Three Dove Feathers Within a Circle
Part IV - Troubleshooting
This section continues from Part III and covers common problems that may appear while building, editing, or viewing the family archive.
Most problems come from one of three things:
- The filename does not match.
- A file was moved or deleted.
- The webpage was uploaded incorrectly.
The webpage only shows text and no design.
The file may still be a text document.
Check that the filename is:
index.html
and not:
index.html.txt
In Windows File Explorer, enable:
View → Show → File name extensions
The image does not appear.
Check the image filename.
The HTML:
src="mitsunohane.jpg"
must match the actual image file exactly.
These are different files:
- mitsunohane.jpg
- Mitsunohane.jpg
- mitsunohane.PNG
The audio player appears but the recording will not play.
Check the recording filename.
Example:
src="INT-001.m4a"
requires a file named:
INT-001.m4a
inside the same folder.
I renamed the audio file and now it is broken.
The HTML does not automatically know that a filename changed.
If the recording changes from:
INT-001.m4a
to:
Grandfather Interview.m4a
the HTML must also be updated.
The QR code opens the wrong page.
The QR code only stores an address.
If the webpage address changes, the QR code still points to the old location.
Avoid moving published archive pages after printing QR codes.
The Dropbox or Google Drive backup does not open.
Check the sharing settings.
The file must allow access to anyone who has the link.
Also check that the file was not deleted or moved.
The transcript link does not work.
Check:
href="transcript.pdf"
The transcript filename must match exactly.
I edited the HTML but nothing changed.
Your browser may be showing an older cached version.
Try refreshing with:
Ctrl + F5
I accidentally broke the HTML.
Do not rebuild everything immediately.
Return to the original template from Part II and compare the damaged section.
Most errors come from:
- missing quotation marks
- missing closing tags
- wrong filenames
Final archive checklist
- ☐ index.html exists
- ☐ Audio file exists
- ☐ Image file exists
- ☐ Recording plays correctly
- ☐ Backup links work
- ☐ Transcript opens
- ☐ QR code opens the webpage
- ☐ Archive reference is printed