Unit 1 · How the web works
Why #/ hash routes are not separate pages
Everything after # stays in the browser, so cornerbakery.ca/#/menu asks the server for /, the home page. To a server and a search engine there is one page, not two.
The mix-up
What people often think
“cornerbakery.ca/#/menu is the same as cornerbakery.ca/menu.”
What the tutor says
Everything after # stays in the browser, so the server only sees the home page, /. Some apps fake pages this way, but search engines and servers see one page.
What path does the server see for cornerbakery.ca/#/menu?
How it works
Some apps fake extra pages with the fragment: /#/menu, /#/order. JavaScript reads the fragment and swaps the content. It works for someone clicking around, but every one of those addresses sends the same request for the home page.
Waiting will not fix it. A search engine cannot find a separate order page because, as far as the request is concerned, there is none. Give each page its own path, such as /order, so the server and search engines can see it.
Side by side
cornerbakery.ca/#/order → server sees /cornerbakery.ca/order → server sees /orderClose cousins of this mix-up
The tutor watches for these in the same lesson.
“Search engines will find every page eventually.”
Waiting will not help, because to the search engine there is no separate order page to find. It needs a separate path, like /order.
Practise it with a tutor watching
Parts of a URL
Name each part of a URL and say which parts reach the server.
Free, no account needed.