Easy footer in 5.0

[JenT]

I was just trying different options on my test page and I discovered this.

Click on pages on the top - then background on the right side. Click on default background - then edit.

Choose element - page list (it is under the navagation) then add.

Select location bottom

Layout - type - tabs

Then add the pages that you would like to link on the bottom of the page.

I hope this is clear - it looks very nice on the preview. I have not published my site with this as of tonight.

[KMAKPres]

That is how I "had" my site set up. It looks good but you can't change any of the html for the links. They seem to default to the SOL page number from the checkout page. Apparently this is because the checkout page is an SOL page for the security and just like the backend the SOL page cannot read the link after you name the pages and remove the store number.

I hope this makes some sense, I will probably look at it in the morning and wonder myself what I am talking about.

Best of luck,

Dan

[SandyCedars]

Jen:

What you describe is exactly how the function is designed to work. It gives you a nice looking page and the content of your "footer navigation" will update automatically if you change the name or address of any of your linked pages.

The down side is it shows your page name exactly as you enter it. This should not be an issue if you are careful in the way you name your pages.

I am not sure I follow Dan's post but the URL should match whatever you have your "Default" address set to. (I say should as you never know when SOL will decide to apply a patch that will blow away a function that has worked flawlessly for months.) :roll: If you have set up the custom URL with your domain name and text address it will be the link used by the items in the page list.

In explanation, the address is created dynamically depending on whether you are in the preview or live site. In the preview it will point to your pages as contained on the SOL secure server. When viewed from the live site the links will point to your "Published" site and whatever URL you use for it. The big advantage here is that you can actually use the page list navigation in your preview site. If you hard code your links with your domain URL, they will only work correctly in your live site.

Hope that helps,

[KMAKPres]

I am not sure I follow Dan's post but the URL should match whatever you have your "Default" address set to.

I will try to clarify. Once you change the page name of your site from the store number to a name, ie remove the number, you can no longer click between pages in the builder, thus when you go to the secure SOL checkout page you are no longer on your website and when you click on a link to go to another page you get an error 503 page not found.

If this isn't any clearer let me know and I will try again.

Dan

[Nor Cal]

JenT

I just tried your suggestion for placing a footer on my site. Works like a charm! But I might add that when I placed it at the bottom like you said to do, it ends up under the copyright element. So I went back in and relocated to center and it is where it is supposed to be. Thak you for ading your instructions for doing this. It really helped.

Cary :lol:

[cbgourmet]

if you use the "layout" check box, you can actually move the footer to just above the copyright notice on the page.

[Als cameras]

Is there an example on this forum of a site that has footers and shows what they can do?

[SandyCedars]

Al:

In answer to your question...
Is there an example on this forum of a site that has footers and shows what they can do? There are many 5.0 sites represented on the Forum with many different kinds of footers being used. Both of the sites in my signature are 5.0 sites and both utilize footers for linking and for the copyright notification.

I am in the process of trying to rebuild and relocate my World Globe Universe site so at some point in the future I anticipate that it will no longer be a valid example of "Footer" use. In the mean time...

I hope that helps,

[Als cameras]

Thanks Larry

[doggypanache]

i have read that this is a good thing to do but...

there is the 'page list' that is built into the template, there is a 'page tree - is that what it is called?', and now there are 'page links' in the footer. that is 3 different locations on each page for navigation. that seems like a lot.

personally i like the tree because with a click you can view the subpages. it seems that only 20 pages can be put in the footer, and that is not enough for me to put all my different product pages if i also put some of the generic pages like contact us, about us, etc.

should only the main category pages and the product pages be in the footer to allow for the generic pages? (ie, 'glamorous dog' page and subpage of 'attire', subpage of 'collars', and subpage of 'stuff'? or should just 'glam dog' be in the footer)? if this is to help with seo, i don't see how the generic pages would help any.

[SandyCedars]

Panache:

I think you will find as many opinions about on site navigation as there are web sites on the web. I tend to lean towards your final observation;
should only the main category pages and the product pages be in the footer to allow for the generic pages? (ie, 'glamorous dog' page and subpage of 'attire', subpage of 'collars', and subpage of 'stuff'? or should just 'glam dog' be in the footer)? if this is to help with seo, i don't see how the generic pages would help any. and provide links to the pages I think customers would expect to find in the footer.

The contact page, the shipping page, the resource directory, the site map, etc. that don't fit easily within the category breakdown. I also include the most popular categories just in case; who knows where the customer may notice the link that takes them to the product they are interested in.

I know from my search results that customers are coming into my site on category pages and individual product pages in addition to the home page. If they come into my site on an individual product page they won't see the nice category listing that shows on my upper level pages as I purposely don't want to distract them while they are on the decision making page. That being said, I do want to give them a path off the individual product page and back into the mainstream of the site.

I see it as all part of the stickiness equation.

Just my 2 cents worth,

[coffee4uandme]

I tried to figure out how everyone were puting the page navigation on the bottom of the pages, Now I know!!
Thanks everyone!
Works Good

[jgvincent]

JenT

I just tried your suggestion for placing a footer on my site. Works like a charm! But I might add that when I placed it at the bottom like you said to do, it ends up under the copyright element. So I went back in and relocated to center and it is where it is supposed to be. Thak you for ading your instructions for doing this. It really helped.

Cary :lol:
Hi, I am trying to understand how to add a "footer" to my site and I seem to be getting more lost. I came across this post and I was wondering if you could help me out?

I would like to know how to add a footer to my site & if you happen to know about how or what is optimizing my site that would be great.

www.babyshowerbaby.com

[KarenMac]

JG

Site optimization is a variety of factors including ease of navigation, good keyword rich text, linked to inner pages, pictures of products also linked up. It should be easy to read, relevant to your products or what your site is about and includes your meta tags, credit card logos, your company name, you phone number, and even footer links

Start at this thread

http://www.onlinemerchantforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4048

http://www.onlinemerchantforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4014

http://www.onlinemerchantforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8109

Start with all of those, at the beginning of the thread and read thru.

Karen

[jgvincent]

I was just trying different options on my test page and I discovered this.

Click on pages on the top - then background on the right side. Click on default background - then edit.

Choose element - page list (it is under the navagation) then add.

Select location bottom

Layout - type - tabs

Then add the pages that you would like to link on the bottom of the page.

I hope this is clear - it looks very nice on the preview. I have not published my site with this as of tonight.

THANK YOU for writing this in terms I can actually understand. I finally got it!!

www.babyshowerbaby.com

[rejoyjoy]

Ok I was reading through these threads for knowledge and put in the footer. Does it matter that it is in the same space as the SOL footer? I mean It looks ok I think. Will somebody please look at my site and give me advice? I am new and have only had a computer for6 months so please don't talk too techy as I won't understand. Thanks a bunch.

[Bethers]

You only want one footer, but you don't want the same links twice - so you need to remove them from whicheve one is giving you the less amount of them.

On a side note - in looking for that, I glanced at your page - you need to really, really check it for typos. I only read the first paragraph (the fun fact) and would have clicked right off - at least 3 typos there - including coffee being misspelled. Spelling and grammar are critical for a successful website.

[GenealogyandHistory]

I was just trying different options on my test page and I discovered this.

Click on pages on the top - then background on the right side. Click on default background - then edit.

Choose element - page list (it is under the navagation) then add.

Select location bottom

Layout - type - tabs

Then add the pages that you would like to link on the bottom of the page.

I hope this is clear - it looks very nice on the preview. I have not published my site with this as of tonight.

This worked great!!! And really was easy. One additional comment - Where one person responding said there was a limit of 20, that limit can be overridden just by highlighting the "20" and typing over it. I now have about 65.

Wonderful tip for 5.0 people. Thank you very much

[john@aspera]

Sweet! worked like a charm...sure beats the text links i had that needed updating everytime i made a change! ...almost ready to publish and review... =}

[mrsbud]

I have a question about footers in 5.0. Previous discussions encouraged HTML footers but it seems that this was particular to 4.0. Are the footers in 5.0 no longer Java? Do we NEED to put in footers other than those that you normally build?

[GenealogyandHistory]

If you build the footers as JenT described in the posting of this thread, publish these changes on your site and then bring up your site in a web browser - then right click and choose view source. When you find the footer code that you just entered near the bottom of the page, you can see that it is in HTML - at least in SOL 5.0. That's what really makes this process JenT described so nice. It seems somewhat easier than the 4.0 process.

[mrsbud]

Thanks! I appreciate all the help on this forum!

[Jasse]

How about instead of a page list you add text....is this possible? Here is what I did: http://www.neckpainreliefkit.com

[cvarr]

If you are talking about what you did in your footer - in my opinion - that is fine.

Connie