File extension preferences .html or .htm

[Malcolm Walker]

Using FP2003 SP3

My Home page has the extension .html and the rest of the pages have .htm
as their extension. Somewhere I read that .html is preferable for all
the pages in a Web site. Is there any thing to justify this
preference? If there is justification the next question would be how
find a way to batch rename .htm to .html and retain the links!

 

[Mark Fitzpatrick]

I wouldn't say it was preferable at all to have it one way or the other. The
only difference is that .html is traditionally used on UNIX/Linux servers
and the .htm extension is traditionally used on Windows-based servers. The
requirements on the default home page may be specific so that's where the
file extension and name of the file really count, but otherwise it's your
preference and choice. I haven't seen anything that would force me to say
one over the other from performance or seo perspective.

 

[Malcolm Walker]

Thank you for your prompt and informative response.

 

[Ken]

My server requires only the Index page to have .html. All other pages are
..htm and work fine.

Ken

 

[Mike Mueller]

There really is no preference. The only thing that really matters is that
your home page filename and extension match what your host has listed as
your home page, and often times you can use the control panel from the host
to change the name of the default document.

There really is no difference between htm and html- the preferred extension
was html but due to the 8.3 naming convention that Billy G created, html was
truncated to htm

 

[Bob Lehmann]

Don't blame Microsoft-the 8.3 filename system was baggage carried over from
the days of CP/M and Digital's RT-11 OS.

WIKI before you leap, Mikey M -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8.3_filename

"Similar 8.3 file naming schemes have also existed on earlier CP/M and on
some Data General and Digital Equipment Corporation minicomputer operating
systems."






Bob Lehmann