extension change

converting .htm to .html

[Lucien]

When I publish my websites to one virtual dedicated server (MChost) it leaves my .htm extensions intact - but when I pubish to the one I have at Godaddy it automatically changes the homepage .htm to html; so I have to go back with my ftp program and change it back to .htm by hand. I gather that the search engines will be linking to non-existant pages if I don't change my homepages back to .htm - Does anyone know why this happens? It can't be my Front Page program, because it only does it when pubishing to Godaddy.

Lucien

[mrMister]

Is it just your homepage that this happens with (index.htm or similar)? If so, your homepage should be at [yourdomain.com...] and you won't be referencing the file, so it shouldn't matter.

Does the problem happen still happen if you use FTP to transfer the html files from your machine to your GoDaddy server?

[Lucien]

it's just the homepage. But I don't want to lose the links from search engines to it.

I can't figure out what is causing the change. otherwise I'd fix it. My ftp program gave me the possibillity to set it so it doesn't make .html extensions.

[g1smd]

You don't need to refer to the filename in links at all, so it really doesn't matter what the page is called; just as long as it is in the list of default served index pages in the server configuration file.

People should be linking to you as: http://www.domain.com/

Your internal links should be to either http://www.domain.com/ or to just /.

Look at your Google result. I'll bet that they don't include the filename in the search results.

[ogletree]

If people are linking to www.domain.com/index.html you have a problem. Your PR is being split up. If they are all pointing to www.domain.com then you will have no problems with it. You should not link to yourself like that internaly either. index.html should never have backlinks if you set it up right.

[steveb]

What the other folks said is what matters, but when Front Page publishes to some hosts it converts your default file to the default file of that host... it could change to default.htm, index.htm, whatever. It doesn't matter as long as you just link to the root URL. If you insist on the self-inflicted wound of linking to /index.tld, then you need to switch to .html if you are going to publish to that host via front page.

[Lucien]

I thank you all for your replies. It helps.