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PHP: Defining relative paths compatible with HTML Tags

Answer 1

+2 A:

Absolute url or root paths will give you the least amount of headaces. Trust me, when the system grows you'll regret that setup.

It is a perfectly legal way to reference things. (as you ask in the comments)

If you're worried about setups between domains, just create a config variable with the absolute path to the domain / directory / etc

Ólafur Waage 2009-09-03 23:54:08

Is there a reason you prefer `absolute`, as opposed to `root-relative`, paths?

David Thomas 2009-09-03 23:56:17

Setup between domains is not the issue. But doesn't using absolute paths for HTML tags (images/stylesheets) carry a performance penalty?

gAMBOOKa 2009-09-03 23:56:24

I believe it does, which is one of the reasons I prefer root-relative.

David Thomas 2009-09-03 23:58:52

using absolute paths everywhere is always going to add weight to your pages (and css for that matter). Simply put, 'http://www.mydomain.com/' is longer than '/'

WibblePoop 2009-09-03 23:59:28

I am talking about the concept in general.

Ólafur Waage 2009-09-04 00:04:49

Answer 2

A:

I'd suggest, primarily, that you use root-relative paths. This is only to reduce the complications of moving your site to another host, and also it allows for consistent paths (rather than using an if() condition to test from where the script's being run).

But otherwise, your suggestion would be fine.

David Thomas 2009-09-03 23:55:14

How do I get root-relative paths?

gAMBOOKa 2009-09-03 23:58:04

NVM, DisgruntledGoat answered it!

gAMBOOKa 2009-09-03 23:59:00

Answer 3

+1 A:

You can use "root-relative" paths. Simply link to everything with a forward slash at the beginning, i.e.

<img src="/images/logo.png">

This will resolve to http://yoursite.com/images/logo.png from every page on yoursite.com.

DisgruntledGoat 2009-09-03 23:55:41

And called a 'root-relative' path (to the best of my knowledge, anyway). =)

David Thomas 2009-09-03 23:57:08

@ricebowl: No, it’s an *absolute path*.

Gumbo 2009-09-04 12:45:06

Answer 4

A:

simply specify all paths as relative to the root

<img src="/images/logo.png"> <!-- will work anywhere  -->

WibblePoop 2009-09-03 23:57:06

Answer 5

+3 A:

Try setting the <base> tag in the <head> section of your code.

All your images, css, and js files will use this instead of the url in the address bar.

Info on base

Scott 2009-09-04 00:02:41

And url's would be like `images/blah.png`, without a leading `/`.

strager 2009-09-04 00:05:06

I like your thinking but in certain cases, where modular components are concerned, the paths might need to be relative to the module directory rather than the root directory.

gAMBOOKa 2009-09-04 00:05:58

@gAMBooka, your right but those cases probably occur less often and could be hard coded.

Scott 2009-09-04 00:10:05

But again, that's an absolute url and brings a dns lookup penalty that I'd like to avoid. Crap! I'm all confused now!

gAMBOOKa 2009-09-04 00:21:35

Note that changing the base URL will affect any relative URL and not just relative URLs with a relative URL path.

Gumbo 2009-09-04 12:39:27

Answer 6

A:

I would use something like an application base URL:

define('APP_URL', 'http://example.com/path/to/app');
echo '<img src="'.APP_URL.IMAGE_PATH.'">';

Or to have it more convenient, write a function that resolves your relative URL to an absolute URL.

Gumbo 2009-09-04 12:52:53

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PHP: Defining relative paths compatible with HTML Tags

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