Settings on the Index Pages Tab, control where the index pages will be written to, where the index template is located, how the new index pages will be named, the type of file extension, and more.
Assigning a destination folder:
By checking the "Create index pages in" checkbox, a dialog box pops-up
asking you what directory (folder) you would like WebMerge to create the new
index pages
in. This should be a directory used only for the index pages.
As discussed earlier, the files will be easier to keep track
of if they are in a location by themselves.
Figure 1 "Create Index Pages in" dialog
Index Template:
This pretty self-explanatory, affiliates normally need to use the “Use one template file for Index pages:” radio button. When clicked on, a dialog box pops-up asking where WebMerge can find the “index 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 Index Pages:
How do you want to name your index pages? The first choice, is
the file extension. 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.
If you want the page names based on a category, then the "Base name:" field will be grayed out. After selecting either "Make only one index page," or "Serialized names starting with:," the "Base name" can be typed in.
One big file?
In most cases, a two-tier site design will not support the number
of links to detail pages that will need to reside on the index
page. i.e. if you have 500 records in the feed, then there
will be 500 links on the index page. Utilizing a data feed
with more than about eighty records means you will need to consider
a three or four-tiered site design. Using a large feed
in a two-tiered design will result in a page that visitors
will have trouble navigating,
and will take and extremely long
time to load.
Figure 2 Two-Tier design, with a single index page.
Three or Four-Tiered site design required
Part of the process in creating a Multiple tiered site however,
is to use a single index file for the main category page. The
main category
page
has links
to
index pages based on sub-categories. The category-based
index pages have in-turn, links to individual detail pages.
Figure 3 Three-tier design with multiple index pages
linked from a single
"main Category" index page.
Serialized names:
It’s super easy to build pages based on a numbering scheme.
If this works for your data feed, then check the “Serialized
names starting with #:” radio button. This is another place
where good advance planning comes in.
Figure 4 "Generated File Names" (Serialized
names) selected
For example, if you use the base name "index," and type in "001" (the default), your index pages will start with name "index0001.htm" The numbered names will continue to increase until you have reached the number of different categories in the feed. This varies according to the merchant, and can be as few as ten, or as many as 300 - or more. Just like working with a two-tiered design, a decision will have to be made, when to switch to a four-tiered design. With 300 categories, a question needs to be answered about whether these can be broken down further if there are sub-categories in the feed.
Name based on contents of field:
Like the serialized option, this option allows the use of many
index pages, based on category (or other) names. This can
be a little more disorganized and difficult to keep track of,
but may have other benefits, including possible Search Engine
benefits, with naming the index files with names that resemble
things (like products of categories), instead of boring numbers.
Figure 4 "Generated File Names" (Name
Based) selected
Regardless of your selection, WebMerge provides an example of the index file name displayed to the right. If you have selected the "contents" option, then the first record is displayed in the example. Please note where WebMerge has inserted underscores between words in the file name.
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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