Html directory link not working if the directory is not from the beginning

Question

My problem is that I have a bunch of HTML files but in simple I have public_html/pages folder + index.html/under pages folder a dmca.html is located.

So when I want to locate the file using href = "pages/dmca.html" it doesn't work and on another side when I use "../../public_html/pages/dmca.html" from the beginning it works is it normal or something wrong so I can only use the simple way as I have mentioned above(the link)

Answer 1

You have to look where is the .html file located on the hierarchy. If you are in dmca.html and you have a href on that page to second.html, you will need to jump backwards to the pages directory, and then go to the file: ../second.html

Now, if you are in index.html, and you have a href linking to dmca.html, you will need to hop back one level, enter pages directory, and choose the .html file. So it would be like this: ../pages/dmca.html

-public_html
  |
  |--index.html
  |--pages
      |--dmca.html
      |--second.html

If I have not explained myself correctly, or I've understood the question wrong, please tell me.

What is happening, if I understand the problem properly, is that you are in index.html, and you want to href dmca.html, but the route you use pages/dmca.html, doesn't work, but if you use ../../public_html/pages/dmca.html, then, it does work. And I guess you are asking why is this happening.

Well, what happens when you use pages/dmca.html is that you are saying: search for a subdirectory called 'pages' and go to the file inside it called dmca.html. This would be correct if you had this hierarchy:

 -public_html
      |
      |--index.html
          |--pages
              |--dmca.html
              |--second.html

But index.html is a file, so it can't contain subdirectories. That's why you have to go one level up the hierarchy, and then, once you are in public_html/ you can choose to load index.html or go to the subdirectory public_html/pages and choose a file from it.

Answer 2

Right now I'm working on my web page, and... rethinking about it, I have to say that you were right, I mean, what you were doing was supposed to work.

Look at my directories. I have a htdocs folder, inside it I have some .png, index.html, and a folder called "prova", inside the folder "prova" I have index2. You can see that it is the same case as yours. I have an href on index.html that says href="prova/index2.html" and it works for me. Actually what I've said to you on the morning is wrong. I'm sorry :/ Because if I write ../prova/inedx2.html what happens is that the folder "htdocs" is removed from the URL. Remaining as: "PortàtilHP_antic_pare/prova/index2.html" You can see that the folder between "PortàtilHP_antic_pare" and "prova", which should be "htdocs", has disappeared.

So now I'm wondering how my answer has been useful for you. I guess I have understand it wrong, and somehow, my answer has made you change something that somehow has worked.