Domains Editor

Configuring the Valet Spider

The Domains Editor window serves to configure what sites will be monitored by Site Valet. It displays a list of sites monitored and provides an editor to update them.

[screenshot: Domains Editor]

Sites List/Definitions

The sites list shows four fields that specify a site.

Base
For the purposes of Valet, a site is defined by a base URL. All URLs that match the base are considered to be within the site, while others are outside it. A site is often, but not always, equivalent to a domain or server name.
Start
The Start URL is used to 'seed' the spider, which will fetch first that URL, then recursively fetch every URL linked from it. The Start URL is also appended to the browse menu in the master/login window. Setting the same value for Start and Base will generally work well, but sometimes another page such as a site map may be preferable.
Email
Email address for the person responsible for a site - e.g. webmaster. Site reports (if specified) will be mailed to this address.
Interval
Reporting Interval. There are two ways to specify this: the mimimum number of days between reports, and days of the week on which reports may be sent. A report will be emailed if and only if both the following conditions are met:
  • The number of days since the previous report is not less than specified in this form
  • Reports are enabled for the day of the week
Thus disabling all days of the week will prevent any email reports being sent.

The Sites Editor

The site editor form, above the sites list, enables you to add new sites, delete old ones, or update details of existing sites.

Adding a new site entry

To enable spidering a site, enter the Base and Start URLs, the maintainer email and the reporting schedule you require. Now click the Add button, and the new entry will be added to the current list.

Note that the first report may be incomplete if the spider has not had time to index the site. Unless you specify a high report frequency (more than one per week), it is a good idea not to request a first report immediately. The highest reporting frequency you can select is daily.

Deleting a site entry

To disable spidering a site, select it in the current list. It will now be shown in the editor form. Click the Delete button to disable it.

Changing a site entry

To change a a site entry, select it in the current list. It will now be shown in the editor form. You can now make your changes, and when you click the Add button, the selected entry will be replaced by your updated entry.

Save and Quit

A Save button is provided to save your edits. If you try to Quit this editor window while you have unsaved edits, you will be prompted to confirm exit. Confirmation options are Save and Exit, Exit without saving, or Cancel.