Navigating URI Fragments in AJAX Apps

I just updated the URI Fragment section in the Book of Vaadin yesterday. The section was one of the most horribly outdated sections in the book. I didn't even include it in the print edition, although it was in the web edition.

To rewrite the section, I had to rewrite the book examples for it. The section now includes a subsection about supporting web crawling in Vaadin applications. It is a tricky topic, as stateful AJAX applications can not be normally crawled simply by loading the page. Google supports a special notation for the purpose, about which you can read in the section.

Anyhow, I'm writing this article mainly to test if Google manages to index the demo pages:

• Mercury: Vaadin app state with #!mercury, crawlable HTML.
• Venus: Vaadin app state with #!venus, crawlable HTML.
• Earth: Vaadin app state with #!earth, crawlable HTML.
• Mars: Vaadin app state with #!mars, crawlable HTML.

If all goes well, those pages should be indexed in a few days and you should able to google them. It could take less, as Blogger/Blogspot is a Google service.

Update: Now googleable

At least some of the pages can now be found by Google. Google for:

• "Here is some crawlable content about mercury"

Well, for another example in use, you can google the add-on components in the Vaadin Directory. For example, try googling for:

• Vaadin CSValidation directory

You should be able to find the #-marked directory page in the results.