Ability to use "index" as a slug for subfolders/pages on site

Community resources Product feedback
1

In reference to this post
http://forum.webflow.com/t/solved-folder-with-index-file-save-time-editing-the-html/27124

Create a page with the slug as “INDEX”…

  • which would create an INDEX.HTML page within a folder.

This is a feature we once had.

  • It was taken away around February 2016.

I’ve asked for this feature to reinstated several times.

This directly impacted my client and myself

  • as the feature was removed from Webflow
  • in the middle of developing a client product.
3 Likes
2

This looks promising:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2017748/htaccess-proper-rewriting-of-directory-and-file-with-same-name

3

Thanks for replying @samliew

The issue the OP is encountering on stackexchange is slightly different than what I am speaking about.

On stackexchange… OP has a folder named “portfolio” and a file off the root named portfolio.html.

His htaccess file removes the .html from the portfolio.html file name which results in “portfolio” in the URL.

An since there is already a folder named “portfolio”… apache interprets the call as a request to the folder.

So OP wants apache to recognize portfolio.html as /portfolio while still recognizing the folder /portfolio as /portfolio/

Notice the trailing slash on the folder name.

And…
The 1st solution provided - depending on your apache setup

  • will create an infinite loop on the server… which will eventually kill the browser.

The 2nd solution provided simply does nothing except open the folder… and displays it’s content - (since there is no index page.

@cyberdave

Previously… on Webflow - you could create a page with the slug as “index”.

This would create a page called index.html.

So if you had a folder named “portfolio”… and a slug / page named “index.html”…

Why can’t they just use the same little trick they use for URL’s ?

By placing the ` character (it’s the symbol under tilda)…

  • webflow would ignore whatever you put there.

In my case… index… which then exports as index.html

Removing this feature probably fixed an issue with the CMS

  • but in removing this feature… it created a problem with exporting a site.

Several people here - including myself - have vocalized the need to reinstate this feature,

The OP in this post
http://forum.webflow.com/t/solved-folder-with-index-file-save-time-editing-the-html/27124

manually renames the file to index.html…
so portfolio.html would become index.html… this is a pain in the a$$ to constantly do with each and every export.

So for me… my fix was to create an index.html file that redirects to the correct webflow page.

So… www.domain.com/portfolio or www.domain.com/portfolio/ have an index.html file which then redirects to
www.domain.com/portfolio/portfolio.html.

This is not the best solution to fix an issue that webflow created.

The best solution is to reinstate the previous feature.

2 Likes
4

You are right, this makes sense. Trying to name the subfolder page’s slug index gives you the error that is not possible to do so as there is an index page in the root folder? This sounds more like a bug to me.

6

Still asking Webflow to re-introduce this feature… that we once had.

I would like to create a slug as index.

This way… I can call a folder and automatically open a file I have named “/slugged” as index.

Otherwise I have to disallow directory viewing… and I still cannot call options with folder names.

For example:

would open

mydomain.com/about/index.html

So far - Webflows recommendation is to use

mydomain.com/about/about.html

Reference

Include: @cyberdave, @PixelGeek

2 Likes
7

ak… replied to wrong post :frowning:

8

Hi Webflow Team,

how’s the work going with the index funtion used in subfolder site structure?

Is there any timeframe for implementing this option.

Without it it’s going to be really hard using your CMS with subfolders for creating additional language sites.

Best,
Greg

1 Like
9

As the OP for this post…

still asking for the reimplementation of this feature.

@PixelGeek @cyberdave @samliew

2 Likes
10

This is a change that only the development team can make.

11

Since “index” is a reserved page name, I set up my page structure like this:

3360×1796 229 KB

Is there a better way to achieve this? wondering if crawlers care how the actual directories are structured or if they only care how the url looks.

12

I not sure I understand the question…

In Webflow… the first page you create - (and you can reassign it)… is your Home Page.

Webflow creates this page as “index.html”. (using your example)

/las-vegas-nv/index.html… index.html page is your Home Page. Webflow creates it for you.

Webflow also allows you to create Folders off the root directory. (using your example)
/las-vegas-nv/dean-martin-showroom/

In the above situation… if I were to visit the folder /las-vegas-nv/dean-martin-showroom/

  • I would see a directory listing or a server denied error.

What I need is the ability to “set-a-home-page” in my folder.

Webflow would create an index.html file for whatever page I select as the Home Page.

In the above situation… if I were to visit the folder /las-vegas-nv/dean-martin-showroom/

  • Webflow would create /las-vegas/index.html…
  • where index.html is actually the dean-martin-showroom page (in the designer)

My problem is… Webflow will not allow me to create a page / slug named index.

This would fix my problem. Allow me to set any (one) page in a folder - as a Home Page…

  • and have Webflow create that selected page as index.html… just like it already does in the root folder.

I know what I am asking for “is do-able”… “is easy”… and “makes sense”.

=

What I don’t know and don’t understand is

  • the “security issue” that Webflow has mentioned a couple times in the past.

=

If the community were told “what-this-security-issue-is”…

  • we might better understand and agree with the reasoning or
  • we might be able to blow it out of the water with a valid response.

=

(and on a side [UNRELATED] note… please allow linking / jumping across pages via an ID…
for example: from my-portfolio.html… the user can click a link that takes them to index.html#contact-me)

1 Like