index" page which clearly is not the state that exists when they emerge from the web publishing process. Is there a remedial process I can follow to correct the link errors?

[Acorn]

...the Xara software program (?)...

I assume you are using XWD9P so the (?) is unclear.
Second, the first fault will cause the subsequent errors.

...the title of the home page from "index" to that of the site's domain name followed by.htm...

Open the Web Properties > Page. Is the page filename definitely "index", not "index.htm" and not "index.html"?
What is your page title? It might be possible that you have swapped these two.

Upload your design file with the Go advanced button if this doesn't poin you in the right direction.

Acorn

[aclinch]

To Acorn,

Thank you for responding. You assume correctly, I am using XWD9P. The "?" was because I was not sure whether the change to my "index" label came from within XWD9P or from an error on my part or from some software that was resident on the server or on my computer . This was the reason for the "?".

I named my pages using the Page and Layer Gallery and this is where I assigned the label "index" to the homepage. It still shows that label with the prefix 1, the automatic page numbering of Xara. I took your advice....I opened "Web Properties" The page file name is recorded as "index" without any added suffixes.The page title is recorded as Home Page. Is this the wrong way around or is this acceptable?

Again thank you for your advice.

[Acorn]

No, everything is fine and the right way round. It was worth checking.
So the next part is to check the URL that is failing you.
Can you provide your uncorrected web address?

Acorn

[aclinch]

wilmotgardenclub.net

[jamesd]

Hi Aclinch, did you export your website locally? If so when you export you need to name the file index otherwise when you publish Xara will replace the home page(index.htm) with the name you exported the website by. Your home page is called wilmotgardenclub.htm, if everything else is correct this is most likely the cause. Delete your exported folder and re-export making sure it is named index.

[aclinch]

To Jamesd

My confusion increases - hopefully my response is not too confusing..

Yours is the first explanation as to why a file name gets changed but I cannot be sure what is happening in my case but there appears to be a link with what you suggest . The reality is that in my struggle to get my site up and running I have tried every option I could several times and after several "save as" decisions, I became overloaded with various versions some of which were published "locally". I used more of a scatter gun approach than a reflective approach.

The current contents of the server were placed there by the ftp option in Xara Web Design 9 Premium as I had wiped the server clean of my files before I conducted another upload. Thinking about your suggestion, I made some alterations in my Xara file and chose again the option "publish to the Web" with the included option of only overwriting those files where changes existed. I felt I was guaranteeing that this web collection I was using was not being published to a local site. I then opened Filezilla to look at the files. I was surprised.

1. The view of the server files, through using FileZilla showed no changes had been made to the page files. Remember I had intentionally made changes to the original files and chose "fast publish" so I could more easily check on specific files to see that changes had been made. The index file I had named after discovering there was no designated index file on the server was still there as "index.htm" but the resultant web site still did not allow the home menu bar to direct users to the (index) home-page all of which suggests downloading did not change the status quo. An immediate response is to question whether I made the correct publishing choice. I chose File-Publish website..I filled in the I.P.address of the server, the password and chose "other web site via FTP". I was notified when the files were uploaded and the domain address of the site.

2. The left panel of Filezilla shows the locally archived files. Unlike the server files, these had been updated with the changes I had made and there was no index file listed. There was also a file, with a blank icon, that said wilmotgardenclub.html (the site's url is wilmotgardenclub ) which was also in the server file collection but, in addition, there was also a wilmotgardenclub.htm file that was the equivalent of an index file. This would be in line with your statement that local files will have their index designation changed.

3. I then went back to XWD9P. I chose Web Properties-Other web host (via FTP) - Settings - Explore Web Space to "see files" I "have uploaded to" my "FTP server." Another surprise - the file list did not contain any index page. Thus I appear to have been sending the altered file format without realizing it and yet, as suggested by Acorn, when I checked the file names from within the file collection I am working with, there is an index file. When I publish, could I be publishing a file other than the one I am currently working on?

Any suggestions as to what I should do next?

[aclinch]

Wiped off all files on the server. Cleaned out all saved versions on my hard drive except one master which I then duplicated. Looked at files through Filezilla and changed home file to index file then manually uploaded files to server and it worked. Thank you all for getting me out of a cycle of failure.

AjC