Scanning pages linked trough drop down box

[doug59]

Has anyone tried scanning files from links put in drop down boxes and activated using Javascript? Zoom does not find them but I'm hoping there may be a way to configure it to do so. I may have to find a way to include the links for searching but not for browsing by the user (since they should use the drop down).

[David]

In general Zoom doesn't follow links in a drop down box. This is because the URL is created dynamically in Javascript after the user has made a selection from the box.

Pretty much any Javascript generated link will not be followed. This is a common problem for all search engines. Having a site like this can also made it hard to get a good ranking on public search engines (becuase your site can not be indexed).

It is also a serious problem for people you are browsing your site with Javascript turned off.

There are various different solutions. Including,

1/ Having normal HTML links somewhere on the page for the Zoom spider to follow.

2/ Indexing in offline mode. (Not a good solution if you use PHP, ASP or similar server side technologies on your site)

3/ Add additional start points to the Zoom indexer. (Click on the "More" button in the main Zoom window to do this). These additional start points should be the destination pointed by your Javascript code.

4/ Create a table to contents web page or site map page that has links to all your main pages and start the indexer from that page. There is no need for this page to be visible for a human user.

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David
Wrensoft

[wnoordhoek]

1 suggestion from me wich i use on my page to get javascript links indexed

use the <noscript> tag
it wont get printed in your browser unless u disable javascript, wich also means that ur dropdownbox wouldnt work, and then this part still can be used to browse the links

example:

<noscript>
name
name
name
</noscript>