Is index.md the only option?

[andrew-culver]

I would like to have the name of the default file loaded for a subdirectory URL be set to something other than index.md, on a directory-by-directory basis, include the site root. Possible?

[geoffreymcgill]

Other options include default.md and readme.md, see

https://retype.com/configuration/reserved_words/#default-pages

Another option that provides unlimited flexibility is the Page route config, see

https://retype.com/configuration/page/#route

If neither of those are ideal for your requirements, just let us know some more details and we might be able to come up with some other options.

Hope this helps.

[andrew-culver]

Not there yet.

What I am after is essentially a redirect, so that every load of andrewculver.com/work/ redirects to andrewculver.com/work/introduction/ (introduction.md is a file in the /work/ directory), and have this done for all sub-directories. In other words, set anything to be the default, or than index, readme, and default, in each sub-directory.

Ultimately what I am trying to get away from is having something more informative than an index.md file in every directory, so that search results, editor file lists, file mapping tools (like Obsidian), etc. don't just show "index" all over the place.

[andrew-culver]

Here's a thought that might make this easier to implemen:

The "default" .md file for any directory could be default.md, index.md, readme.md, or, [directory-name].md

andrewculver.com/work/jjRover/jjRover.md is the default for it's directory andrewculver.com/work/jjRover

[DannyBen]

Exactly what I was writing while you entered this.

---

Interesting use case. A logical solution to having a "file that describes the directory itself but has a unique name" is to have support for a file that is named exactly like the directory.

• Installation/Installation.md
• Advanced Features/Advanced Features.md

[geoffreymcgill]

Seems there are two scenarios being discussed here.

1. Redirecting /work to /work/introduction
2. Custom default page for a directory.

Scenario 1 is possible with the current release by adding the following index.md (or default.md or readme.md) file inside the /work folder:

---
redirect: introduction.md
---

Scenario 2 seems like a good idea and I think we should be able to add the functionality into the next release of Retype.

I think we would treat any combination of a space separator , a dash -, and an underscore _ as equal separators. For example, all of the following would be valid:

• Advanced Features/Advanced Features.md
• Advanced Features/Advanced-Features.md
• Advanced Features/Advanced_Features.md
• Advanced-Features/Advanced Features.md
• Advanced-Features/Advanced-Features.md
• Advanced-Features/Advanced_Features.md
• Advanced_Features/Advanced Features.md
• Advanced_Features/Advanced-Features.md
• Advanced_Features/Advanced_Features.md

[andrew-culver]

I'd like to bump this (custom default page for a directory based on the directory name) as and add for Retype 3.0.

[geoffreymcgill]

We will try.

[geoffreymcgill]

We have added support for the same-name default page functionality. This will enable the Installation/Installation.md scenario where Installation.md would now be the default page and create the URL /installation, instead of the previous /installation/installation.

The folder and file name need to match exactly, although case-insensitive matching. We decided to not implement the mixed -, _, and <space> separator support as we felt it would just complicate the scenario, so we're just keeping it simple.

The functionality will be included in Retype v3.0. There's just one more issue we're dealing with and then will release v3.0.

[andrew-culver]

Handling the spaces in the .md file names like this is a great idea.

[andrew-culver]

Using the redirect, the left side navigation shows a "Welcome" link/page at the top, even though it is never seen (it redirects as expected). Ideally "Welcome" would not be there.

[geoffreymcgill]

Retype requires a root "home page". You can redirect that home page to another page, but ultimately there does need to be a root landing page for the project.

Here are a couple ideas to try:

Option 1

Set url: andrewculver.com/work in your retype.yml. This will instruct Retype that the public location for the site will be in the /work sub-directory. Then set redirect: introduction.md in the root index.md file.

Here are the three files to demonstrate:

retype.yml

input: .
output: .retype
url: andrewculver.com/work
branding:
  title: Andrew Culver

index.md

---
redirect: introduction.md
icon: home
title: Home
---

introduction.md

---
icon: star
---
# Introduction

Option 2

Similar to Option 1, but delete index.md and rename introduction.md to index.md.

retype.yml

input: .
output: .retype
url: andrewculver.com/work
branding:
  title: Andrew Culver

index.md

---
icon: star
---
# Introduction

[geoffreymcgill]

A third option would be the following, although not as clean as the 1 & 2 above.

retype.yml

input: .
output: .retype
url: andrewculver.com
branding:
  title: Andrew Culver

index.md

---
redirect: /work/introduction.md
icon: home
title: Home
---

/work/index.md

---
redirect: introduction.md
title: Work
icon: briefcase
---

/work/introduction.md

---
icon: star
---
# Introduction

Hope this helps.