FAQ

General

Do you support HTML or other sites? E.g. CFM, ASPX

Where can I get more information about XML Sitemaps?

Does DynamicXMLsitemaps handle pages which have parameter querystrings?

What are the main steps to complete the Dynamic XML sitemaps set up?

Do I need to create a Google account?

Methods to verify your Dynamic XML sitemap has been correctly generated?

Which pages should I place the modifications?

Which page shouldn't I place the modifications?

Are Robots.txt exclusions proccessed?

Web Server setting required.

Which search engines do you notify (ping) when my Dynamic XML sitemap is ready?

Will I see an increase in server load?

Errors

Error:ID001 Your ID parameter is not numeric.

Error:ID002 Your ID parameter is not in the database.

Error:ID003 Your ID parameter is incorrect.

Error:ID004 Your site map is not ready.

Gotchas! and Misc.

Gotcha! Giving away Password Information.

How do I close my Account?

How do you load all the pages?

Will it work with POST forms?

Do you support HTML or other sites?

We only support ASP or PHP sites.

However the DynamicXMLsitemaps system will work with any web scripting language such as JSP,CFM or ASPX. If you are an expert in your field and also know ASP or PHP please sign up and inspect the ASP or PHP code - this can then be modified to work on your chosen platform. Please let us know and we will add your file type to the options available.

Where can I get more information about XML Sitemaps?

http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/submit.html is a good place to start.

Does DynamicXMLsitemaps handle pages which have parameter querystrings?

Yes. E.g. http://www.myhost.com/search.asp?parameter=value

This means dynamic/database driven sites can be indexed.

What are the main steps to complete the Dynamic XML sitemaps set up?

a) You need to upload a stub XML sitemap.

b) Insert a tiny bit of code into your website template so our system can index your site as its loaded.

c) Change a setting in IIS or Apache on your web server.

d) If you want a FREE subscription you will need to provide a link and page on your site with a Dynamic XML sitemaps advertisement on it. This can be linked in a small font or lightly coloured font, but it must be on your site's Home Page.

Do I need to create a Google account?

No, but if you do you can see the progress of the XML sitemap generation not only from our reports but from Google's reports. No other Search Engine currently offers this functionality.

There maybe problems that can be diagnosed by using the Google Account. E.g. Robots.txt may exclude the downloading of the sitemap.gz file

Methods to verify your Dynamic XML sitemap has been correctly generated?

You should sign up with a Google account (see above) to ensure they are retrieving your Dynamic XML sitemap correctly.

Additionally http://www.nodemap.com offers a great free service. Note when you test you will get an 'Error' like this:

'... Error looking for content-type application/xml or application/x-gzip. i found text/html ! Click Here....

NOTE: If your web server redirects to the actual content (Yahoo! Store, for example) then the direct URL to your sitemap is shown below. Normally you will get a message like "i found text/html" above. Just try using the URL listed below, if you think it is redirecting. If you have trouble, contact me. '

This explaination is correct. We use a redirect to allow us to host your Dynamic XML sitemap on our servers and just redirect the request from your server.

Below you will see the path to the actual file it will be something like this:

[location] => http://appserver1.dynamicxmlsitemaps.com/system/sitemaps/32/sitemap.gz

The number '32' in this instance will change. Copy and paste the URL you get back into the 'Create New Report' box on the Nodemap site and Click 'Add Report'. This time you will receive the correct report.

You are looking for the green text: ' Your gzip-compressed XML file at http://appserver1.dynamicxmlsitemaps.com/system/sitemaps/32/sitemap.gz validates to the Google Schema Definition '

Which pages should I place the modifications?

Any page where which you want indexed by the Search Engines.

Which page shouldn't I place the modifications?

Any page that should not be indexed by the major Search Engines. This could include any 'admin areas' for example that are secured by a login.

Are Robots.txt exclusions proccessed?

This file in not processed. Only place the code stubs provided on the pages you want included in your Dynamic XML sitemap.

Web Server setting required.

You will need to add a file type to be processed by Active Server Pages.

You can copy and paste this text (replacing the domain name with your domain name) into an email or support ticket for you Host to complete the task.

Or you can follow the instructions yourself if you have a dedicated server.

Which search engines do you notify (ping) when my Dynamic XML sitemap is ready?

Google, MSN, Yahoo and ASK are planned. We will ping more as they support this,

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/standalone-google-sitemap-generator.html

Will I see an increase in server load?

Yes, there will be slight increase in server load as our spiders traverses your site.

DynamicXMLsitemap Errors.

Error:ID001 Your ID parameter is not numeric.

This is a common error. Please copy and paste the code fragment supplied to you on your 'Site Modification' page.

Error:ID002 Your ID parameter is not in the database.

This is a common error. Please copy and paste the code fragment supplied to you on your 'Site Modification' page.

Error:ID003 Your ID parameter is incorrect.

This is a common error. Please copy and paste the code fragment supplied to you on your 'Site Modification' page.

Error:ID004 Your site map is not ready.

Sitemaps are processed soon after they are set up completely in your Account Home. Google and other Search Engines (when available) are 'pinged' or notified to download the XML sitemap file when it is in place.

Please do not attempt to download the file until your 'Reports' in your 'Account Home' states that your XML sitemap has been created.

Gotcha! Giving away Password Information.

Make sure that confidential information is not passed onto pages by GET. E.g. /login.php?username=jon.doe&password=hello. You should NOT use Dynamic XML sitemaps on your login.php page. If you do this it is possible that the URL /login.php will be indexed by Google with all the login information on it!

However your should not have been designed in the way the first instance. Internet Explorer's 'history' feature will also record URLs such as this. You need to design your site with confidential information being passed by POST to the required pages.

How do I close my Account?

You can close your account any time by Logging in to your Account Home, Selecting Subscription and then selecting Close Account.

How do you load all the pages?

We have a prototype Spider which traverses your site. Under normal circumstances however normal traffic activity (users, spiders, bots) will cause all your pages to be loaded (and hence indexed) over time.

If you want to accelerate the process we recommend you use some spidering software - many are available as freeware.

Will it work with POST forms.

No. If you have a page where the rendered results of the page change e.g. by selecting options from a drop-down and then clicking submit, if the name of the page does not change then only the page which is displayed without the submission will be indexed.

You should use URL links (GETs) rather than POSTs for pages you want indexed by all the search engines. Search engines will not be able to 'press' the submit button. Google themselves made this clear at their guidelines on