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How to create clean navigation URLs

A folder URL such as https://example.com/about-us/ can display a page without showing its filename. The page still exists on the server: the host serves an index file from that folder.

Put a regular page in a folder

Select the About Us page and open the Page inspector. Keep its type as Regular Page; it does not need to become the website’s Home Page. Choose In a Folder and enter about-us as the folder name.

Set the index filename

Enable Custom Filename and enter index.html. For this static example, Sitely will publish the page as about-us/index.html. A host configured to serve index.html as a directory index can show it at https://example.com/about-us/.

Repeat the pattern for other pages, using a different folder for each index page. The Page Title can remain a descriptive title for visitors; it does not need to be index.

Clean navigation URL setup: an About Us regular page, custom index.html filename and about-us folder in the Page inspector.

Folder and custom index.html filename in the Page inspector. The page remains a Regular Page.

Check the published address

Publish or export the complete site, preserving its folders, then test the folder address on the intended web server. Do not remove .html from a file’s name by hand: the clean address depends on the folder and its index file.

Sitely uses index.php when the page requires PHP. In that case the host must run PHP and recognize index.php as a directory index. If the address fails or shows a directory listing, ask the hosting provider to check its default index configuration.

Use the trailing-slash form, /about-us/, consistently. Many servers redirect /about-us to /about-us/, but the behavior depends on the host. Link to the page through Sitely’s internal page links and menus so the generated destination follows the page settings.

Plan changes to existing URLs

Changing about-us.html to /about-us/ changes the public address. Plan a permanent redirect from the old address with your hosting provider, update links you control and test old bookmarks. See Google’s guide to URL changes for the migration steps.

Choose short, descriptive folder names for clarity. Clean URLs are optional; choose them for clarity and consistency, then focus on useful content and accessible navigation. See Page Setup for the underlying page settings.

Please report any shortcoming in this documentation and we’ll fix it as soon as possible!

Updated for Sitely 8