Mystified why site won't permit offline browsing
[If this post rightly belongs elsewhere then move it, but I don't see a more apt location 'sorry.]
I am mystified why the site I am working on, babala.org, won't permit any browser ('tried 3) to render its content from cache in Offline mode. I don't see anything in the HTML, and I don't know much about how or if any server-side PHP scripting could be affecting it. I do know that a recently-placed sitemap.xml file in the root directory of the domain CAN be successfully rendered from browser cache alone, so I figure that excludes any Apache configuration setting from being the fault. The remainder of the site is generated with much PHP, through the freeware system Mambo v4.5.2, yet even therein I see not a single configuration parameter that appears to govern this behavior. Something is keying the browsers to refrain from rendering content unless live server contact is active and I am downright mystified how to alter that. Does anyone here know the answer?
Many many thanks for your assistance!
Busy posted this at 11:38 — 21st September 2005.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
all your paths are full paths, ie you use the http://... instead of just the folder/name which would normally be cached - images, css file, pop ups and links, no xml file is linked within the html, maybe linked through the php?
Also your mod_rewrite wouldn't work offline so none of your links wont work, and in some browsers your links wont work as you have no gap between target="_blank"href="...
eastlobe posted this at 12:16 — 21st September 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
THANK you! I/we really appreciate the help! I am passing this along to my boss in Czech Republic. Me, I don't understand it completely and there's that confusing double negative, "..so none of your links won't work". Of course the issue of space missing between target and href parameters in our (what we call) 'voting buttons panel' is perfectly clear and we thank you for pointing it out.
So, you're saying that absolute links, like in our navigation pane system, will cause a browser to suppress caching? Hmmm...
'more later hopefully
:blockhead
eastlobe posted this at 16:05 — 21st September 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
You can't arrive at the site's Front Page with a relative link, and yet it isn't made available from browser cache either. I've heard tell of this legendary 'mod rewrite' and whatever it is, yea it wouldn't 'work' when in Offline mode, but that's the whole point of browser cache is that nothing server-side need 'work' in order to get a rendering. There goes those explanations (by my reckoning).
Busy posted this at 22:16 — 21st September 2005.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
Ok, you know best ... but
When you try view a page off line, it will try go online every time because you use the absolute path. It will not even look in the cache because you have the absolute path. Not all browsers are like download programs that suck the pages off the net and change absolute to relative.
mod_rewrite wont work in off line mode, nor will it find index.php/content/view/6/11/lang,iso-8859-1/ as it can start looking for folders rather than files, and you can not store a folder in a file. use rewrite correctly and you wouldn't have this issue: using a file name is a complete waste of time, should be content/view/6/11/lang,iso-8859-1/ the index shouldn't even be needed, if it is then it should just be index/
use a base href and you wont need to use absolute links
There goes your excuses (by my reckoning)
eastlobe posted this at 02:10 — 22nd September 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
Again thanks! I've passed this on to the master administrator who might comprehend such matters better than me.
eastlobe posted this at 17:29 — 2nd October 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
I finally heard back from the master site administrator. In his broken English he seems to be saying that mod_rewrite is completely commented out of his user settings file, htaccess; but that the Mambo (content mgmt) system v4.5.2 has superceded this, via PHP, with its own mod_rewrite setting. Perhaps we could ask this forum's members if they can kindly offer any more concrete instructions, or the boss will struggle to figure it and, are any further 'exhibits' wanted to here present? His words:
[indent]Mod_rewrite is some apache module, that update
link somesthing.php?id=12&lang=2 to somesthing.php/id,12/lang,2.
If text "mod_rewrite" is in apache configuratin file or if it is
enabled htaccess (users apache setings) and mod_rewrite is in
.htaccess file. I haven't set this.(mod_rewrite is comented) But
php make a same work as would make mod_rewrite module.
I will try find more about off-line problems.
Pavel
[/indent]
thnx
eastlobe posted this at 17:34 — 2nd October 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
.. and can anyone here figure this out as being related to how come the pretty well-developed commercial app "CoffeeCup SiteMapper" is unable to spider the babala.org site? Yes, even by CoffeeCup's own admission, it cannot. Maybe Google cannot either, for they've never indexed us, period.
eastlobe posted this at 09:41 — 18th October 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
Don't give up on this thread. Our site babala.org cannot be spidered, and Google cannot index it, and browsers cannot cache it.
How exactly could it be changed to (as Busy says) eliminate the "index.php" filename. What are the necessary steps?
eastlobe posted this at 16:17 — 25th October 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
I've now shifted this enigma to the back alley heap. It's not a happenin'. As was just suggested by Busy, it may take quite a bit of work. I did inquire of the guy on site in CzechRep. and he claims that he did attempt to configure mod rewrite so that URLs would go right to the slash qualifier specs after the domain name, and "index.php" would disappear. But he says he met with "some bug" that prevented his success at that. There's a language barrier and distance barrier and the Guy is very very busy and has many other priorities, including family, and for the sake of a freeware site, no, this is as far as it goes. Hey, but thanks for the leg up!
Busy posted this at 21:47 — 18th October 2005.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
take mod rewrite off (may require a bit of work) and test it that way, if it works then it proves your current rewrite style is at fault (the fact index.php is before the folder names as spiders would read it)
eastlobe posted this at 02:48 — 19th October 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
Many thanks!
demonhale posted this at 16:26 — 25th October 2005.
He has: 3,278 posts
Joined: May 2005
at least your on yahoo, so I guess the problem that google doesnt like your site, or maybe your banned or something, cared to check on that? Next since your using mambo, I guess I read somewhere in their panel to prevent SEO or something like that, theres a bunch of options on the panel that can deny a robot to access it (there is im sure ive seen the panel) just look for it exactly coz maybe thats it...
eastlobe posted this at 17:55 — 25th October 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
No, look at our page source: robots are expressly welcomed.
Banned by Google? far-fetched.. check on it? no way how.. though I read something somewhere about google disdaining certain Web 'neighborhoods' .. what's a nerd to know anyway? they also claimed they refuse to index sites with URLs containing "&id=" -- yeah! ..and we used to have those and changed to SEF style and resubmitted but ..nothing. CoffeeCup can't spider it. Browsers can't cache it. Google is blind to it. babala.org
demonhale posted this at 18:04 — 25th October 2005.
He has: 3,278 posts
Joined: May 2005
Maybe theirs a solution for you here at this link,
http://www.mambers.com/printthread.php?t=4510
or join their forums and mostly they discuss about mambo
eastlobe posted this at 22:09 — 25th October 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
Thanks demonhale, that's a splendid referral! (may I call you demonhole? it flips more twigs)
eastlobe posted this at 21:06 — 9th December 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
I'd like to get back to this issue, now that I've gotten hold of a copy of our site's htaccess.txt, if that might help.. here are the operative lines from it:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*) index.php
To recap: over 6 long months, Google has not indexed our site at all, even though we've submitted it and provided a sitemap.xml. I am NOT moaning about our Google search results position mind you; a search for "site:www.babala.org" at Google results in "no information available" message! [Note: other search engines picked up on our site readily, early on.] I fear that google has trouble spidering our site, just as the commercial software "CoffeeCup Sitemapper" is UNable to spider our site for some reason (confirmed by a tech of their's). The foregoing is a concern, but also a concern, and the topic of this thread, is that NONE of the common browsers can cache the pages of our site, for some reason... they just plain refuse to render any part of the site from cache memory, when in Offline mode.
I can't talk at length with the main site admin about all this because he's already tried his damndest to correct what's wrong, and he's horribly busy; and distant. Our site is concocted using Mambo (4.5.2), and it's rigged to employ SEF URLs supposedly. Visit babala.org and see if your browser caches it correctly and can render it later from memory alone. 'Not likely.
I just thought that my having finally gotten hold of the htaccess.txt might provide a new clue, to those of you who are extremely knowledgeable. I have full FTP access to the site now, and if there's other stuff there that would help to solve this mystery, I'll fetch it for posting here.
Thanks again! And special thanks to Busy for trying pretty hard to get across to me.
BTW: try the free game.. it'll have you tearing your hair out
eastlobe posted this at 16:52 — 15th December 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
Again I want to thank everyone. I don't know the why, but all of a sudden, yesterday or the day before, site:babala.org is now successfully indexed and appearing in Google searches. Great!
demonhale posted this at 00:42 — 26th October 2005.
He has: 3,278 posts
Joined: May 2005
I prefer demonhale its less vulgar... LOL
chrishirst posted this at 19:29 — 15th December 2005.
He has: 379 posts
Joined: Apr 2005
Is it less than a year old ?
eastlobe posted this at 21:07 — 20th December 2005.
They have: 14 posts
Joined: Sep 2005
Ok, it's all figured out now, ie. only the issue of non-indexing by Google but indexing by all others! Google is smart, and it studies the 'pattern' of source file mod dates over a period and makes its own determinationn if the site is substantially still "under construction"! If so it holds off. Way back when I started this thread, and until about 3.6 weeks ago, I was meddling at the site near continually, hah!
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