Page Sizes Section

Overview

The Page Sizes section includes options that control the number of items written to a single web page. These options help manage the size of the generated HTML pages.

Smaller numbers mean more pages, whereas larger numbers mean longer pages. Short pages are desirable because they load quickly, but it can be difficult to manage a site with hundreds or thousands of pages. Long pages take more time to load than short pages, but it's easier to manage a site with fewer pages.

It's a trade-off, and there is no single right answer. If you have a lot of data for most of the people in your database, or if you have a lot of pictures, you should probably set People per Page to a low number.

People per Page

People per Page controls the number of person entries written to a people page. The default is 30.

If you change this value after publishing your site online, the URLs for people on the site will change even if Static Page Assignments is checked. So, after publishing a site, avoid changing this value.

Set Page Title to Person's Name

The Set Page Title to Person's Name checkbox is enabled when People per Page is set to "1". When checked, Second Site will set the person page title to the primary name of the one and only person on the page. When unchecked, the page title will follow the usual person page title convention: the phrase "Person Page" followed by a page number. The default is checked.

One Person Script

The One Person Script checkbox is enabled when People per Page is set to a number greater than 1. When checked, Second Site will add a script to person pages to hide all person page entries except the current person. This makes the site operate similarly to a site configured for one person per page, but with fewer actual pages and thus less overhead. The default is unchecked.

The script detects when a link to a person page includes a target for a specific person, such as a link from a name index or from another person page entry. In that case, it hides the other people on the page.

Previous Page and Next Page links are optional on Person Pages. When you use the One Person script, it's best to omit the Previous Page and Next Page links.

Limitations

Search engines don't keep track of where on a page the matching text appeared, and so they don't include targets in their results, i.e., they link to a page, but not to a specific person on the page. When the page is loading, the One Person script sees that there is no target, and with no specific person to show, it leaves everyone visible. If the visitor clicks a link to a particular person, the page will switch to the single person view.

If a visitor who has Javascript disabled visits a site that uses the One Person script, the site will appear like a regular, multi-person-per-page site.

Despite these limitations, the One Person script provides most of the benefit of a one-person-per-page site, but with far less overhead. For large sites, one-person-per-page may not be feasible, but using the One Person script is.

Person Page Sequence

The Person Page Sequence pulldown menu controls the sequence of people on the person pages. The choices are By TMG ID, By Surname, By Reference Field, By Birth Date, and By Death Date. The default is By TMG ID.

Static Page Assignments

The Static Page Assignments checkbox controls whether people are assigned to a particular page number or to the next available page. When checked, which is the default, people are assigned to a person page according to their TMG ID. If People per Page is 50, TMG IDs 1 to 50 are on page 1, 51 to 100 on page 2, etc.

When unchecked, people are added to a page until the People per Page limit is reached.

Note The Static Page Assignments option is only available when Person Page Sequence is set to By TMG ID.

With Person Page Sequence set to By TMG ID, and Static Page Assignments checked, which are the default values, URLs for people will stay static, i.e., they will not change when you update the site. If you choose some other combination, your search engine results may be confusing to visitors. I urge you to enable Static Page Assignments for all the sites you publish on the web.

When Static Page Assignments is checked, some person pages may have only a few people on them, while others may be full. Also, some page numbers may be skipped entirely if there are no included people in the proper range of TMG IDs. This is normal.

Use Person Page Groups

When Use Person Page Groups is checked, Second Site writes person page files into subfolders. This makes the Output (-o) folder less cluttered and, for large sites, avoids problems where too many files are located in a single folder. The default is unchecked.

When this feature is enabled, Second Site adjusts local links to and from person pages. So, for example, if you create a relative link via a memo in a TMG event, specify the URL as if the person page was in the main Output (-o) folder, not in a subfolder. Second Site will adjust the link if necessary.

Person Pages per Group

Person Pages per Group controls the number of person pages in a Person Page Group. The default is 1000.

It is best to leave this property set to the default value. You can reduce the number of Person Page Group folders by increasing the number of pages per folder, but this is rarely necessary.

Names per Index Page

Names per Index Page controls the number of names written to an index page. The default is 400.

Name Index Reserve

Name Index Reserve controls the minimum number of name slots that must be available for Second Site to start a new surname on an index page. Second Site will not start a new surname on the current index page unless there are at least as many slots available as set by the Name Index Reserve property. The intent is to keep surnames with only a few names on one index page. The default is 20.

Name Index Surname Repeat

Name Index Surname Repeat specifies the number of names with the same surname that will be listed in the index before the surname is repeated. The default is 25.

Sources per Page

Sources per Page controls the number of source footnotes written to a source page. The default is 50.

Names per Place Index Page

Names per Place Index Page controls the number of names written to a place index page. The default is 600.

Place Index Reserve

Place Index Reserve controls the minimum number of name slots that must be available for Second Site to start a new place on a place index page. Second Site will not start a new place on the current place index page unless there are at least as many slots available as set by the Place Index Reserve property. The intent is to keep places with only a few names on one index page. The default is 200.