links through the cgi-bin. workaround?

[gabrielcrowe]

i know this is a noob question, but i think its not even possible.

is there any way to get actinic to link directly to the file. instead of going through the cgi-bin.

i dont want highlighting and i dont need any of the features of the cgi-bin. i just want the items appearing in my latest items and my 'items like this item' marketing blocks.

could someone explain the sequence of perl so that i can get my head around why actinic have done it this way?

kthx

[cdicken]

Hi Gabe

The reason it works this way is that the only other way to link to a product is to have the full URL of the section page containing the original product, and then a '#a' and then the product reference.

Unfortunately 'the filename of the section that this also bought item is actually in' is not a variable that's available to insert into the layout - which is why we use the cgi-bin method - which only needs the Product Reference passed to it as a parameter.

Hope that helps you in your development.

[gabrielcrowe]

lol, it effectively halts development on that idea.

so i want to add this as a wishlist item.

looking up the section that a product appears in is easy. its the parent. so, for actinic to craft those links would also be very easy.

i wish actinic were capable of this simple feature.

[dave_finlayson]

Gets my vote, I enquired about a workaround months ago and it seems there isn't one.

[RuralWeb]

I assume you are wanting this for SEO reasons - google has improved over the last couple of years and can now easily follow the best seller cgi links.

[gabrielcrowe]

well, its for other resons, but yes, i know about clever google.

some other search engines arent so clever however.

[RuralWeb]

some other search engines arent so clever however

Thats why not many people use them

[Mike Hughes]

Hi Malcom,

google has improved over the last couple of years and can now easily follow the best seller cgi links.

This is true, but can lead to other problems. Google will now see two sets of the same content on different urls and will drop one out of the index. If it keeps the best seller link, then when/if it disappears Google has to recognise it's gone and re-instate the original content.

The two links should really be complementing, rather than fighting, each other. Actinic should fix it and I support Gabriel on this as wishlist item.

Mike

[RuralWeb]

Google will now see two sets of the same content on different urls and will drop one out of the index. If it keeps the best seller link, then when/if it disappears Google has to recognise it's gone and re-instate the original content

This is true but the cgi linked page will still remain in the cache even if you change the best sellers - being on the home page then it is far more likely that the cgi linked page will be used by google when it first indexes the page.

It is a problem and now you have reminded me of it I support the request.

[Duncan Rounding]

...Unfortunately 'the filename of the section that this also bought item is actually in' is not a variable that's available to insert into the layout....

A thought....

But maybe it can be fudged if you are using one product per page and name the section page after the product name (perhaps replacing spaces with underscores or dashes).

I've done this for duplicates to save using the standard cgi links to the main product.

[gabrielcrowe]

this is all well and good, but what if i remove a product and then its ref gets recycled, as i was investigating earlier with george, in another thread.

see, then googled cache and link will be wrong, on the cgi-bin link. but it will still exist.

static links are the way forward, with little to no detrement to functionality.

[dave_finlayson]

<Commissioner Finlayson activates the Norman Signal>

[gabrielcrowe]

w00t! a photoshopping nut like me.

i'd like to see more of this random postings. i thought i was the only goon around here, but it looks like you're a member of the club too.

[dave_finlayson]

Gabriel,

Your image manipulation tomfoolery inspired me!

Oh and it's quite quiet here today!!!!!

[Duncan Rounding]

I definitely think it's possible based on my post above. (ie must be 1prod/page and have the section page name called the same as the product name.)

If you have a ProductName of say 'widget 1' then you can use php to convert that to 'widget_1.html'. You can then modify the layout for Best Sellers by replacing the <a href="SearchCGIURL... etc, with <a href=widget_1.html...

I'll give it a go if I get chance later on.