Sitemap Diagrams Using OmniGraffle, Applescript, and a Google Sitemap
Typically, when a potential clients contacts me about redesigning their website, I like to examine their current site to check out the design and to see how large the site is — in order to get a sense of taste and potential project scope.
For smaller sites, I can manually go through and get a rough count of pages and dynamic elements and then visually map this out using a tool like OmniGraffle or MindJet MindManager.
For larger sites, however, the manual method would be too time consuming and tedious. So, what I do instead is use a service like XML Sitemaps (for sites under 500 pages) or Google Sitemap Generator (which I prefer, though I couldn’t get this Java-based service to work on my Mac) to generate a Google Sitemap XML file. I then take that XML file and drag it onto an AppleScript droplet (grab the code in the Omni forums), which parses the XML file and creates a visual sitemap in OmniGraffle automatically. Simple! I generated a 600+ page sitemap in about a half hour using this method.
On Windows, there is a program called PowerMapper, which essentially does the same thing in a single step. The Pro version costs $350 USD, and the Standard version is $150 USD.
Do you have a favourite tip or software for creating visual sitemaps? If so, share it in the comments.
NB: As Richard notes in the comments below, this method won’t work with a site/home page built in Flash.
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Thanks for the info, however it might be worth mentioning that this process doesn’t work on a site that (or homepage) that is built entirely in Flash. Looks like I’m going to have to crawl this one manually.
Comment by Richard — February 1, 2010 @ 11:40 am
Thanks Richard. That’s a good point. I’ll make note of this above.
Comment by Eric — February 2, 2010 @ 8:19 am
“Syntax Error”
“Expected variable name, class name or property but found application constant or consideration.”
Highlights the word “vertical” on line 4 of script
Comment by Dave — July 19, 2010 @ 4:39 pm
I don’t think this script works with OmniGraffle 5. I just tried it the other day and received an error. It still works with 4, however. Perhaps this is the issue Dave is running into.
Comment by Eric — July 19, 2010 @ 4:55 pm