Create or Remove an Alias on www3

These instructions apply only to www3 content. For aliases on www, consult this page, URLs and Aliases on www.

On This Page:

About Aliases
Requesting or Removing an Alias
General Cautions on Aliases
Aliases and Statistics
Creating a User-Friendly URL

About Aliases on www3

An alias is a short name that is easier to remember and type than the full directory path on a server. For example, aliases can replace the awkward Time Sharing System Management System (TSSMS) naming scheme with something logical: epa.gov/region5 is an easier to remember and read alias for epa.gov/reg5oopa (reg5oopa is the TSSMS account name).

You should create a preferred alias for every area of EPA's www3 site unless the directory name (the 8-character TSSMS account name) is an easy-to-understand word or phrase that matches your topic. We grant only a single aliases for all directories.

Note: It is not necessary to provide URLs with different cases or plurals (e.g., "airmarket," "AirMarket," "AIRMARKET," "airmarkets," "AirMarkets," "AIRMARKETS"), as most folks find your content via search engines, and they never type the URL. This redundancy clutters our search results and your analytics.

(If that last paragraph also means you don't really need an alias for reg5oopa, you would be right.)

Requesting or Removing a www3 Alias

To obtain or remove an alias, please contact WebCMS Support. The Office of Public Affairs reviews requests and the Office of Mission Support's National Computer Center creates and maintains aliases. You must have access to the relevant TSSMS account to request an alias.

To transfer an alias from one TSSMS account to another, someone with access to both the old TSSMS and the new must concur with the change.

General Cautions on Aliases

Aliases can only point to directories, not to individual files within a directory. It is not possible to create an alias to a particular file.
Aliases cannot be created on one server for a site on another server, and should not contain special characters such as @, ', <, > and #.
Aliases can cause headaches for relative addresses, particularly when they point below the TSSMS level. If your styles aren't appearing correctly, change the stylesheet link to an absolute URL.
It is inadvisable to have long aliases - the longer the alias, the more likely it will be mistyped.
Aliases can be "orphaned" if the directories to which they point are moved or deleted during site maintenance or re-organization. This may cause frustration for users. "Orphaned" aliases are a particular risk on complex sites managed by many people.

Statistics

In Google Analytics, search for the alias URL to find your web traffic. Learn about Google Analytics.

Creating a User-Friendly URL for Dynamic Sites and Applications

Can I have an alias on the public access server (epapub.epa.gov) that points to my Oracle, ColdFusion, or Domino web site?
No. An alias on one server cannot point to a location on another server.

However, to prevent long URLs, you can establish an informational page in the WebCMS that can redirect people to the actual URL on the other server.