Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Using The OrdinarySiteMap Command
  3. Editing the OrdinarySiteMap.html File
  4. Installation

Introduction

A site map gives your visitors an overview of your entire website and an easy way to navigate to any particlualr page. It just so happens that search engines like this kind of page for indexing your site. So, if you are interested in top ranking on search engines, make sure there's a link from your home page to your OrdinarySiteMap.html page.

The OrdinarySiteMap (OSM) command generates a link for every file in your site. The links are organised as per the file system with files in subgroups of directories (or folders). The OrdinarySiteMap file will then be open for editing, in the Dreamweaver Workspace. From there you can edit the page to suit your needs.

OrdinarySiteMap was written by Jon Wojkowski at meshgraphics.com.

Using The OrdinarySiteMap Command

  1. In Dreamweaver, select the Commands menu, select OrdinarySiteMap.
  2. The pop-up menu has two input fields: Website URL and File Filter.
    3. Website URL:
    this is simple text which is printed at the top of the site map page.
    File Filter:
    this is a semi-colon (;) separated list of file extensions. Files with these extensions will be included in the site map. Otherwise, leave this field blank to include all files.

    Note* wildcards are not available.

  3. Press OK, to write the OrdinarySiteMap.html file to the root directory of the local site. The file is then opened in the Dreamweaver Workspace.
  4. As you add and remove files from your website, you will want to rerun the OrdinaryWebSite command to reflect the changes in your site map page. See Editing the OrdinarySiteMap File for instructions on editing and regenerating the site map.

Editing the OrdinarySiteMap File

The OrdinarySiteMap.html file has two comment tags, <!-- OrdinarySiteMap -->, which break up the file into three sections. The middle section contains the HTML anchor links generated by OSM. Each time the command is executed, the local file system is read and the links are regenerated. The top and bottom sections are not altered by successive executions of the command. You may customize the page in these sections as per standard Dreamweaver and HTML editing.

The format style of the links can be altered through CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). In this case, the CSS is internal, in the head section of the page. Therefore, changes made to the appearance of the links, remains intact after updating the links.

Save and publish the file as required.

Installation

  1. Download OrdinarySiteMap from adobe.com/exchange to a place on your local computer where you will be able to find it, later.
  2. In Dreamweaver, select Help/Manage Extensions. This will launch the Adobe Extension Manager application.
  3. In Extension Manager, select File/Install Extension.
  4. Navigate to the file you just downloaded, OrdinarySM_xxx.mxp.
  5. Select the file and click the Install button.
  6. You are presented with Extension Disclaimer. It is the default text provided by Adobe.

    Note* There is nothing in the OrdinarySiteMap code which transmits to the Internet or tracks the user in any way.

    Accept the Extension Disclaimer.

  7. An alert box will be displayed, indicating that the extension has been installed. Click OK.
  8. Return to the Dreamweaver application. In the Dreamweaver Commands menu, you will now see the OrdinarySiteMap command.

    Installation complete!