Replace Record Number [num] with another field
4 posts by 2 authors in: Forums > CMS Builder
Last Post: December 21, 2012 (RSS)
By sidcam - December 13, 2012
That means the default search/display field Record Number [num] changes daily for each record. This is creating problems for bookmarking records, searching, etc. It's also becoming a very long number as the field grows by 15k+ every day.
How do I change it so one of my own (constant) numbered fields (i.e. the property's MLS number) is used at the end of the URL for finding/searching instead of num? I'll also be using the property's address in the title before it for SEO reasons.
Thanks
Sid
Have you got allowSearch set to true in your getRecords function on your details page? I would change the getRecords function so that it doesn't use a where statement and has allowSearch set to true. Then change your URL's to your details page so they find the unique value in your constant field:
detailPageFile.php?your_own_constant_field=32&title_goes_hereYou can read more on other options here:
http://www.interactivetools.com/docs/cmsbuilder/viewer_search.html
Thanks!
Greg
PHP Programmer - interactivetools.com
By sidcam - December 20, 2012
Thanks for the reply.
I did what you suggested and then defined my Viewer URL as this:
"street_number, street_name, street_suffix, city, state, zip_code, matrix_unique_id"
But my list page's <?php echo $record['_link'] ?> only shows the first field (regardless of what it is) then it still shows the system's record number (i.e. detail-page.php?<field1>-<num>). When you click the link it doesn't go to the correct record either, it goes to the first record in the DB.
Mapping that all out manually with "matrix_unique_id" being the field searched on like this:
<a href="http://www.domain.com/detail-page.php?<?php echo htmlencode($record['street_number']) ?>-<?php echo htmlencode($record['street_name']) ?>-<?php echo htmlencode($record['street_suffix']) ?>-<?php echo htmlencode($record['city']) ?>-<?php echo htmlencode($record['state']) ?>-<?php echo htmlencode($record['zip_code']) ?>&matrix_unique_id=<?php echo htmlencode($record['matrix_unique_id']) ?>">LINK</a>
ALMOST works except the URL breaks because there's spaces (instead of dashes) in the URL where there's spaces in a field (in the example below, after "Austin" and "St.").
http://www.domain.com/detail-page.php?4413-Austin Pass-Drive-St. Charles-MO-63304&matrix_unique_id=31177685
Ultimately, what I want to accomplish is a clean domain like this (with my detail page being the index.php in /homes/):
http://www.domain.com/homes/4413-Austin-Pass-Drive/St.-Charles/MO/63304/31177685/
Is there anyway consulting services could make it so this one table is rewriting over "num" with my matrix_unique_id field (or substituting matrix_unique_id for num when defining records)?
I'd really like to eliminate "matrix_unique_id" from the URL since it doesn't mean anything to anybody except it's the only unique number in the database for searching/saving records (since "num" changes daily). Renaming the field to something shorter (like "id") creates a problem for my import scripts which match the schema to the first line in my txt files (which is defined by the source, not me).
Thanks, Sid
Hi Sid,
I think you can fix the issue with URL's breaking when they have spaces by using the url encode function instead of the htmlencode function:
<a href="http://www.domain.com/detail-page.php?<?php echo urlencode($record['street_number']) ?>-<?php echo urlencode($record['street_name']) ?>-<?php echo urlencode($record['street_suffix']) ?>-<?php echo urlencode($record['city']) ?>-<?php echo urlencode($record['state']) ?>-<?php echo urlencode($record['zip_code']) ?>&matrix_unique_id=<?php echo urlencode($record['matrix_unique_id']) ?>">LINK</a>
If you want to completely modify the structure of a URL to make it more human readable I would look into using mod rewrite in your .htaccess file. You would need a mix of these two rules:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7578056/url-rewriting-variable-name
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/904075/using-mod-rewrite-to-change-url-with-username-variable
Using this method should make URLs look better without having to heavily modify CMS Builder to use the matrix_unique_id as the num field.
If you would like us estimate the cost of creating human readable URL's for you, send an e-mail to consulting@interactivetools.com.
Thanks
Greg
PHP Programmer - interactivetools.com