SiteInfo FAQ

Why SiteInfo?: Web sites are often difficult and slow to navigate, which is why toolbars are so successful. Buttons and menus for a site are often much better for the user for navigating through a web site. With SiteInfo you can have a menu on our toolbar, or on any toolbar or browser that supports SiteInfo. This is an easy way of making your site easier to use.
What is SiteInfo?: SiteInfo is a way of telling a user of your site. This information is kept in a file - siteinfo.xml - that is found in the root of your site. It contains general information about your site, such as site name, company description, and contact information, as well as a WebMenu for the site.
Where is a SiteInfo file located?: A website's SiteInfo is found in a file 'siteinfo.xml' found at the root of the domain. So, if your site is somegreatsite.com then the location should be http://somegreatsite.com/siteinfo.xml. It is important to note that the full domain name is used. So, if the users is looking at news.somegreatsite.com then the toolbar looks for http://news.somegreatsite.com/siteinfo.xml. The exception to this is if it sees a 'www' subdomain identifier. The 'www' is treated as if it were not there.
How does the A9 toolbar determine which domain to show SiteInfo for?: When the user navigates to a page in their browser, the toolbar extracts the domain from the URL for the page. It then forms the siteinfo URL as per the rules above. If the domain is the same then the existing siteinfo.xml file is used.; The current implementation by A9 means that the siteinfo.xml is accessed via the A9 servers. So, when the toolbar needs a siteinfo.xml file, it asks the A9 servers for the file. If a cached version is available it is sent back. Otherwise, a new siteinfo.xml file is requested from the domain. The caching is done to reduce traffic to the website.
Is this only used by the A9 toolbar?: SiteInfo is an open standard. Any toolbar, browser, or other program is welcome (and encouraged) to read and display the contents of siteinfo.xml files.
Are there any security issues or safeguards in SiteInfo?: SiteInfo has been designed with the intent of being simple and secure. The A9 implementation of SiteInfo only performs two tasks.; First, it accesses the siteinfo.xml from the domain being viewed. Note that currently this is done via our servers, so the website being access doesn't know who is accessing it. Other implementations might access the files directly. This is done via HTTP, so the same way most web pages are accessed.; The second task is to navigate the browser based on the menus you select. Only URL's that are standard protocols are allowed, namely HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP. Specifically, JavaScripts and FILE access are not allowed. If these are found in a SiteInfo file, the menu item is grayed and not selectable.
If I develop a siteinfo.xml for my website, how do I test it?: There is a special testing mode for the Site Info button in the A9 toolbar. When it is in this mode the siteinfo.xml is only downloaded from a location that you specify. For details see the testing page.
Are there some examples of SiteInfo I can look at?: To see what SiteInfo and Webmenus look like in action, download the A9 toolbar and visit A9.com or Amazon.com, then look in the Site Info menu. Or, to see examples of the siteinfo.xml, look at http://a9.com/siteinfo.xml or http://amazon.com/siteinfo.xml.
What if I think the SiteInfo standard can be improved?: SiteInfo is intended to be an open standard. Your input on the next version of SiteInfo would be greatly appreciated.