--- Bob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hi,
> I have a home grown message board using a mysql db.
> As the forum displays, it generates a link for anyone to reply to each
> message:
> 
> <a href="forum.php?opt=reply&amp;msg_id=20060908002935">Reply to this
> message</a>
> 
> It calls itself with the opt=reply and msg_id is the timestamp of the
> original message.
> The snag is when search engines visit, they get listed in my error log (one
> for every link) but the links are valid.
> 
> The forum is working fine, so is there anything I can do to stop these
> errors?
> I'm using the recommended xhtml version of &amp; (could this be the problem?)
> 
> I thought about using rel="nofollow" in the link, but this seems to be used
> to stop visitors leaving links to get higher ranking results, and I don't
> allow live links. I'm not sure what "nofollow" would do to my own site.
> Thanks, Bob E.

The &amp; is used when you want to have the ampersand character be part of the
content passed along to the variable.  If you have two variables (opt and
msg_id) then the & character (not &amp;) should be used in your link.

Some browsers will try to "correct" this for you if the first try throws a 404
or other error but many of the search engine spiders follow the RFC for URLs
very closely and will simply choke on the first problem.

You don't say exactly what error is in your Apache log.  You should copy-paste
a couple of lines with these errors when asking this sort of question.

James



Community email addresses:
  Post message: [email protected]
  Subscribe:    [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Unsubscribe:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  List owner:   [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Shortcut URL to this page:
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/php-list 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/php-list/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/php-list/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
    mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 


Reply via email to