Hyperlinks do nothing in IE, but work in FrontPage

[James Fintel]

Lately I've been having a problem with hyperlinks in FrontPage made websites
in Internet Explorer. While this problem is likley more related to Internet
Explorer (both 6 and 7), I'm hoping someone in the FrontPage community might
have some answers or tips for me.

Here's the problem: Certain hyperlinks will not work in Internet Explorer.
Internet Explorer will not produce an error, it will just do nothing. These
links, however, were created in FrontPage and they do, in fact, work in
FrontPage. These links are from local webs (here's an example of a link that
doesn't work in Internet Explorer:
file:///E:/CD%20Chapter%201%20Dexterity/Chapter1/Exercise/SingleHand%20Exercises/Flatexercie1.htm
) - this link, however, works fine in FrontPage. The page being linked to is
in the same folder as the link, so the actual code looks like this: <a
href="Flatexercie1.htm">Exercises</a>

This problem happens across several computers, in IE 6/7 and with FrontPage
2003 or SharePoint Designer 2007. Any help or suggestions would be much
appreciated.

 

[Colin D. MacDonald]

It seems to me that the link is looking for the file on the user's computer.
So, of course, it works great in Front Page on your computer. Take a
closer look at the html code. Also providing a url to the page in question
would be a nice thing to do and would no doubt help others resolve your
quandary.

 

[James Fintel]

Yes, that's correct. These sites are mostly used on local computers. I
can't offer a link to the page, as this is all stored locally.

However, I do not think it is the HTML. It works in FrontPage, but I
neglected to mention it also works in Firefox. However, the same link that
works in Firefox will not work in Internet Explorer.

 

[Steve Easton]

You have added content to individual pages without having a web open,
OR
you have browsed outside of the root folder for your web when adding links.

That is why your links point to: file:///

Make sure you always open FrontPage, then your web and then a page.
Make sure all content used in the web is located "inside" the root folder for your web.
Never browse outside of the root folder when linking to files or pages.


--
Steve Easton
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
FP Cleaner
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/fpclean.htm
Hit Me FP
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/HitMeFP.htm

 

[James Fintel]

Steve,

Thank you for the help, however, neither of these are the case. This link
comes from a web, the file is within the web and is not outside of the root.
Both files were made in FrontPage and only modified in FrontPage. If you
open this link in Firefox, it works. If you copy the link exactly as written
and paste it into the address bar in Internet Explorer, it will work. It
will only not work when it is a hyperlink.

The reason we're getting the file:/// is because this particular web is
stored locally on a desktop, it's not on the 'Net or our intranet. A lot of
time these will then get burned to CDs and distributed, which is why this is
such a major problem.

My root problem is why will Internet Explorer accept the URL when it is not
a hyperlink and entered directly, why will Firefox always accept it, and why
it doesn't happen in all cases of "file:///" (it only happens some of the
time.)

Also, the hyperlink in Frontpage is merely "[filename].htm" is there a way I
could format the hyperlink so it would not use "file:///" yet still work on
different computers with potentially different drive letters? When Internet
Explorer encounters the "[filename].htm" it seems to always treat it as a
"file:///"

 

[Steve Easton]

Hi James.

After reading the original post again, I noticed you said the links look like:
href="Flatexercie1.htm">Exercises</a> in the html

Does FrontPage recognize the desktop folder containing the web as a Disk Based web??
Does the folder have the Blue globe on it, designating a Disk Based Web.
If so, try publishing the web to a different folder on the machine and then burn the
published folder to the CD.


--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed..................
...............................with a computer

Steve,

Thank you for the help, however, neither of these are the case. This link
comes from a web, the file is within the web and is not outside of the root.
Both files were made in FrontPage and only modified in FrontPage. If you
open this link in Firefox, it works. If you copy the link exactly as written
and paste it into the address bar in Internet Explorer, it will work. It
will only not work when it is a hyperlink.

The reason we're getting the file:/// is because this particular web is
stored locally on a desktop, it's not on the 'Net or our intranet. A lot of
time these will then get burned to CDs and distributed, which is why this is
such a major problem.

My root problem is why will Internet Explorer accept the URL when it is not
a hyperlink and entered directly, why will Firefox always accept it, and why
it doesn't happen in all cases of "file:///" (it only happens some of the
time.)

Also, the hyperlink in Frontpage is merely "[filename].htm" is there a way I
could format the hyperlink so it would not use "file:///" yet still work on
different computers with potentially different drive letters? When Internet
Explorer encounters the "[filename].htm" it seems to always treat it as a
"file:///"

You have added content to individual pages without having a web open,
OR
you have browsed outside of the root folder for your web when adding links.

That is why your links point to: file:///

Make sure you always open FrontPage, then your web and then a page.
Make sure all content used in the web is located "inside" the root folder for your web.
Never browse outside of the root folder when linking to files or pages.


--
Steve Easton
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
FP Cleaner
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/fpclean.htm
Hit Me FP
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/HitMeFP.htm