The new site and sitemap generator look great Jim but, unfortunately, it is not working for me, I get this message-
16.04.07 22:01:01, Error: Fatal error, cause: jmaster.webtool.model.api.crawler.exception.Crawle rException: Memory low-
I tried increasing the applet runtime memory but there was no change in performance, I still get more than half of my pages as unfindable… any explanation of what this error means &, more importantly, what to do about it will be appreciated.
While I am talking to people who understand computers better than I do I’m going to venture another question: can anyone tell me how to get the favicon (ico) I uploaded to my site’s root folder to work?
thanks,
Paul
As for the fatal error and memory message – can you go into Start, Settings, Control Panel and double click on Java. Then, under the Java Tab, Tell me exactly what you entered for the Java Applet Runtime Settings.
As for the favicon, the automated way is to use this site:
html-kit.com/favicon/
Best regards,
Jim.
Hey,
Thanks for your prompt reply Jim, your site’s a godsend… really- thanks. To answer your question about the Java Applet Runtime Settings I have put a screen shot here- hermanstudios.com/Capture.jpg. Before sending this letter I thought I had better try the generator again but am now getting a pop-up as soon as the window opens that tells me: "Several Java virtual machines running in the same process caused an error".
And if you don’t mind my pushing my luck I’m going to pursue the still unsolved favicon question: (hermanstudios.com/favicon.ico) I went to the site you recommended & added:
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" >
to my Home page as it told me to but still get no results. I tried a couple of other similar though slightly different tags I found on other sites (these last few days) which also failed to work
(this from wikipedia, for example- <link rel="shortcut icon" href="ht tp: //example.com/favicon.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" />)
& even found sites telling me not to add anything, that the browsers would find it on their own- it is so simple I just can’t imagine what I’m doing wrong…
I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve talked before & again I feel guilty taking your valuable advice (not to mention programs) for free. I explained the difficulty I have buying you a cup of chai from here in Thailand but it occurs to me we could make an exchange of what we are each good at, if you are interested in art that is (?) My site: www.HermanStudios.com – a little portrait of you, your wife, kids, the dog, or perhaps my specialty: a nude (no, not of you!). What do you say? If I could ask you for solutions (without feeling guilty) now & then, I’d consider it a bargain.
Sincerely,
Paul
Hi Paul,
Don’t feel guilty – I do what I do because I enjoy helping, I just may not have a fast response
So many things to do, so little time!
The favicon really is that easy. This site I mentioned was something I just googled that looked good.
All you need to do is create your icon (.ico file) and place that file in the root directory (home directory) of your website and it will show up by itself on some browsers.
Create the icon, upload it and you’re done.
As for the many java machines, add that xmx statement to the line under the first one as well. If that does not work, try changing it to 512 and see what happens.
Let me know the results and if you still have a problem, then I’ll try it on my end.
Regards,
Jim.
Well thanks Jim, for putting me at ease I mean. I got rid of the ‘several virtual machines’ pop-up by realizing I had more than one version of Java installed, I uninstalled them all & reinstalled, now the generator will open for me but though I put 512 on both lines as you suggested it is still doing the same inexplicable thing- showing the majority of my pages as unfindable… I have about 3500 links on this site & haven’t gone through them one by one but am confident that few actually fail. I am learning constantly but boy is it a slow process without help!
Best,
Paul
Hello Paul,
I see the problem and they are 404 errors. You have pages that link to other pages on your site that do not exist.
When you are using the webmaster tool, look for the red dots (indicating errors / bad pages) in the status columns and click the red dot once which should highlight the line.
Now, scroll to the right and look for the In-l column on the highlighted row. (there should also be a ‘not found’ in the error column).
See the + in the In-l column? Click it once, and you’ll see all the pages that have a link to the page that does not exist.
For example:
hermanstudios.com/links.html has a link to
hermanstudios.com/www.artquest.com/
but, hermanstudios.com/www.artquest.com/ does not exist.
The problem, and likely the problem of most of your errors, is that you are linking to sites without the http:
In the example above, you are trying to link to artquest.com but instead, you use <a target="_blank" href="www.artquest.com/"> which is incorrect.
It should be <a target="_blank" href="artquest.com/">
Fix those problems and you should be 98% complete!
Best regards,
Jim.
No kidding?! Wow, if that is correct you will have solved a problem that is very old & that I never suspected- I’ll check it out. But I wonder why the generator didn’t used to recognize this lack… I’m going to start reviewing now.
Dear Jim,
I seem to be missing some crucial bit of information that is making it difficult for me to follow your instructions, I’m sorry to be so dim-witted but I just don’t understand… your example, for instance-
For example:
hermanstudios.com/links.html has a link to
hermanstudios.com/www.artquest.com/
but, hermanstudios.com/www.artquest.com/ does not exist.
I cannot find it. Artquest is an external link (not …hermanstudios.com/artquest…) & I cannot find the address you quote. I went through the site with Dreamweaver & simply did a search for ‘www’ looking for any that wasn’t preceded by ‘ht tp: //’ & I found a few, mostly associated with w3.org’s validator but not enough to account for 2630 failed to 911 found which I still get now.
One of the errors I get (chosen at random) is hermanstudios.com/hs%20banner.jpg, when I look at the code of the index page I can find no such reference. Nor should there be, I use that banner on other pages. Help?
No problem, it is an easy mistake and hard to find. The example I provided you before seems to have been fixed? You still have 235 more errors.
Visit hermanstudios.com/quiz%202/renoir.html and then from your browser’s menu (ctrl+u) in Firefox or page, view source in IE, look at the source of the page.
You’ll find a line containing this:
<a href="sculpture.html" target="_self">
There is no page on your website called /quiz%202/sculpture.html, but there is a page off your main directory called hermanstudios.com/sculpture.html – this is what you really wanted.
So, to fix these little items, you should refer to any of your pages with the full address or the forward slash. Here is an example:
Instead of:
<a href="sculpture.html" target="_self">
use:
<a href="/sculpture.html" target="_self">
or:
<a href="hermanstudios.com/sculpture.html" target="_self">
Also, try this:
Visit hermanstudios.com/quiz%202/renoir.html in any browser and click on the home link in your bottom left navigation, notice how it takes you to an error page?
This is because there is not an index.html in the quiz%202 directory. You really wanted people to visit hermanstudios.com/index.html right?
The forward slash would solve this problem.
Regards,
Jim.
Ok, Jim, I’ve got it in theory & that is exciting in itself! I’ve been very busy lately (hence the delay in viewing this help from you) but am going to get on the problem as you describe it today. I must have thoughtlessly copied & pasted the links from somewhere else… Will let you know how it works out, thanks.
I did it, in fact I overdid it & added the full address everywhere I found it missing which was many more than the 235 errors you mention. I can see clearly what you said was true (I did indeed get a 404 error on the links you said I would) & yet I still get 2577 failed to 925 found with your generator…
An example of a failed address I can see clearly the reason for is: hermanstudios.com/PKphotos/PKphotos/59.html this address should have only one ‘PKphotos’ & if I write it that way it does work. So, if you’re not completely bored yet, let me ask you this: how exactly do I find where the link that appears at the far left of the sitemap machine, is?
Thanks in advance for your patience
(note- though you confirmed I uploaded my favicon correctly it still doesn’t load- unlike you this is what I am used to, the machine just refuses to obey me!)
strange- that’s the second time I open this page to find my last post missing, write it again & then find them both!
Hi Paul,
If you think and believe in something hard enough, it will happen. In your case, you are thinking that the computer will work against you and so the computer does just that, does not cooperate
You pointed out a url of:
hermanstudios.com/PKphotos/PKphotos/59.html
and that this url is giving you an error. It is giving you a 404 because it is not real, there is no such file on your server – however, there is:
hermanstudios.com/PKphotos/59.html
I am guessing that somewhere, you are referencing:
a href="./PKphotos/59.html" and I also suspect that it’s in a script that generates these pages or a rewrite, perhaps in your htaccess file?
You’ll want to change that to
a href="../PKphotos/59.html"
or
a href="hermanstudios.com/PKphotos/59.html"
It’s in the dots
– I’m guessing.
Regards,
Jim.
I have been working like an automaton since getting this last message from you. I have no idea where the failed links are. Like the one we talk about above, I have looked to no avail.
I have, however, been adding full addresses to all the images on my pages (hadn’t noticed before that they too are missing forward slashes or full paths- this is Dreamweaver’s fault, right?) & have done over a thousand so far. When I tried again with the sitemap generator to see if I was having any effect I found the ratio of found to failed remains the same. Should I continue?
I made the .htaccess without really understanding it (just following instructions) it says simply- ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.html, what could be wrong with it?
Thanks man, you have the patience of a saint!
P.S. I thought I’d do some of the 300 or so pages that hold enlargements of thumbnails but upon opening a couple in Dreamweaver I see their paths have slashes & dots (i.e.- ‘../portraits/houm3.jpg’) does that mean they’re ok? Are these the dots you were referring to?!!
Hi Paul,
I’ll have to put off an answer until Monday – just wanted you to know.
Regards,
Jim.
Thanks for letting me know, hope you had a good week-end.
Check out my updated video on finding errors in the sitemap – websecurity.mobi/webmaster-tool-sitemap-generator/65-how-generate-xml-sitemap.html
That will show you how I find and correct errors like the ones you have.
Let me know how it goes.
Regards,
Jim.
Hey Jim,
I don’t know what to say, I’m at a loss… I watched your ‘how to use the sitemap generator’ animation & have continued my search for the erroneous links to no effect. I can’t even make my favicon work- the last person in the world without one! I do better work in my studio than in front of this infernal machine! Thanks a lot for your attempts to help me…
Paul
I’m not sure what to tell you. It is in the code. Can you provide me a sample of your code that generates the page? If so, I can take a look and try to help you find the problem.
My time is limited so don’t expect fast responses, but I will do my best.
Regards,
Jim.
Hey Jim,
Well that’s a nice offer & whenever you had a moment I would appreciate it, I mean I will appreciate it as much some time in the future as now! Would it be more efficient to just send you my username & password so you can access any code you like or give the site a general once-over at your own convenience? If you give me an email address I would be happy to pass the information to you…?
Thanks
I hate to enter another’s area – if something happens, my good deed can turn out to be expensive.
I’ll fire off my email address to you, and I don’t plan to make any changes, but you never know when just looking can hurt. I’m covering my bottom here and I doubt that anything would happen, but you never know.
It is up to you – and I can not promise any fast results, if any.
Best regards,
Jim.
Incidentally, after trying one thing & another without success I finally discovered my favicon was visible from other people’s computers- I wiped my history & sure enough there it was! What a pleasure these little successes are!
Nice! I am glad the icon works. Only if everything was so easy (of a solution that is :)
Hey Jim,
I am packing up my life here in Thailand, a very pleasant four years (I would recommend it to anyone!) but will be living in the extremely pretty village of Arcos de la Frontera on Tuesday, kind of sudden but then my moves usually are! If you write to me after that please use my hotmail address- peherman@hotmail.com, in the meantime I will continue to check this site occasionally.
All the best & we’ll talk when we talk,
Paul
You are a very peripatetic person Paul – I hope your move finds you surrounded by good people and good fortune!
Best regards,
Jim.