Links not picked up by sitemap

[copealan]

Hi,
I have recently completed a website that uses Javascript code for multiple pop up menus which allow users to navigate through the site. When I build a sitemap it is only my homepage that shows. Do sitemaps generally not pick up links within Javascript code?

I am wary about using hidden links as I believe that Google etc penalise you for doing this. Any way round this to allow a site map to be built.

Thanks

[djr33]

If you are trying to boost your stats, then tricking google is a bad idea.

However, it isn't a bad idea to have a backup to javascript links. Some visitors might not have javascript enabled, and search engines don't generally work with JS, either.

I don't know the design of your site, but I'll just link to one of my sites as a simple example: http://thebrb.com

There is a flash navigation menu, and a javascript that detects if you have flash, then an html only page. But rather than account for all possible browsers and situations, I added some text links at the bottom, so it would work for anyone. In fact, it would even work for a text only browser.

I would suggest something similar, in a small font at the bottom of your page. If done right it shouldn't affect your design too much.

Actually using hidden links is probably a bad idea, though you could have them visible then hide them if javascript is enabled, which probably wouldn't affect google much. Though, I'm not too certain of how google treats such situations, so I can't guarantee this.

[copealan]

No trickery intended. I'm just quite new in the web design field but hopefully learning quickly. I was doing a website for a small bed and breakfast accommodation and thought that pop up menu looked quite good and kept the page nice and compact so I got a piece of javascript code from the Code Tools site which worked very nicely. I only realised an issue when I tried to generate a sitemap and only had my home page listed.

I like the idea of the text links at the page footer. It should satisfy all parties. Thanks very much for the help. I'm sure I'll be back.