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[giftshops]

Hello, I'm new to the forum ...

Our company currently has the Shopsite 8.3 version (we will soon be upgrading!)
Wanted to know if when we upgrade to the 10.0 will Shopsite be able to create breadcrumb navigation for us?

Thanks for any input!

Lisa

[ShopSite Lauren]

Lisa, if you are upgrading you will want to make sure that you upgrade to the current version, ShopSite just released version 11. To answer your question with breadcrumbs, some built in ShopSite templates display breadcrumbs based on what products are assigned to which pages. It does not create breadcrumbs on how the customer ACTUALLY got to the page (if they got their some other way) but instead 'guesses' the pathway based on how you as the merchant have linked things. If you are using custom templates you would need to add this in. More information on how to add a basic breadcrumb feature can be found at the following URL:
http://www.shopsite.com/templates/cookbook/tips-breadcrumbs.shtml

[rexkat]

Hi Lauren,

Could you identify the built in templates that include the linking feature for breadcrumbs in ShopSite 11?

Thank you.

[ShopSite Lauren]

These templates will display the breadcrumbs by default:
Wallpaper
Fade
Slate with Accent
Spotlight
Swish on White
Swish on Black
Leaf
Dots
Thick Border
Leaf

These templates will display the breadcrumbs if you change an include file to say to display breadcrumbs:
Line Sections
Bar Navigation
Business Casual
Solid Block
Drill Down

I could be wrong on some of these templates (put them in the wrong set above) or I may have missed some. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Below is a link to provide information on how to add this functionality to a custom template (or if you copy a ShopSite template).
http://www.shopsite.com/templates/cookbook/tips-breadcrumbs.shtml

[rexkat]

Hi Lauren,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I am using custom templates with the tip you indicated on my moreInfo pages, but a javascript with hardcoded pages for the rest of my pages. I was hoping that I could use a built in solution so that I wouldn't have to maintain the page list any longer. Do you know which template I could take a look at by copying a ShopSite template under Merchadising > Custom Templates > Pages?

Katrina

[ShopSite Lauren]

Katrina, there isn't a built in solution. ShopSite creates static HTML pages, and multiple category pages could link to the same product more information page, so without adding dynamic coding (JavaScript or PHP or something along those lines) there isn't a way to have exact breadcrumbs. The built in themes in ShopSite that are using breadcrumbs are using the solution that is highlighted on the cookbook page. I have seen merchants add in additional page categories, for if they have:

Home > Parent Category > Sub Category > Product Name.

But with the ShopSite built-in themes (and the cookbook page), the breadcrumbs are setup with up to 3 links (shown below). This is good for search engines, and it is good for customers to get back to a category page of similar products. The only down side is on those occasions where a customer got to a product page via a different route than the one displayed on the product more information page, and they use the breadcrumb feature to get back. It is my experience, that when using the breadcrumb feature, returning to the category page, even if it is not the exact category page that I started from, is still good for the customer because it likely still has similar products (they are all on a category page together).

Home > Category > Product Name.

Sorry I don't have a better answer for you . For breadcrumbs, the method outlined in the cookbook is the same method used in some of the built in templates. When deciding on breadcrumbs I say a defaulted "use them" even if you have products that will be listed in multiple categories.

[rexkat]

Hi Lauren,

Thanks for getting back to me. I agree that breadcrumbs are important. But it seams that with this solution, I can only get the three levels on moreInfo pages and not on actual pages, unless I'm missing something. It seems like you only get HOME > PAGE NAME for the page templates. I think I can figure out a workaround using a custom field page. I don't have that many category pages on the new site I'm working on.

Thanks so much for your help.

Katrina

[ShopSite Lauren]

Katrina, yes, some merchants will use one of the extra page fields to include a 4th (on product pages and a 3rd on category pages) level of bread crumbs. In these cases, I would suggest adding the parent category link to all the sub category pages' extra page field. If you make the page field a VAR tag then you can also use this on the more information pages.

[rexkat]

Ah. Very good. Thanks for your help!