Weird looking table of contents/site map, what's going on?

[Guest]

Hi,

I'd like to include a straightforward table of contents or site map based on
my site's navigation structure (I assume that's how it works). When I use
Insert Web Component > Table of Contents > For This Web Site, the results are
very strange indeed: I get a very long table of contents which contains links
to all sorts of files and in no apparent order whatsoever (file name, folder,
page title, etc. - it's just random as far as I can tell).

I have generated the table and uploaded to my site (www.aaltenvoogd.com) so
you can have a look.

What's going on here, and how can I generate the correct TOC?

Thanks,
Stefan

 

[Rick Budde]

Look into Table of Contents by Page Category (the other
option Front Page provides). That requires a little more
work on your part (ie, you will have to assign categories
to the pages you want included in your TOC).

If that doesn't work to your liking either, you would
then create & maintain your own TOC page which is what I
usually do.

-----Original Message-----
Hi,

I'd like to include a straightforward table of contents or site map based on
my site's navigation structure (I assume that's how it works). When I use
Insert Web Component > Table of Contents > For This Web Site, the results are
very strange indeed: I get a very long table of contents which contains links
to all sorts of files and in no apparent order whatsoever (file name, folder,
page title, etc. - it's just random as far as I can tell).

I have generated the table and uploaded to my site

(www.aaltenvoogd.com) so

 

[Guest]

Hmm, can't get TOC by Page Category to work either - only one of the pages I
have assigned the category to is listed, the others aren't shown at all. Very
strange. I have removed the site map for the time being.

"Create & maintain your own TOC page" - how would I do that? My site
consists of approx. 150 individual pages and I would rather not create & have
to maintain a manual hyperlink to each page, or am I missing the point?

Thanks,
Stefan

 

[Rick Budde]

Stefan:

I took a look at your site. It looks nice.

I think in your case a TOC page would not add much. A TOC
page is intended to aid the visitor in understanding the
organization of a site and perhaps aid in its navigation.
That said, I feel that a TOC is often used as an excuse
by the designer for poor organization of the site. In my
opinion, the navigation your have set up on your home
page and the pages below that function quite well and
thus I would suggest you abandon your desire for a TOC.

If you are dying to have some TOC page, you might want to
have a "TOC" page listing pictures by country or some
such thing. This would allow the visitors to get to
specific photos with fewer mouse clicks.

As an aside, I use dialup access and the pages were slow
to download from your host due mostly to the total number
of bytes of the picture files (maps and Project PERT
chart). I would suggest you tweak your file sizes using
an image editing program such as Photoshop Elements 3.
You could also split your pages up so that fewer pictures
are on a single page.

Let me give you an example:

Not everyone who visits your page will be interested in
looking at the details of your PERT chart ... certainly
not every time they visit that page. You could add a page
to your site that just contains the PERT chart and put a
text hyperlink to it on the page where it now resides.

As I said the site looks great. Have fun on your two
adventures ... 1. your trip and 2. the design of the
website to share the trip with others.

 

[Wally S]

You'll get far better results maintaining a TOC or site map manually than by
using categories or TOC function. I have tried them both. The category
function generates errors, especially if you move or rename a page once it
has been categorized, and the TOC function is uncontrollable.

It's not as much work as you would think. Every time you add a new page to
the site, you just take 2 minutes to update the TOC.

Wally S

 

[Guest]

Rick,

Thanks for the feedback and for the suggestions re. "slimming down" the
pages. I'm on broadband and of course all of the images have been cached so I
have very rapid access and slow page loads is not something I have noticed -
I'll certainly be following up on your suggestions to make the site more
"dial-up friendly".

Re. TOC, I thought it might be useful to provide an overall "map" of how the
site is structured, both for the visitor as well as for search engines and
crawlers, especially to the individual diary pages (which contain most
content).

Glad you like the site, thanks for taking a look!

Stefan