Скачать или смотреть Solving the href Links Path Duplication Issue in Your Web Project

Discover why your `href` links are duplicating folder structures and find out the simple fix to streamline your navigation.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/64530691/ asked by the user 'shitathakin' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/14519192/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/64530707/ provided by the user 'IvanD' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/9805867/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Understanding the Problem: href Links and Path Duplication

In web development, managing file paths correctly is crucial for ensuring smooth navigation. If you've ever encountered a situation where clicking links causes URL paths to behave unexpectedly—such as duplicating folders—you know how frustrating that can be. This issue typically arises from incorrect usage of relative links in your HTML. In this post, we’ll dissect this common problem and provide a straightforward solution.

The Setup

Imagine you have a folder structure as follows:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

You want to navigate between these HTML files using links in your web application. Your initial implementation with links might look something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

On your first click, everything seems normal, and the URL points correctly to the desired HTML file. However, upon clicking subsequent links, you may notice a bizzare result in the URL, like /frontend/frontend/about.html instead of the expected one. This duplication can raise confusion and hinder user experience.

The Cause of the Issue

The issue arises from how relative paths work in HTML. When you use ./frontend/about.html, the browser treats the link as a relative path from the current location. If you've navigated into the frontend directory, clicking another link that starts with ./frontend/ causes the browser to interpret it incorrectly, thus resulting in a duplicated path.

For example:

You start at frontend/index.html.

Clicking Learn more takes you to /frontend/about.html correctly.

Clicking the subsequent link again brings you back to frontend, making the browser look for /frontend/frontend/about.html because it’s assuming you’re navigating from the default folder again.

The Solution: Simplifying Your Links

To resolve this issue, you can modify your links to use absolute paths instead of relative paths. An absolute path starts from the root of your website rather than the current folder.

Step-by-Step Fix

Identify the Correct Path: Instead of relative paths that depend on your current directory, point directly from the root level.

Update Your HTML Code: Change the relative href attributes to absolute paths as follows:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Why This Works

Using an absolute path (e.g., /frontend/about.html) directly references the intended file without regard for the current directory. This approach eliminates the risk of browser misinterpretation and ensures consistent URL paths every time you click a link.

Conclusion

By correctly implementing href links with absolute paths in your HTML, you prevent the issue of folder names duplicating in the URL path. This small adjustment makes a significant impact on user navigation and improves the overall functionality of your web application. So, the next time you find your links redirecting to unexpected paths, revisit the structure of your href attributes to ensure they lead users exactly where they need to go.

Adopting this practice will pave the way for an efficient navigation experience in your web projects.