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Proposed Procedure: Creating Aliases

NOTE: This is a DRAFT document and is not intended for public use.

About this proposed procedure

Category Area Setup, Links and Navigation
Required or Recommended Required
Governing Policy Web Governance and Management
Tracking Number NT00000000

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Brief description
(see the full document below for details)

An alias is a short Web site address (that is, a URL) that is easier to remember, type, or say than the full directory path. Choose your aliases carefully. You should use the primary alias only when you create links in your web pages and in promotional material. Secondary aliases will help when you anticipate spelling and typing mistakes that viewers might make when they type in the primary alias, but use as few secondary aliases as possible.

This procedure applies to content on EPA's primary web server, www.epa.gov.

Description to appear on checklists

Identify an appropriate alias (or aliases) for your TSSMS, request them, specify the primary alias and use only the primary alias (e.g., in all code, advertising, press releases, and promotional materials).

On this page


Definitions

Content requirements

Aliases must reflect the scope of a Web area:

Style requirements

Required Steps

  1. Choose a primary alias
    • Choose as short and simple an alias as possible; the goal is for someone to remember it after hearing or seeing it once. For example, choose an alias that the Administrator could say once in a speech, without spelling it, and that reporters can understand and remember on only one hearing.
  2. If necessary, choose secondary aliases to cover alternate words, plural vs. singular and common misspellings. Use as few secondary aliases as possible. Secondary aliases are not required or preferred but are allowed for the convenience of our Web visitors.
  3. Use only your primary alias on all advertising, press releases, and email signatures, all code, and all links. Don't refer to secondary aliases anywhere.
  4. Always include www.epa.gov instead of the shorthand epa.gov in code, print, and advertising. It isn't necessary to include http:// in advertising.
  5. For database-driven sites (Domino, Oracle, ColdFusion, etc.), request an alias on the public access server either to a page that redirects immediately (no delay) or to a page using the normal look and feel that provides more information and a link to the application.

How to

Examples

Choose an alias that is easier to remember than your TSSMS. For the TSSMS cludygxb, the alias is monitor, and www.epa.gov/cludygxb is also monitor .

Aliases that point below the TSSMS level are useful. For example, airlinewater is an alias for www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/airlinewater/ .

Multiple aliases allow for misspellings and differently guessed URLs: leavitt , levitt , johnson , and administrator for TSSMS adminweb.

Alias to a redirect page for an application: npdes for cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/

Alias to provide more information about various databases: edr provides links to Environmental Data Registry applications on the Oracle Application Server.

In some cases, it's better to spell out a longer program name than make up an arbitrary abbreviation; ease of remembering is more important than absolute length. For example: performancetrack is better than pt or perftrk .

Rationale

TSSMS names are exactly eight characters long. However, the URL that is easiest to remember may be a different length or use different words. Aliases allow us to offer simpler, more intuitive URLs.

Use lower case in all aliases because it is simpler to remember and cite verbally, Although program names and other items may use capitalized acronyms in other settings, it adds confusion and complexity to what people have to remember or speak aloud.

Promoting only one alias makes www.epa.gov consistent, efficient, and reduces costs. Statistics are kept for each alias, so multiple aliases add time and effort to your analysis.

Furthermore, creating as few aliases as possible reduces costs for disaster recovery. Our system keeps copies of EPA's Web files by directory name, and treats each alias as a separate directory, multiplying storage costs.

Related to disaster recovery, always use www in your URLs: files at www.epa.gov are backed up; files at epa.gov are not.

See Also

http://intranet.epa.gov/webmast3/webguide/aliasform.html

URLs referred to when writing this standard

http://yosemite.epa.gov/OEI/webguide.nsf/create/alias

Related governance documents

EPA

Related Policies

Related Procedures

Related Standards

Related Guidance

Non-EPA

None

This page is available to EPA Intranet users only. If you are an outside contractor working for EPA, please contact your EPA representative for more information. If you are another federal agency or other party interested in EPA's web policies and procedures, please contact EPA through the "Contact Us" page on this site.




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