Renaming Webpage files

Many users employ the "Save page as" function to save Internet webpages for later viewing or reference. Often, the webpages are saved with rather arcane filenames, such as " Map.html " or even worse, " Ab4837dvb.html ".
Obviously, a more descriptive filename would be desireable, particularly for later reference. You can, of course, specify a descriptive filename at the time you "save" the webpage, but I find it more convenient to do this later, after I have had a chance to read the entire document and decide on a descriptive name.

Have you ever tried to rename a html file? If you have, chances are you probably received a warning something like " Rename Warning...no longer belong to the folder...". If you went ahead anyway and gave the html file a new name ( along with its associated " _files " file ), chances are the webpage no longer displayed like it did originally ( if at all ). Here is a fairly straightforward way to safely rename those " saved " webpage(s).

o First, copy the webpage files ( both .html and _files ) to some temporary location. Do not " move " the files, COPY them. If something goes wrong, you will still have the original files. I use a "Temp" directory on one of my drives for work like this.

o Write down both " original " filenames. As stated earlier there will usually be a " .html " and a " _files " file associated with a particular webpage.

o Write down the desired new filename. Then right-click on the original .html file, select " Rename " from the drop-down menu and procede with renaming the original " .html " file. Ignore the Rename Warning. Once the " .html " file has been renamed, rename the second file ( _files ). Remember there usually is a " .html " and a " _files " extension.

o Once the two files have been renamed, use the Notepad utility to open the " .html " file. You do not need to modify the " _files " file. You may use any word processing utility you like as long as it can save the file you are modifying in pure ANSI mode ( NO FORMATTING ) !

o MS Word@, Word for Windows@, Word Perfect@ , all can save a " loaded " file in ANSI mode, but must be told explicitly to do so. The little Notepad utility will automatically save in this mode without having to " remember ".

o Once the " .html " file is opened, select " Edit " from the top bar menu, then select " Replace " ( Ctrl + H ). In the " Find what " box, type in the original filename, omitting the " .html " extension. In the " Replace with " box, type in the " New " filename, again omitting the " _files " extension. Next, click on the " Replace all " button. All instances of the " original " filename will now have been replaced with your " new " filename. Once the " search and replace " is completed, click on the " Cancel " button to return to Notepad. To check that all instances of the " original " filename have been replaced, before clicking on the " Cancel " button, click on " Replace all " again. You should see a message informing you that " No instances of.... have been found ".

o When you return to the Notepad screen, select " File " from the top bar menu, select " Save " and the renaming of the webpage files is complete. You should now be able to click on the newly renamed webpage file and have it display just as it did with the old filename. Once you are sure the page(s) display correctly, you can delete the original files and replace them with the newly renamed versions.