Removing index.php from the URL address window

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:43 pm

I've done this before but having just applied for medicare I now have an excuse for forgetting ... Smile

When I click on HOME for instance the URL shows mydomain.com/index.php

I want it to show just mydomain.com when returning from any place on the site pages. There ARE reasons.

Cheers

Worker Joined: Jul 20, 2008 Posts: 126 Location: Germany

Good idea. I want it like that too. Razz

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:28 am

Check your theme and block modules.php. and change the "Home"link there to yoursite.com

registered · Site Admin Joined: Jun 04, 2004 Posts: 6437

I've been debating whether or not that should be standard. The only argument I can think of for not making / the standard home page link is that some sites might wish to have a splash page a la index.html that redirects to index.php. To me, that isn't a good reason.

Thoughts?

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:35 am

"My home is my castle" but where is my home ? This has always been a problem for my sites when it comes to SEO and I ´m still not clear about what to use and not. The index.php shouldn´t have PR I believe.
Nobody links to index.php but to your Home mysite.com/ and possible to your mysite.com/index.html sometimes.
Also I believe all links to your home link need a / at the end.

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:43 am

If you use / as the link, instead of index.php, that will work. As for the SEO impact, I would agree that it's better to not display index.php.

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:44 am

I don ´t display index.php PR is 0

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:48 am

I don't believe there is any reason why index.php shouldn't have a PR, from a SEO standpoint anyway.

I personally hate websites with a splash page, usually they are using flash and I skip them so I can get on and find what I am looking for, so a splash page in my opinion is a waste.

I think the majority of people don't have a splash page and therefore the default should be /. JMO

registered · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:13 am

jakec, one of the reasons is that both mydomain.com and mydomain.com/index.php are seen as different URL's to the SE's and they have the exact same content. Therefore, not looked at as a good thing. However, I suspect that since this is such a common "problem", the SE's are not penalizing. So, the question really becomes, do you really want to have the same content indexed as two separate ones? I don't...

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:31 am

I was under the impression that most SE's are intelligent enough now to realise they are the same page and therefore as you say you are not penalised for it. I am not sure whether any of my sites have been indexed with a / version and an index.php version. May be this happened in the old days perhaps and I am too young to remember. Wink

(I'm sure someone is going to prove me wrong now!) Laughing

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:54 am

jakec wrote:

I was under the impression that most SE's are intelligent enough now to realise they are the same page and therefore as you say you are not penalised for it.

Yep they are. It really isn't a problem seo wise as long as you're consequent.

Even domains with and without a www. prefix aren't a problem these days, Google f.e. just picks one which can be altered as well within the webmaster helpprogram.

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:56 am

Quote:

I am not sure whether any of my sites have been indexed with a / version and an index.php version.

Should be easy enough to find out. Smile

Also www.my-domain.com and my.domain.com have the same content.
Today you can use webmaster tools from google to specify your url with or without www but this wasn´t possible a few years ago so you had to use rules in your .htaccess.
i still use these rules for all my sites.
I never used NS for this so I don´t know if it works exact the same way.

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:27 am

Quote:

Should be easy enough to find out.

Actually I'm pretty sure. Wink

The only time I have seen this is in Google Analytics where it recorded page hits for index.html and /. Then I realised there was an option for specifying your default in the settings. Bang Head

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:36 pm

I always use www in my site url's. Some SEO experts say no to and some say do use it. I continue to use www because it has always worked better for me.
Something else to consider is your sitemap - if your site uses www but your sitemap doesn't Google will throw a wobbly at your sitemap.

Interesting thread though regarding whether or not to link your homepage to index.php as index.php, index.html (if you are tapping) and of course / will all lead to the same content.
I'm inclined to think it better to link to / for no other reason that it seems the logical thing to do and my html (only) sites do that.

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:49 pm

The site in question has a PR-6 with mysite.com/index.php and a PR-8 with just mysite.com and I have more than one site with the same anomaly. Go figure ..

Cheers and thanks for the fix, now with a little prodding that's what I remember.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:55 am

Actually was found in /blocks/block-Modules.php so that from anywhere on the site when the user clicks on HOME, it brings up just mysite.com in the address window. This DOES make a difference SEO-wise. There is also an entry to change in block-Your_Account/index.php so that when the user logs out it will show just mysite.com

In reality, the only folks that would be interested in this so-called minor issue are the advertising bux involved when Google updates PR even tho PR is a minor factor to most seasoned veterans. Relative content is the most important followed by backlinks, etc. Another subject for another thread someday.

Cheers