Re: Client-side Image Maps and WebCat?
This WebDNA talk-list message is from 1998
It keeps the original formatting.
numero = 20895
interpreted = N
texte = >In what way have I veered off the tried and true?You've apparently designed a site that makes your visitors look at images first, then they must select individual items from what they see in those images. Ahh, but your images are not individual items, they are groups of items, so this means you also need to give your visitors a method for choosing an individual item from the group. THis is different from most webcat sites.Most webcat sites do not begin with grouped images, or even individual images. Instead they begin with pre-programmed hyperlinks, such as Show All New Items Added This Week or Show All Women's Dresses. These hyperlinks make it quick and easy for visitors to retrieve exactly the data they seek, without waiting for huge graphics to download before they can get started with their shopping experience.Many sites also offer a search form which allows the visitor to enter keywords or select from popup menus to help them define exactly what they seek, then webcat retrieves all the matching items from the database. Only after the visitor has retrieved a list of items he/she is interested in will the common everyday webcat site begin to display images of the items for sale -- and whenthose images are displayed, they are generally displayed on the 'detail.tpl' page, so the buyer can see photos of the individual item he/she is interested in.>Are a series of templates required for WebCat to function?Yes! The webdna code that makes webcatalog work is written into those templates, so every task webcat performs *must* be coded into those templates. >Does it care if it has many pages rather than 7?No. It's just that the most common method of using a database to power your store is that you don't have to create thousands of static pages -- instead you use ONE webcat template for the results.tpl page, which lists all the matching items retrieved in a search, and them another template for the 'detali.tpl' page which displays specific data from individual items in the database, depending on the item the visitor selects from the results.tpl page. >I can see where less is >better as far as maintaining a site is concerned but to do what I want >visually I'll need to strive for a happy medium (as far as number of >pages is concerned). So you need to keep your grouped graphic images, which means instead of having the more common SINGLE 'results'tpl' pages, you will have several grouped image pages instead. >Are multimedia effects possible?Yes, multimedia is just another type of fiel served by a program other than webcat, so there's no problem with multimedia. >I want to take advantage of what WebCat offers but I'm unsure at this >point as to how to modify to make that happen. > >My limitation is that I have a large amount of product that is displayed >by multiple product on one graphic. Very pretty graphics at that. So >using those is a must on this end.So it looks like you need to keep every one of those graphic pages, then you need to change the image map URLs for those pages so they include the proper webdna code. Or you need to put links on those pages that go to the webcat 'detail.tpl' page. >To me the easiest way that I saw to make my page functional was to put >a real cute add to cart button next to the product which then turns >the image into a client-side image map. Now I have software that enables >me to do this. So I figure I'm in business . . . I'd just type in an >address to WebCat . . .Have you tried it? I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work, provided you enter the proper URLs for each item in the grouped images ... >I can present an add to cart option in a different manner. >Should I make a list of product at the bottom of each page with add to >cart buttons next to each.That's one easy way to do it, especially if you cannot get your image map technique to work. >Then WebCat wouldn't be working with the >graphic via the image-map so WebCat could work with one product at a >time. Would this be a more viable layout?No, it's just a 'different' approach, that's all. There's always several ways to do things with webcat, you just have to use the technique that works best for you ... :)Sincerely, Ken Grome 808-737-6499 WebDNA Solutions mailto:ken@webdna.net http://www.webdna.net
Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:
>In what way have I veered off the tried and true?You've apparently designed a site that makes your visitors look at images first, then they must select individual items from what they see in those images. Ahh, but your images are not individual items, they are groups of items, so this means you also need to give your visitors a method for choosing an individual item from the group. THis is different from most webcat sites.Most webcat sites do not begin with grouped images, or even individual images. Instead they begin with pre-programmed hyperlinks, such as Show All New Items Added This Week or Show All Women's Dresses. These hyperlinks make it quick and easy for visitors to retrieve exactly the data they seek, without waiting for huge graphics to download before they can get started with their shopping experience.Many sites also offer a search form which allows the visitor to enter keywords or select from popup menus to help them define exactly what they seek, then webcat retrieves all the matching items from the database. Only after the visitor has retrieved a list of items he/she is interested in will the common everyday webcat site begin to display images of the items for sale -- and whenthose images are displayed, they are generally displayed on the 'detail.tpl' page, so the buyer can see photos of the individual item he/she is interested in.>Are a series of templates required for WebCat to function?Yes! The webdna code that makes webcatalog work is written into those templates, so every task webcat performs *must* be coded into those templates. >Does it care if it has many pages rather than 7?No. It's just that the most common method of using a database to power your store is that you don't have to create thousands of static pages -- instead you use ONE webcat template for the results.tpl page, which lists all the matching items retrieved in a search, and them another template for the 'detali.tpl' page which displays specific data from individual items in the database, depending on the item the visitor selects from the results.tpl page. >I can see where less is >better as far as maintaining a site is concerned but to do what I want >visually I'll need to strive for a happy medium (as far as number of >pages is concerned). So you need to keep your grouped graphic images, which means instead of having the more common SINGLE 'results'tpl' pages, you will have several grouped image pages instead. >Are multimedia effects possible?Yes, multimedia is just another type of fiel served by a program other than webcat, so there's no problem with multimedia. >I want to take advantage of what WebCat offers but I'm unsure at this >point as to how to modify to make that happen. > >My limitation is that I have a large amount of product that is displayed >by multiple product on one graphic. Very pretty graphics at that. So >using those is a must on this end.So it looks like you need to keep every one of those graphic pages, then you need to change the image map URLs for those pages so they include the proper webdna code. Or you need to put links on those pages that go to the webcat 'detail.tpl' page. >To me the easiest way that I saw to make my page functional was to put >a real cute add to cart button next to the product which then turns >the image into a client-side image map. Now I have software that enables >me to do this. So I figure I'm in business . . . I'd just type in an >address to WebCat . . .Have you tried it? I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work, provided you enter the proper URLs for each item in the grouped images ... >I can present an add to cart option in a different manner. >Should I make a list of product at the bottom of each page with add to >cart buttons next to each.That's one easy way to do it, especially if you cannot get your image map technique to work. >Then WebCat wouldn't be working with the >graphic via the image-map so WebCat could work with one product at a >time. Would this be a more viable layout?No, it's just a 'different' approach, that's all. There's always several ways to do things with webcat, you just have to use the technique that works best for you ... :)Sincerely, Ken Grome 808-737-6499 WebDNA Solutions mailto:ken@webdna.net http://www.webdna.net
Kenneth Grome
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