Help! I have two Dreamweaver websites on Google!

[Wordsmith2007]

Hello:

I am a long time user of Dreamweaver.  Recently, a problem occurred, which might have been my error.   Help! I don't know what's happening.  I appear to have two separate websites: One (the first one that appears when you enter geraldgibson.com and a second one, geraldgibson.com/html (after punching the first rectangle below and then selecting return to Writer's Den). If you study this situation, you would see my problem. There are two websites on Google (geraldgibson.com/ and geraldgibson.com/index.html). I haven't lost my website.  It's just buried beneath some corrupted html code.  I must have done something wrong, but I don't know what.  What has happened here? Please help me get back my opening web page!

Gerald Lee Gibson  (http://www.geraldgibson.com/)

[Jon Fritz]

It looks to me that when you created your new site, rather than overwriting existing .htm pages, you created new .html pages.

Links from some pages are going to the .html and others are going to .htm versions so you get the weird back and forth effect.

There are a few ways to fix it.

First, you could delete all of the pages from your server, then re-upload your current site. That's generally not going to be the best plan from a search engine optimization point of view, but if that's not an issue, it's the easiest fix.

You could change the local file's names in DW to match your original file names. If you change the names from the Files window, DW will update the links. You can then upload them, overwriting the originals and delete the duplicates from the server.

[Wordsmith2007]

Nancy:

I will try to implement your suggestions, but you didn't address the main issue.  This is a google crawl situation.  I know this because I requested indexing.  Afterwards: One moment I had my current sight and then, after reloading it onto google with new changes from Dreamweaver, I got a corrupt page (the top part essentially the current version but the bottom version several years old from my first version).  How do I get rid of that page showing when I open my site on google. Did you enter the first rectangle (noted Kingdom of the Cats [a title I haven't used in ten years] and select Return to Writer's Den?  I know I have to follow your suggestions, but this is the heart of the issue.  In plain language, please explain to me how this happened and how I might remedy it.

---- Gerald Lee Gibson

[Nancy OShea]

Do you have more than one index page on your server?

[Wordsmith2007]

Yes, I have.  When I was recovering from an illness, I mistakenly sent an .htm  version to Google.  I tried, through Google's Search Console to make them craw only geraldgibson.com/index.html, but it was a mistake to attempt to force a crawl. 

---- Gerald Lee Gibson

[Jon Fritz]

First thing's first, Google can't crawl pages that don't exist on your website and a viewer's browser can't pull them up if there's nothing there. Unless you get your web-hosting through Google, they have nothing to do with your server, other than pointing people to the pages on it when they're looking for something.

Hosting servers have a list of accepted page names that act as the "homepage" when someone goes to "www.yoursite.com". Right now, you have two pages uploaded to your server that are on that list, "index.htm" and "index.html" (note the L at the end of the second one). Your server is showing the .htm version of the index page, since it's first on the list, however the page you want to be showing has .html as the file extension.

You can test this by typing in your web address followed by /index.htm and /index.html
You can also see both of them if you Expand your Files window and Connect to your remote server. you will have both in your root folder's file list.

As I mentioned above, you need to either remove the .htm version (bad for SEO) or rename the .html version locally to .htm (from DW's Files window) and re-upload it, overwriting the same .htm version on the server, along with any other pages DW updates for you.

[Wordsmith2007]

I understand this completely and I will begin correcting this error.  However, no one has explained to me why the first page online is displaying garbage (a mixture of my current version and, below it, two rows of my old website I replaced several years ago.  Your suggestions might clean up m website, but why does that garbage appear?

GLG

[Jon Fritz]

One explanation for the page being wrong could be something as simple as the name being inadvertently changed at some point during the development process adding the "L" to the end of the extension.

That would allow you to finish .html version, being none the wiser, but the .htm version still existed in a partially edited state and was uploaded to the server at some point overwriting the original.

[BenPleysier]

You have two index pages, namely

index.htm and

index.html

When one goes to geraldgibson.com/ the default is to find index.htm. If that cannot be found, then index.html will be loaded. If you remove index.htm from your host, then index.html will be loaded.

The reason index.htm is not correct is because the links are not correct, they point to files on your local system which is impossible from a remote server's point of view.

[Wordsmith2007]

Thanks for you suggestion.  I did as you suggested (something I should have suspected myself) and the corrupted version still pops up.  I began cleaning up my website, too, and even uploaded my site to the remote server.  I don't understand why nothing works!!!!

--- G L Gibson

[osgood_]

Wordsmith2007  wrote

I did as you suggested (something I should have suspected myself) and the corrupted version still pops up.  I began cleaning up my website, too, and even uploaded my site to the remote server.  I don't understand why nothing works!!!!

You cannot have removed index.htm from the server as it still finds it as the default page:

The Writings of Gerald Lee Gibson

[Jon Fritz]

Are you absolutely sure you got rid of it from the remote server?

Deleting a file locally and uploading the site won't delete that same file from the server.

Open DW
Go to your Files window and click Expand
Connect to your server so you can see a side-by-side comparison of your local and remote files

In the Remote side of the Files window, do you see the index.htm file?

If so, right click it on the Remote side and choose Edit > Delete.

If it's not there, you need to call your hosting company and have them disable the server's caching functionality.

---

As far as retrieving your original site, you would upload that from the back-up created before developing the new site, or from the hosting company's back-ups.

[Wordsmith2007]

I did what you suggested.  There is no index.htm in the file or remote site sides.  I even uploaded the remote site (now index.htm free).

Why does the corrupt version keep popping up?

[Wordsmith2007]

I think I know what might be the problem.  When my Windows 10 crashed because of an upgrade, I had to recreate my file structure. Somehow I managed to have two separate local sites.  https://www.Users/Gerald Gibson/Documents/The Writings of Gerald Lee Gibson/images/html  and https://www.Users/Gerald Gibaon/Documents/The Writings of Gerald Lee Gibson/images/html.  I mispelled my last name in my haste to fix the problem.  The remote site's source code clearly shows the Gibson version, not the Gibaon version, which I have been working on.  Do I overwrite one, do I delete the current one, and use the outdated Gibson files?  Or can I simply make the change my DW site definition.  This latter solution sounds feasible.  What do you suggest?

[Jon Fritz · Accepted solution]

It sounds like you have a mess.

Personally, I'd get my correct files into a correctly located folder, then update the Site Definition to point to the right place and delete the duplicate completely.

But, unless you've been working in, and uploading from both locations, that's not likely to be the cause of your index.htm file continuing to show after you've deleted it.

Like I mentioned above, if there is no index.htm file on your remote server, you're going to need to talk to your hosting company. It would mean the server is caching your files and then displaying them from the server cache even after they're deleted.

[Wordsmith2007]

Hello:

I haven't figured out how to join in a general discussion so I'll use your link.  Here's a problem I'd like to toss out.  For quite a long time i have had Chinese writing in my Dreamweaver program, appearing in place of the names of files.  Please check out this recent example shown below.  Does this reflect hacking or corruption of the program.  I recently downloaded Dreamweaver again to refreshen it, and this crap still popped up.  ---- G L Gibson

Chinese Writing Inside Dreamweaver

[Nancy OShea]

That could be caused by a corrupted font on your system.

To start a new discussion in the web forum, you must Sign-In with your Adobe ID & Password.

Click on Content.   Under ACTIONS, click on Start a Discussion.  See screenshot.

[Wordsmith2007]

Thanks for your input.  I followed your suggestions, but the corrupted version still pops up.  After removing htm from the local site and cleaning up confusing files, I even uploaded my entire site to the remote server.  How can I get my original site back.  You've given me advice, which may be helpful, but nothing works.  How can I retrieve my original (newer) version?

[Nancy OShea]

Open this page.  Index2b.html  Alien Odyssey

The link back to Writer's Den points to a file on your local computer hard drive which nobody can see except you.  Note the path:

file:///C|/The%20Writer%27s%20Den/Images/index.html

Nancy

[Wordsmith2007]

I understand this.  It wasn't like this last week. My site was perfect.  Try some of the other links such as the Shadowbrook Witch  That goes right back to the correct site.  I can fix that problem easily.  I can fix that vacant row of selections!

---- GLG

[Wordsmith2007]

Oops I meant I can't fix the opening page!

GLG

[Nancy OShea]

You have a lot of junk MS Word code and errors in your documents, too.  You might want to clean this up.

[Invalid] Markup Validation of http://geraldgibson.com/ - W3C Markup Validator

I need to also mention that Linux/Apache servers are cAsE sEnSiTiVe.  Uppercase Index.html is not the same as lower case index.html.  You should stick with lower case file names to avoid more confusion.

Nancy

[Wordsmith2007]

Support Group:

I need a new Web Host.  Can any of you suggest a Web Host that can fix problems I'm having and one that won't cost me more than 8 or 9 dollars a month?

Thank you, Gerald Lee Gibson

[Wordsmith2007]

Hello:

Me again.  I posted this message generically to the Support Group. I need a new Web Host.  Can you suggest a Web Host that can fix problems I'm having and one that won't cost me more than 8 or 9 dollars a month?

Thank You, Gerald Lee Gibson

[Nancy OShea]

The Best Web Hosting Services of 2017 | PCMag.com

Depending on what you need, I've had good experiences with these web hosts.

• Bluehost
• Dreamhost
• HostGator
• Hostmonster
• InMotion
• Lunarpages
• Pair Networks