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This page documents examples of how SiteSurfer can be deployed. Its purpose is to illustrate different ways to use SiteSurfer, and to demonstrate its benefits.
We are eager to hear any problems you encounter, complaints on the way the product works, and suggestions of how to make SiteSurfer better. Please email support@devtech.com.
If you feel more comfortable discussing an issue in private, please email support@devtech.com. Additional contact information is available at on the DevTech Support page.
This site uses JavaScript to dynamically create a new document window containing the SiteSurfer applet. The reason for creating a document window, instead of just creating an applet window, is that when the page that contains the applet goes away, the applet is told to terminate. So if we simply create the applet from the page containing the JavaScript, as soon as we changed to another page, the applet would vanish. By dynamically creating an HTML document to own the applet, we provide the applet with an independent lifecycle.
One feature of the JavaScript is that if the main browser window does not have a unique name the script assigns one to it (and to the applet window it opens), so that the applet can communicate with the main window uniquely. This permits multiple instances of the browers to each have their own applet communicating with the correct browser window.
One other trick to note is that if the browser is Microsoft Internet Explorer, the script takes advantage of a feature of IE that permits resizable applets if they are given 100% of the window. Otherwise, the applet is given a fixed size, as usual.
The SiteSurfer on-line manual uses SiteSurfer to provide rapid searching on the manual's contents. The frames version of the manual embeds the search applet in a frame of the main documentation window, and launches a separate pop-up window with the results of each search. The fact that the search applet is in a frame both preserves its lifecycle and keeps it handy for use.
Several items to note about this example. First, note that only the search window is presented. The site map and site index are not presented. Secondly, if you look at the documentation HTML, itself, you will find several pages that contain meta tags to prevent them from being indexed, although links found in them are followed. Typically such documents have not content of consequence, simply links to other pages.
Hosted here at devtech.com, this is an example of how you can use SiteSurfer to search a site that does not provide its own searching. The Riverbanks Zoo web site consists of over 300 pages of material, searchable only because of SiteSurfer.
Temporarily demonstrated here at devtech.com, the Sarah Michelle Gellar Fan
Page serves as an example of how a website can be simply and easily indexed
with SiteSurfer. Click on the Sarah Michelle Gellar Fan Site link, above,
to launch SiteSurfer for the Sarah Michelle Gellar Fan Page. This example
uses one form of the JavaScript method of launching SiteSurfer: the one that
leaves this page intact, puts SiteSurfer in its own window, and creates a
new window for the target web site.
We will be posting additional examples on a regular basis. If you would like us to include your own site as SiteSurfer example, please contact us.