Pages like 0,3051,40165,00.html mean

[SM777]

I see a lot of sites that have pages with meaningless numbers for the page names. I guess this is content created on the fly or something.

Is there an application that does this automatically?

Why all the commas?

 

[BobbaFet]

Well you probally mean like on

http://www.download.com/.

These are pages generated by an application, when new pages
are needed. All they have is a template, and when a new page
is needed, the application fills in the template and then
gives the new document a name. This name needs to be unique,
otherwise it will keep override other files (I'm now talking
as a Delphi programmer ok). So what it probally does is multiply the date and time by a random number varying from
say 1 to a 1000. The file names dont mean anything at all.

I hope this answers your question,
BobbaFet

Everyone has a right to my opinion.
E-mail me at caswegkamp@hotmail.com

http://cwcon.50megs.com/

 

[Wullie]

Hi guys,

Are commas valid syntax in a url? I know that they work, just never seen them used and never thought to use them myself..

BTW. I might be wrong, but I don't think that download.com use commas in their url's..

Hope this helps Wullie

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

http://www.searchit-now.co.uk

http://www.survivorhelp.co.uk

 

[BobbaFet]

Hey wullie,

download.com use - instead of , but the idea is the same. BobbaFet

Everyone has a right to my opinion.
E-mail me at caswegkamp@hotmail.com

http://cwcon.50megs.com/

 

[MikeT]

So if I bookmarked a page at download.com, would it work 3 days later?

 

[Wullie]

Hi Mike,

I actually thought of that too..

If that was the case then surely the link would be out of date a minute or so after you posted it.. Wullie

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

http://www.searchit-now.co.uk

http://www.survivorhelp.co.uk

 

[BobbaFet]

No the app just lets them sit there. You can bookmark those
pages. It's for when extra pages are made when users for
example enter a new application. The application is itself
(normally) doesnt delete the generated pages. BobbaFet

Everyone has a right to my opinion.
E-mail me at caswegkamp@hotmail.com

http://cwcon.50megs.com/

 

[MikeT]

What kind of application would do these things?

 

[BobbaFet]

I dont remember what they are called, but you could ask at

http://www.download.com,

they use one for sure. BobbaFet

Everyone has a right to my opinion.
E-mail me at caswegkamp@hotmail.com

http://cwcon.50megs.com/

 

[katamann]

Is it not usually for these kind of pages to be generated on the fly from the parameters that's passed on to the server-side from the url, and thus regenerated if you bookmark and visit it later?

e.g.

http://somedomain.com/search.php?query=freeware

Would pass the variable search with the value 'freeware' to the php engine.

-Katamann

 

[SearchWebMgt]

Our sites have commas in all the URLs (see poll URL below for an example). I do believe that the commas are a feature of many content management applications used by more complex Websites. These pages are generated when new content is entered in the application, and stay around until someone deletes them. Sometimes, the gobbledygook in the file names does actually mean something...there may be specific id numbers and codes within these types of URLs that make the content show up in the right spot within the site.

Search results from pages like Download.com and other search boxes are different though. In those cases, the URLs usually are containing search variables like Katamann said, and visiting the page later would cause the search to be performed again and you'd potentially get updated results since the last time you visited. Bookmarking those is a great tactic for if you're do regular subject-specific searches...as I frequently do.

Hope this helps! --K. Danielsson, asst. editor
Our Apache Poll:

http://searchwebmanagement.techtarget.com/poll/1,289525,sid27,00.html