| Author | Messages | |
eureka
Posts:91
| | 02/26/2007 8:16 PM |
| Hi John
I have recently purchased Snapsis.Pageblaster and it appears to be a very powerful module, I have installed it into my website, but as yet I have not created any rules. I am a little uncertain and I would like to ask some basic questions first, if I may.
When configuring Snapsis.Pageblaster, I understand that I need to set individual rules for every page in my website. such as: exclusion path, virtual path, cache setting, and replacement rules. Will Pageblaster give me possible options or suggestions for each page, or will I need to set all rules myself? The rules initially seem quite complicated, but I am sure, once I have a better understanding and have set some for a few pages, I will be ok. However, in the mean time how can I be sure that the rules that I set, will be right for each page? Also how will I know if I am harnessing the full power of Pageblaster or missing vital features because I may not have configured it to work to it's full potential?
Do your have links to working PageBlaster configuration examples and associated websites/pages?
When using the Pageblaster.Replacement it is necessary to have an understanding/knowledge of RegEx ( http://www.regular-expressions.info/ ) it looks quite scary.
Cache Settings: Can you please give an example of a typical cache setting for a page also is it best to set to memory or disk?
Please give an example of what page might be excluded from caching, compression or replacement rules and why?
Sorry to bombard you with so many questons, I have a web site with hundreds of pages and more to come and it will take me some time to set them for each page therefore, I would like to set them correctly first time.
Thanks
Lynn | |
www.drivewaydesign.eu For A Dream Driveway
www.a2zdom.com Domain name matters
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| John Mitchell
Posts:3084
| | 02/27/2007 1:31 PM |
| Ok, these are good questions. Let me see if I can clear up a few, and before I dive into that let me just say that the module can be used for some complex tasks, but it can also work very well on the simple ones. The hard part is presenting an interface and documentation that allows both  .
First off, it is not a requirement to add the module to any of your pages. The global config file in the root of your website will apply to all pages, and is how the free version works. However, if you want to override some of those settings on a page by page basis then you would add a PageBlaster module to the page. You'll also need a module on a page if you want to give it a virtual path.
One way you can think of the PageBlaster module on a page is like it is an extension to the Page Settings for the page.
If you want an automatic naming scheme for better friendly Urls then you can use the Inventua HrefExchanger, or Ventrian's Human Friendly Urls. They will both work right along side PageBlaster. The virtual path setting in PageBlaster can then be useful for those cases where you want direct control over the Url.
For cache settings, you should not need to modify the defaults since the module will refresh the cache anytime a post is made to a specific page. But if you wanted to update your pages through some other means e.g directly in the Database then you may want to change the cache intervals to be more inline with when those changes happen. Also rememeber that by default only users who are not authenticated on your site will recieve a cached page. So, if you want to change the time intervals for caching on specific pages then that option is there, but you may not need it.
Caching to memory with the disk as backup is the best. That way when your application restarts, your pages can still be served from the disk, just as if they were static html pages.
Now, for Replacement Rules. Yes, Regular Expressions can be very intimidating, but you don't need to use all the power of a regular expression if you just want to do a simple replacement. If you ever need help with a regular expression then let me know, it's almost like a hobby to me, not unlike the way some people enjoy a good crossword puzzle. Anyway, if you just wanted to copy some text out of your page and paste it in the SearchFor field, then just type in what you wanted to replace it with in the ReplaceWith field then it should work. The only time it may not is if you have some regex special characters in your search.
ExcludePaths are there to facilitate turning off a function of PageBlaster when it may cause adverse affects. This can happen in Ajax applications, RSS, or when Javascript is loaded inline with the page. The thing to remember here is that it doesn't need to be fixed unless it is broke. And if it is broke because of PageBlaster then you may need to exclude it. I'm working on ways to make this exclusion process even more invisible to administrators, but right now the default exclusions in the global config handle most of the cases.
Feel free to ask more questions on this thread, I think I'll move this into a different area or pin it because I am sure that many others have these same questions.
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