Settings on the Detail Pages Tab, control where the detail pages will be written to, where the detail template is located, how the new detail pages will be named, the type of file extension, and more.
Assigning a destination folder:
By checking the "Create Detail Pages in" checkbox, a dialog box pops-up
asking you what directory (folder) you would like WebMerge to create the new
detail pages in. This should be a directory used only for the detail pages. As
discussed earlier, the files will be easier to keep track of if they are in a
location by themselves.
Figure 1 - "Create Detail Pages in" dialog
Detail Template:
This is pretty self-explanatory, affiliates normally need to use the “Use one template file for Detail pages:” radio button. When clicked on, a dialog box pops-up asking where WebMerge can find the “detail template” already designed for this data feed. A more detailed explanation of the other choices in this area can be found in the documentation accompanying WebMerge (help files).
Generated File Names
Naming Generated Detail Pages:
How do you want to name your detail pages? The first choice, is "Name based
on contents of field." This is what many Affiliates like to do, as the file
name will have a closer relationship with the actual product, will be easier
to keep track of, and may be better for Search Engine ranking.
If you want the page names based on the contents of a field (like Product_ID for example), then the "Base name:" field will be grayed out. If you select "Serialized names starting with #:," the "Base name" can then be typed in.
Whatever your choice for the file name, the file extension needs to be typed in. The default is .html. This can easily be changed to .htm if you prefer. Whatever the naming convention used for the site, can be maintained with this selection.
Figure 2 - Generated File Names area.
Regardless of your selection, WebMerge provides an example of the detail file name displayed to the right. If you have selected the "contents" option, then the first record is displayed in the example.
Last Tier to be built
When building a web site based on an affiliate data feed, there are usually one or more Tiers above the detail pages. These higher tiers are all Index Pages, and get built before the detail pages. This means that the Detail Pages are the last to be configured and built. Accordingly, the settings file for this part of the build contains information for both the Detail Pages, and the Index Pages for the Tier directly above the Detail Pages (STEP TWO in Figure 3 below). See the 3-Tier section for more information on building multi-tiered web sites.
Figure 3 - Steps for building a multi-tiered web site.
Test Mode
The Detail Pages tab has the same checkbox that is displayed in other tabs,
allowing a test to be made, limited by the number of records you wish to
process. For
example, a test run can be made building the site based on only a few (say
50 or 100) records. This
is a time saver, as WebMerge only needs to run a few records, instead of the
entire data feed file. The completed pages can then be examined to see if they
are being built as planned.
Settings File
Save the Settings File according to the type of web site to be built, and the tier that is being built.
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