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Proposed Procedure: Creating Aliases

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

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
• Requirements
  • Content
  • Style
  • Required steps
• How to
• Examples
• Rationale
• Exemptions: none
• See also
• URLs referred to when writing this standard
• Related governance documents

Definitions

• Alias: a short URL that is easier to remember than the full directory path.
• Primary alias: the alias used everywhere
• Secondary aliases (or convenience aliases): aliases created to help people who mistype or guess at a URL; create secondary aliases to avoid "file not found" errors, but do not use them in code, advertising, etc.

Content requirements

Aliases must reflect the scope of a Web area:

• regional aliases must include some geographic description (for example, region4grants or midatlanticgrants)
• aliases for specific pieces of a larger issue should also use specific aliases (for example, cruiseshipwater as opposed to cruiseships or humanhealthresearchprogram instead of humanhealth)

Style requirements

• Do not include capital letters in your alias.
• Do not use numbers ("five") or numbers, except for Region numerals, because people hearing it won't know what to type.
• Do not use underscores, which are easily mistaken for spaces when typed out.
• Do not use acronyms.

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

• Identify an appropriate alias using the content and style requirements.
• The alias word is always immediately after www.epa.gov/ ; you cannot create an alias with a directory named above it, for example, www.epa.gov/air/aliasname /.
  • You can, however, create an alias that POINTS to a lower-down subdirectory. To do so, simply create a subdirectory with an appropriate name and request the alias points to that.
  • Aliases can only point to directories, not to individual files within a directory. Therefore, it is not possible to create an alias to a particular file.
• Before you commit to any particular alias name, please contact your program or regional Content Coordinator. They need to be aware of how your program is structuring web sites, and in case there are any upcoming announcements or other requirements.
• If you need to reserve an alias in advance, create the destination directory and place at least one file in the directory (an empty index.html file will work). Aliases can't point to nonexistent or empty directories.
• Request aliases using the Submission Form For Requesting Alias Names on EPA's Servers. You must have owner access to the relevant TSSMS account to request an alias.
  • The Office of External Affairs reviews requests.
  • The Office of Environmental Information's National Computer Center creates and maintains aliases.
• Only the primary alias in all code, advertising, press releases, and promotional materials. All internal links from your Web pages must refer to the URL of the primary alias.
• For Oracle, ColdFusion, or Domino Web sites: You cannot use an alias on the public access server (epapub.epa.gov) to point to Oracle, ColdFusion, or Domino web sites. Therefore, for applications outside of EPA's primary web server, create a redirect page or an information page on the public server.
• An example of a redirect page is www.epa.gov/npdes/ , which uses an HTML redirect to immediately send readers to cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/. Redirects using an .htaccess file also work.
• General cautions on aliases:
  • Aliases cannot be created on one server for a site on another server.
  • Aliases should not contain special characters such as @, ', <, > or #.
  • Aliases, like all URLs at epa.gov, are case-sensitive. The alias "water" is NOT the same as the alias "WATER."
  • Aliases can cause headaches for relative addresses, particularly when they point below the TSSMS level. If your styles aren't appearing correctly, check that the style sheet code is using an absolute URL.
  • It is inadvisable to have very long aliases - the longer the alias, the more likely the user will mis-type it.
  • Aliases can be "orphaned" if the directories to which they point are moved or deleted during site maintenance or re-organization. "Orphaned" aliases are a particular risk on complex sites managed by many people. Include aliases in a migration plan when moving files.
  • You can't have an alias that already exists.

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

• None

Related Procedures

• None

Related Standards

• None

Related Guidance

• None

Non-EPA

None

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